I remember well the days when my kids were little and we had food wars. I don’t miss those days at all, but seeing how my youngest son eats as an adult, it’s obvious we lost the war. We laugh that all his food is beige, but it’s really not funny. Even at 25, we’re still trying to get him to eat vegetables, but it didn’t have to be this hard.
That’s because Golden Grain has made a new pasta line that “hides” veggies within the pasta. Veggies that even this vegetarian won’t eat like squash and the best part is the pasta doesn’t have a weird taste – it’s still delicious!
I made one of the back-of-the-box recipes from their new Golden Grain Hidden Veggie Pasta boxes, but I changed it up to please both myself and my meat eaters, and it was a hit! Plus it took one pan and fifteen minutes for a dinner we all loved!
Here’s the original recipe Golden Grain Hidden Veggie Pasta Rosy Chicken & Penne Pasta and below is my reworked meat and meat-free version. Have you tried meat-free Monday? This would be a great one!
- 2 Tbl Olive Oil
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- Salt and pepper
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2” x 4” pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 16 oz low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 12 oz Golden Grain Hidden Veggie Penne
- 1 24 oz jar prepared chunky spaghetti sauce (or homemade)
- ⅓ cup half and half
- 1 cup mozzarella, shredded and divided
- 1 Tbl fresh basil, chopped
- In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add oil to the hot pan.
- Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper
- Add the chicken to the pan and cook until browned and internal temperature is 165 degrees (about 7 minutes total)
- Remove the chicken and keep warm. Clean the pan and return it to the stove (not necessary if you’re not making the vegetarian version).
- Add the vegetable broth and water to the pan; bring to a boil.
- Add the penne, turn heat to simmer, cover and cook 7-9 minutes (stirring every 2-3 minutes) or just until the pasta is al dente stage.
- Add spaghetti sauce, half and half, and ½ of the cheese. Stir until incorporated.
- Remove the vegetarian portion and add the chicken back to the pan.
- Sprinkle with reserved cheese and fresh basil
Taste Great – Fabulous Ingredients
But the best part about the hidden veggies? They do it without adding nasty artificial flavors or colors – I love that!
Ingredients: SEMOLINA, DRIED SWEET CORN, DRIED CARROT, DRIED SQUASH, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE (IRON), THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID.
But how could they improve the Golden Grain Hidden Veggie Pasta? