I bought a little jar of pesto recently and have been having fun finding ways to add it to everyday recipes. Yesterday I noticed a half bag of macaroni that had been sitting in my pantry for a few months and I just knew it was begging for the pesto treatment. So, I whipped up a quick béchamel sauce, stirred in some grated Parmesan, and a good dollop of pesto. I poured the luxurious sauce over my cooked macaroni then aded couple handfuls of thawed frozen spinach (because I’m all about balance), and had myself the most delicious and creamy pesto mac and cheese.
What Kind of Pesto is Best?
I used a simple basil pesto, but the wonderful thing about this recipe is that it is very flexible. You could do a homemade Kale Pesto, you could do a sun-dried tomato pesto, or practically any flavor pesto that you’d like.
How to Use Leftover Pesto
Pesto is definitely an expensive ingredient, but it’s so potent that you really don’t need a lot to add big flavor to your recipes. The little jar I bought contains about 3/4 cup pesto and costs $3.99. I usually only use about ¼ cup at a time in a recipe, so there is always some leftover. Here are some other recipes that use pesto:
If you can’t find uses for your leftovers immediately, pesto can be frozen. A lot of people like to spoon it into ice cube trays so they can grab a couple tablespoons at a time to toss into recipes like pasta, salad dressings, and other sauces.
What Else Can I Add to Pesto Mac and Cheese?
You can really take this recipe so many different directions! Try adding a handful of sun dried tomatoes, or maybe some chopped up rotisserie chicken. Or try topping it with some crumbled feta, bacon bits, or some buttered breadcrumbs!
Also be sure to check out my extra cheesy classic Homemade Mac and Cheese recipe!
Creamy Pesto Mac and Cheese with Spinach
Servings 6 (1 cup each)Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked macaroni ($0.50)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 2 cups whole milk ($0.60)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan ($0.53)
- 1/4 cup basil pesto ($0.55)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 lb. frozen spinach ($0.80)
Instructions
- Thaw the spinach at room temperature or in the microwave. Squeeze out the excess water. Set the spinach aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the macaroni. Boil for 7-10 minutes, or until tender. Drain the macaroni in a colander.
- While the pasta is boiling, prepare the sauce. Add the butter and flour to a small sauce pot. Heat and stir the butter and flour over medium heat until it forms a creamy paste and begins to bubble. Continue to stir and cook for about one minute more.
- Whisk the milk into the butter and flour, then allow it to come up to a simmer, while whisking. When it reaches a simmer, the sauce will thicken. Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Whisk the Parmesan and pesto into the sauce until smooth. This will further thicken the sauce. Season the sauce with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Make sure the sauce is well seasoned as the flavors will be less concentrated once the pasta and spinach are stirred in.
- Return the cooked and drained pasta to the large pot (heat turned off) and add the thawed spinach. Pour the sauce over top, then stir until everything is combined and coated in sauce. Serve immediately.
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Nutrition
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More Mac and Cheese Recipes:
How to Make Pesto Mac and Cheese – Step by Step Photos
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the macaroni. Once boiling, add two cups of macaroni and continue to boil until tender but not mushy. Drain the pasta in a colander.
While the macaroni is boiling, thaw 1/2 lb. spinach and then squeeze out some of the excess water. It doesn’t have to be bone-dry, just make sure it’s not sopping wet.
Place 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour into a small sauce pot. Heat them over a medium flame while whisking. Once bubbling, continue to stir and cook for about a minute. This mixture is called a roux (this is a blonde roux, in particular) and is used to thicken the sauce. Cooking it for a minute or so slightly toasts the flour so that you don’t have that raw paste-like flavor to your sauce.
Whisk in two cups of whole milk. Let the mixture come to a simmer, whisking occasionally to make sure the milk doesn’t scorch on the bottom.
Once the milk starts simmering, that’s when the roux magic happens. The milk will thicken slightly. It won’t be as thick as a cheese sauce at this point, but it should have noticeably more body. Turn the heat off.
Whisk in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. The cheese will help thicken the sauce even more.
Then whisk in 1/4 cup basil pesto.
Finally, season the sauce with salt and freshly cracked pepper. You want the sauce to be pretty heavily seasoned because it will taste less concentrated once the pasta and spinach are stirred in. I used 1/2 tsp salt and about 5-10 cranks of a pepper mill.
Return the cooked and drained pasta to the large pot it was cooked in, add the thawed and squeezed spinach, then pour the creamy sauce over top.
Then stir all that creamy pesto goodness together. Oh my.
I’ll just say it one more time, then leave it there… Creamy Pesto Mac and Cheese with Spinach–OH MY.
