My kids love to help me in the kitchen. They are forever asking to measure, stir, and sprinkle whatever ingredients they can as I’m cooking, and I’m happy to let them help. While they aren’t big enough to cook on their own yet, it’s great that they want to be a part of our family’s meal-making adventures. It will also help them develop valuable life skills for when they grow older. No one wants to be that 20-something that doesn’t know how to scramble an egg.
The Wisest Kid has some great suggestion on the Campbell’s Kitchen website—tasty and easy-to-make recipes for kids’ picky palates. For my last month as a Wisest Kid Ambassador, my kids chose to make the Mini Macaroni & Cheese Cups. Everyone loves mac and cheese in my family, so we thought we’d try this easy and fun recipe. This classic comfort food is baked in muffin cups, so everyone gets their own perfect portion of mac and cheese goodness.
My three girls all wanted to help prep the mac and cheese cups. This recipe is very easy for kids to help make. That’s one of the things I love about the recipes on Campbell’s Kitchen website—they are quick, easy, and family-friendly. The girls took turns prepping the muffin pan, stirring the cheese mixture, and mixing the cheese mixture with the rotini. Thirty minutes later we were ready to dine on delectable mac and cheese cups served with their favorite vegetable—broccoli!
Mini Macaroni & Cheese Cups Recipe
What You’ll Need
- Vegetable cooking spray (we used olive oil instead)
- 3 tablespoons plain dry breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon butter, melted
- 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups rotini or medium shell-shaped pasta, cooked and drained
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
How to Make It
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Spray 8 (2 1/2-inch) muffin-pan cups with the cooking spray and lightly coat with 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Stir the remaining breadcrumbs and the butter in a small bowl.
- Stir the soup, milk, black pepper, rotini and 3/4 of the cheese in a medium bowl. Spoon about 1/3 cup rotini mixture into each muffin-pan cup. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and breadcrumb mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the rotini mixture is hot and bubbling. Let stand for 10 minutes before removing the minis from the pan.
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Those look yummy! Miss K, who is 3, is just starting to want to help me in the kitchen. This would be a great recipe to let her help out with. Thanks for sharing! I pinned to my Cooking board to try later this week! 🙂
~Steph
I love this idea. It is so simple but fun and special. I know what we will be enjoying next weekend. Thanks.
Oh, I was looking for something to make tomorrow with my little, she could help with this one, she loves cooking too! Thanks for sharing.
These look tasty and would be a fun meal for the kids to help with. I’m sure they’d really enjoy it too!
Super easy and they cook very quickly because they are such small cups.
That looks so good. I think my picky toddler would love them.
Those look really good! I wonder if their cheddar cheese soup is gluten free. Sadly I haven’t been able to enjoy very many campbell soups because they use wheat as a thickening agent.
I’m not sure. I suspect it may not be gluten-free 🙁
This is great for my kids and its look delicious.
This looks soooo good 🙂
This looks like great recipe to make with my oldest daughter. She is just at the stage where she is very interested in helping in the kitchen and can do a few simple tasks. She will be so proud that she “made” macaroni and cheese. Plus I love the little servings!
This recipe looks very tasty. Thanks for sharing!