21 Day Fix: Shredded Chicken Mac and Cheese

/ Emily G.

So I am one week into round 3 of the 21 Day Fix and could not be happier with my results: 11.7lbs down and 12″ gone

Holy crap. I only just started this journey on September 2nd!! I was so excited when I saw those numbers!

The week prior was crazy busy with a lot of meals out so I really stepped it up this past week by following the meal plan to a T, portioning out my food using the 21 Day Fix containers, and got in some double sessions with Autumn’s DVDs in the morning and classes at my gym at night.

I did still squeeze in some time for fun and went out with friends on Friday and Saturday night but I stuck to vodka sodas and made sure to sneak in a few waters here and there. We gotta have some fun right?

I am currently in the second week of co-hosting my own 21 Day Fix challenge group on Facebook and it is SO much fun! Some of the challengers are brand new to the 21 Day Fix while others are well into their multiple rounds. It is so inspiring to hear my challengers success stories, amazing results, delicious recipes and see how they motivate each other each and every day! It is also a great place to get that extra push I need on those days I am struggling to press play on my workouts.

If you want to join in on the challenge group fun I will be co-hosting another round starting on November 3rd. This rounds theme will be “Healthy for the Holidays!“. Leave a comment on this post and I will get you all of the details!

Healthy for the Holidays

As the days are starting to get shorter and colder it makes me really want some comfort food and what is more comforting than mac and cheese? However, comfort food does not have to blow your waistline and make you feel bloated after eating it! This recipe for chicken mac and cheese has no butter, no salt and no cream – WHAT??

I usually poach and shred my chicken in large batches so I can use it in meals and salads throughout the week so feel free to increase the quantities listed in the recipe and make a lot at once 🙂

Do you have any good shredded chicken recipes?

 

Chicken Mac and Cheese

21 Day Fix: Shredded Chicken Mac and Cheese
Author: Emily Goodman
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 small chicken breast
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • Fresh cracked black pepper
  • 8 oz whole grain pasta shells (will be approx. 4 cups once cooked)
  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
  1. Place the chicken breasts in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Transfer to a cutting board or plate to cool and set aside.
  2. Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and freshly cracked black pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
  3. Bring another pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package direction (approx 10 minutes for al dente).
  4. While the pasta is cooking shred the cooled chicken and season with the spice mixture.
  5. Drain the cooked pasta reserving 1 cups of the pasta cooking water.
  6. Pour the cooked pasta back into the warm pot and add the shredded chicken and baby spinach.
  7. Mix until the spinach starts to wilt.
  8. Add in the cheddar cheese and continue to mix until the cheese melts. If needed, use the reserved pasta water to help melt the cheese and give it a creamy texture. Only add a little bit of water at a time as to not make the dish soupy!
Serving size: 1.5 cups
Notes
21 Day Fix Container Equivalents for a 1.5 cup serving: 1 red, 1 green, 2 yellow, 1 blue

 

BAM!!!

Who said you can’t have comfort food on the 21 Day Fix?

Chicken Mac and Cheese

Chicken Mac and Cheese

44 thoughts on “21 Day Fix: Shredded Chicken Mac and Cheese”

  1. Hi,
    I am on my second week of the 21 day fix. I am interested in trying this recipe and was wondering if you have some other great recipes to share? Since I am new to this, it’s hard for me to come up with creative ways to eat all my portions. Thanks!

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    • Hi Sheryl! That is awesome…I hope it is going well for you so far! I have a bunch of other recipes that are 21 Day Fix-approved. One the right side of my blog there is a “Categories” section and in there I have a whole category for the 21 Day Fix. Feel free to check it out. And don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you ever want to chat more about the 21 Day Fix. My email is ejgoodma@gmail.com. Have a great day!

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    • Yes you can, it doesn’t differ much in protein, calories and carbs however be aware of the ingredient list…whole grain pasta is just Whole Grain Durum Wheat Flour while the veggie varieties have a longer list of ingredients and there are some on there that I don’t recognize. If you don’t like the whole grain or whole wheat pastas I would suggest trying a quinoa pasta or a one make from rice flour.

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  14. Hi there, this recipe looks delicious! I’m just about to embark on my first 21 Day Fix (ending *just* before Christmas & Xmas Eve!). If you host any challenges in the new year, please do email me – I’d love to join one for my next round 🙂 Thanks, Jen

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    • Yes, this is 1 serving recipe but if you wanted to make it to feed a family you can adjust to:

      4-5 small chicken breast
      1.5 teaspoon garlic powder (divided into 1 teaspoon, 0.5 teaspoon)
      1.5 teaspoon onion powder (divided into 1 teaspoon, 0.5 teaspoon)
      1 teaspoon paprika
      1lb (1 box) whole grain pasta shells
      1 bag (6oz) baby spinach
      1 cup cheddar and american cheese, mixed
      Fresh cracked black pepper
      Squirt of lemon juice

      I would serve this 1.5 cup servings per person. Hope this helps you 🙂

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  18. Wow this looks amazing!!! I Think I’m making this for supper tonight.. do you have anymore recipes ? Can I follow you on pinterest? please share more 21 day fix recipes

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  19. Thanks ever so much for such great recipes! Just started my first round of 21 Day Fix Extreme, and I love to cook, so these help me keep on target. Thanks!

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  20. Hi there!! Ok, so I am new to the 21 Day Fix plan. How do you do these recipes with the containers? Because if I cook this recipe, and I divide it into 1/4 (makes 4 servings), how do I control the amount of pasta (2 yellow) to the amount of chicken (1 protein). In a scoop, I will automatically get more pasta than chicken. After cooking the recipe, do I need to pick it apart to make sure I have just what the containers hold?
    Thank you for the help.

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    • Congrats on starting the fix!! On the bottom of the recipe I break out how many containers to count a 1.5 cup serving as to make it super easy for you! When I created the recipe I chose the amounts of each item based on the container size and then multiplied it by 4 to get 4 servings. (Ex: 1/2 cup of cooked pasta = 1 yellow therefore 2 cups will give you enough for this recipe). My suggestion is to just stick to the serving size of 1.5 cups and you should be good to go!

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  22. In the ingredients you list 4 cups cooked pasta (which would equal 2 yellows when doing 4 servings) but in the directions you mention only 2 cups pastA which would only be 1 yellow when split into 4 servings. Can you please clarify? Thank you.

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    • Thank you for your comment, I had a typo in my recipe where it should have been listed as 4oz of pasta (which comes to 2 cups cooked). So yes that would be 1 yellow per serving. I actually just tweaked the recipe slightly to reflect 8oz of pasta to 4 cups cooked which would be 2 yellows per serving as well.

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    • Hi Brittany – the recipe calls for 8oz of uncooked pasta but once cooked you will have 4 full cups of pasta since it expands in size. This recipe serves 4 so it is about 1 small chicken breast per person once portioned out.

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