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This Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese is creamy, smoky, and filled with fresh spring vegetables like kale, peas, and leeks. It’s very spring-forward, 100% vegetarian and quick and easy to make in 35 minutes! Pair with a Honey Deuce Cocktail or this Lemon Coconut Cake for dinner!
I love me some mac and cheese. It’s the best comfort dish whether you decide to add in spring vegetables like this recipe or seafood or keep it simple! Everything from Lobster Mac and Cheese, Pumpkin Mac and Cheese and this Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese has my heart!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
- Pasta – 1lb of the pasta of your choice. I used pasta shells because they are fun but regular macaroni noodles works fine too!
- Spring vegetables – This mac and cheese is spring forward so tons of chopped leek, kale and peas are mixed right into the cheese sauce.
- Cheese – I used a mix of smoked gouda and fontina. Smoked gouda gives the mac and cheese a rich and smoky almost meaty flavor and fontina is just amazing. Feel free to swap these cheeses out with gruyere, provolone, mozzarella, or sharp cheddar.
- All-purpose flour- This is what’s going to give you a rich and creamy cheese sauce. The flour is cooked with ghee or olive oil then the milk and cheese is added to make the creamy sauce.
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!
How To Make Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
- Boil the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the noodles until al dente, drain the water then drizzle with olive oil.
- Cook the vegetables. In a medium skillet cook the chopped leek, kale and peas in melted butter until soft then set aside.
- For the cheese sauce. Melt butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Stir in flour cooking it for 1 minute, pour in milk then bring to a simmer. Continue to cook until the mixture is thick and can coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the cheese then taste and adjust the salt if needed.
- Serve. Stir in cooked pasta noodles and vegetables. Serve topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and ground black pepper.
Tips and Tricks
- Use different spring vegetables. Use dandelion greens and Swiss chard in place of the kale. Green onions, spring onions, and ramps in place of the leeks, and fava beans instead of peas!
- Don’t overcook your pasta. You really want to boil your pasta to al dente so that it doesn’t end up mushy in the mac and cheese.
- If possible, shred the cheese yourself. Skip the pre-shredded cheeses because they often contain anti-clumping ingredients which can cause the cheese to not melt as readily in the sauce.
- Add a protein. This stovetop mac and cheese recipe is completely vegetarian, but if you aren’t going for a meatless meal try pairing it with salmon, chicken, seafood, or crispy bacon.
- Add lots of pepper. If you want a pepper-y vibe, consider making my Cacio e Pepe Mac and Cheese.
Recipe FAQs
How do you thicken stovetop mac and cheese?
By using flour! Cook it with butter for a 1 minute then whisk in milk. Once the mixture comes to a simmer you can add in your cheese!
How do you keep mac and cheese creamy?
By using milk and/or cream in the cheese sauce. The added fat will keep the cheese sauce perfectly creamy.
More Vegetarian Recipes
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Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
This Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese is creamy, smoky, and filled with fresh spring vegetables like kale, peas, and leeks. It’s very spring-forward, 100% vegetarian and quick and easy to make in 35 minutes! Pair with a Honey Deuce Cocktail or this Lemon Coconut Cake for dinner!
Equipment
- 1 large pot or Dutch oven
- 1 medium skillet
- 1 medium saucepan
Ingredients
- Salt
- 1 pound of shell pasta
- 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
- 1 leek, halved and sliced
- 3 large pieces of kale, leaves removed from stem and roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup peas
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 pound of smoked gouda, shredded
- 1/4 pound of fontina, shredded
Instructions
- Bring a pot or Dutch oven of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente (my box of pasta said about 16 minutes—total lies! Mine took about 8 minutes). Drain and drizzle with a teeny bit of olive oil (this will prohibit them from sticking to each other).
- In a medium skillet, set over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt; cook for about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the kale and add a pinch of salt; cook for an additional 3 minutes, until the leeks and kale have softened. Lastly, add the peas and stir until the peas turn a bright green color, about a minute. Turn off the heat and set aside (to leave them in the pan is totally fine).
- In a medium saucepan (I used the same dutch oven I used to boil the pasta), set over medium heat, add the butter. When melted, add the flour and stir until combined. Cook for about 1 minute. Pour in the milk and bring to a simmer; cook until it’s thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Stir in a few rounds of freshly ground pepper (I did about 5).
- Next, stir in the cheese and mix until melted. If needed, turn the heat to medium-low to completely melt the cheese. I found the smoked gouda needed some additional warmth to melt completely. (The fontina was perfect.) Give it a taste and add salt to taste.
- Stir in the shells and add the reserved kale and leek mixture. Toss until evenly coated. Divide amongst bowls and top with a bit of parmesan and black pepper.
Notes
Tips and Tricks
- Use different spring vegetables. Use dandelion greens and Swiss chard in place of the kale. Green onions, spring onions, and ramps in place of the leeks, and fava beans instead of peas!
- Don’t overcook your pasta. You really want to boil your pasta to al dente so that it doesn’t end up mushy in the mac and cheese.
- If possible, shred the cheese yourself. Skip the pre-shredded cheeses because they often contain anti-clumping ingredients which can cause the cheese to not melt as readily in the sauce.
- Add a protein. This stovetop mac and cheese recipe is completely vegetarian, but if you aren’t going for a meatless meal try pairing it with salmon, chicken, seafood, or crispy bacon.
Nutrition
Serving: 6g | Calories: 1132kcal | Carbohydrates: 111g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 56g | Saturated Fat: 31g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 165mg | Sodium: 780mg | Potassium: 759mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 2779IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 849mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!
Swapped the fontina for mozzarella because that’s what I had, and use skim milk which turned out just fine. This was surprisingly easy to make!
awesome- love to hear this!
Made this for dinner last night – really cheesy and comforting. I skipped the peas and just added extra kale. Really liked the smoked gouda/fontina combo. The cheese sauce was crazy thick! Looking forward to the leftovers tonight. 🙂
This is absolutely delicious! Love it!
This is absolutely delicious! I would love to add some chicken but I cant get over how packed with the greens it is. Healthy mac n cheese – kinda? haha this is one way to make the kids eat their green. Love it!
Oooooh – Gouda and fontina! Fantastic!!!
Omgggg the new Beauty and the Beast is SO GOOD. Just take Amelia with you, she can pass as a child or something, right? Totally making this for a work potluck this week.
hahhaa! i wish i could sneak her in. i was thinking of just going by myself. i actually kind of enjoy going solo to movies.
smoked gouda and fontina in mac and cheese?! i’m in. i prefer stovetop mac n cheese (it’s so much creamier to me than baked, and less dishes to deal with), so this just keeps sounding better.
it’s totally creamier! and yes i actually forgot it takes a whole other dish. lol. maybe i’ll never bake mac and cheese again!