{"id":15593,"date":"2026-02-09T02:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=15593"},"modified":"2026-02-09T02:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:07:12","slug":"creamy-mac-n-cheese-with-chicken-and-baby-kale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=15593","title":{"rendered":"Creamy Mac n Cheese With Chicken and Baby Kale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"502\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.myfitnesspal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Creamy-Mac-n-Cheese-With-Chicken-and-Baby-Kale-1024x643.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Creamy Mac n Cheese With Chicken and Baby Kale\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Frozen butternut squash cubes add body and nutrients to this simple one-pot macaroni and cheese. We\u2019ve added chicken breast and baby kale to make this a complete meal. Substitute spinach or chopped chard if you like. By using whole-wheat macaroni, you can boost the fiber by around 3 grams per serving. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fdc.nal.usda.gov\/food-details\/2708358\/nutrients\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(1)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Active time:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 15 minutes <\/span><b>Total time:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 30 minutes<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Creamy Mac n Cheese With Chicken and Baby Kale<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 tsp olive oil<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 lb (454g) boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size strips<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1\/2 tsp salt<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1\/2 tsp pepper<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 small onion, finely chopped<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 cups (473g) low-sodium chicken broth<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 cup (237g) 2% milk<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 10 oz. (284g) package frozen butternut squash<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 tsp dry mustard<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 bay leaf<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 1\/4 cups (284g) whole-wheat elbow macaroni<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">3 cups (85g) baby kale<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1 1\/4 cups (113g) sharp cheddar cheese<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 tbsp nutritional yeast<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Directions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heat the oil in a large saucepan or skillet set over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken. Season with the salt and pepper and cook without stirring for 2 minutes. Add the onions, stir and continue to cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Add the broth, milk, squash, mustard and bay leaf to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mash the squash with a potato masher until mostly smooth. Add the pasta and stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 6 minutes, stirring once. Fold in the chicken-onion mixture and kale with a rubber spatula, cover and cook until the kale has wilted, 2 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remove the pan from the heat and stir the cheese and nutritional yeast into the pasta. Serve immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Serves: 6 | Serving size: 1 cup<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Nutrition (per serving):<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Calories: 382; Total Fat: 11g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g ; Cholesterol: 23mg; Sodium: 364mg; Carbohydrate: 42g; Dietary Fiber: 6g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 34g<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Originally published November 20, 2018; Updated February 2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.myfitnesspal.com\/creamy-mac-n-cheese-with-chicken-and-baby-kale\/\">Creamy Mac n Cheese With Chicken and Baby Kale<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.myfitnesspal.com\">MyFitnessPal Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.myfitnesspal.com\/creamy-mac-n-cheese-with-chicken-and-baby-kale\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Frozen butternut squash cubes add body and nutrients to this simple one-pot macaroni and cheese. We\u2019ve added chicken breast and baby kale to make this a complete meal. Substitute spinach or chopped chard if you like. By using whole-wheat macaroni, you can boost the fiber by around 3 grams per serving. (1) Active time: 15 &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}