Hi There
Just curious. How much will 1/2 a pound (8 oz) of frozen spinach yield after being defrosted? I ask because I already defrosted my spinach before weighing it.
Maybe about a cup after being thawed and squeezed of the extra water.
Absolutely delicious. I had some extra shrimp in my freezer so I sauteed them in bacon grease and olive oil with some salt. Wonderful additions to a really flavorful pasta!
Super delicious! And quite easy. I feel whenever I make macaroni and cheese at home I use a ton of cheese and I’m still disappointed, but this one was perfect and only had 1/2 a cup! Added some chopped cherry tomatoes on top as well because why not!
So, something interesting happened while I was making this.
I’m allergic to tree nuts, so I usually make my own nut-free pesto. I like to amp up the garlic and lemon juice too, so it’s usually pretty potent.
I was starting to prepare the sauce when I opened the fridge and discovered: no milk. I tried to quickly recover with some half and half only to take a whiff and discover it had gone rancid. That left me with two choices: soymilk, and almond milk. The almond milk would’ve killed me so that was a no. The soymilk would’ve been perfectly fine…if it weren’t vanilla flavored.
I was out of options. My car recently broke down, so going to the store wasn’t an option. So I said “what the heck” and went ahead and dumped two cups of Kirkland Vanilla Soymilk into the pot.
At first it was the most utterly bizarre thing I had ever tasted. But then as things started to come together, the vanilla got less offensive. Finally I got to the point of adding the pesto and decided to throw in extra cheese and pepper to try and mask the taste and…it turned out pretty good. There was the occasional odd bite full of vanilla flavoring, but for the most part, not bad at all.
Probably wouldn’t try it again though.
Hahah, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself in a similar situation. Sometimes those last minute emergency substitutions can lead to amazing flavor discoveries! …and sometimes not. :D
Hello I just made this tonight! I was wondering how what the nutrition data for this dish is? in particular calories, protein and fatt? This is delicious!
I’m sorry, but I don’t have a reliable source for nutrition information for the recipes.
I doubled this recipe to get 12 servings (that’s right, 4 cups of milk required–i used 2%). I used fresh spinach cooked quickly in a pan with a little olive oil. I also added some fresh mushrooms (also cooked in skillet) and we had a rotisserie chicken that I tore into small pieces and stirred in as well. The sauce covered everything no problem. Delicious meal! Thanks for a great recipe!
So I just made this sauce with Almond milk instead of whole milk and I just got it say tastes amazing Thanks!!! This is a great recipe for a little money and I bought enough ingredients I can make it again at another time. I wouldn’t mind adding some carmelized onions, garlic, and mushrooms to it.
I’m just about to make this but have been reading the reviews on the amount of sauce. Could it be frozen if we can’t eat it all within a reasonable time?
Creamy sauces often don’t freeze well, unfortunately. But I haven’t tried freezing this particular sauce.
Excellent Recipe! Who would of thought spinach and pesto would make the ultimate Mac and Cheese! So thank you very much for posting this recipe. I made some changes of my own. I used Fresh Spinach, Fresh Shredded Parmesan, and made Homemade Pesto (store has a lot of sodium in it) served it with grilled Pork Chops! My husband kept going for more. Even said, He would want this over Normal Mac and Cheese.
I tried this tonight and although it had a good flavor it was way too soupy! I didn’t even use all the sauce. Surely 2c milk is a typo?! I can’t imagine using more than 1.5c.
just finished making. Wow Delicious. Definitely a keeper. Love your Website !
Really enjoyed this! I used 1 1/2 c of whole wheat pasta per suggestions from other commenters. I also added chicken. I think the sauce to solid ration would have been perfect if I did one or the other (extra 1/2 c pasta -OR- chicken).
Excellent recipe! Thank you.
On the pin I saved, it says 4 cups pesto for $1!!!! I was like…. where on earth is she buying her pesto?!? 😂. The recipe on your site was right though. I can’t wait to try this on my kids.
Yeah, unfortunately Pinterest auto-pulls ingredient information and for some reason it always messes up the numbers on mine! I’ve reached out to them for help, but haven’t gotten any solutions. :(
I was really nervous to make the bechamel but it turned out just great! Thank you for giving me the confidence to try new recipes. This mac’n’cheese is absolutely AWESOME!!!:-):-):-)
Hi – this sounds delicious! Wondering if you (or any readers) have ever made the bechamel with 2% milk. That’s what we usually buy and have on hand. I’m guessing it might make the sauce less thick and creamy, or it might have no effect at all. I’d love to benefit from someone else’s experience on this. :)
I did this and it just needed to simmer a bit longer before thickening :)
It just makes it a little less rich. :)