I know I’ve written before about my daughter’s obsession with roasted chicken. We get bone- in chicken in some shape or form once a week. It leaves me with a lot of chicken to get creative with. The other twist to my story, is that we’ve recently discovered my daughter has a gluten sensitivity. So as we tweak some of our eating habits to accommodate this restriction, I am also getting creative with her staple favorites. Thus, my mac and cheese with chicken concoction here.
Daughter gives it 2 thumbs, way up!
And she’s tough.
The key here is a good gluten free flour or potato starch for thickening. Bob’s Red Mill has a great flour we’ve discovered, and Trader Joe’s has their own as well. If you have found some good brands, please share. Some blends have white rice starch as a base, while others have more nutritious blends like brown rice and Amaranth. I prefer more nutrition, personally, for my growing girl.
Gluten Free Baked Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
Topping
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup gluten free puffed rice cereal, crushed up with a spoon
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
Pasta
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup small diced onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 cup-1cup roughly shredded, cooked/roasted chicken meat
2 Tbsp. potato starch
2 cups whole milk, warmed
3 cups mixed mild and sharp cheddar, shredded
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 lb. gluten free pasta (we like brown rice) elbows, shells, and the like, cooked according to package directions and drained
Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the milk until close to boil, keep warm.
In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp. butter over medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add the potato starch and whisk, cooking the starch for one minute. As you whisk, slowly add the milk. Whisk as you add, and the milk will thicken up quickly. Whisking prevent lumps. Cook the milk until thick about 3 minutes.
Remove the milk from heat. Stir in the cheddar and Parmesan until melted and smooth. Add the mustard and chicken and stir until combined. Now add the pasta and stir until it’s evenly coated with the cheese sauce. Pour mixture into the waiting pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pasta.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Dish should be hot and bubbly, and the top golden brown. Serve warm. Take a food coma nap after. Lol.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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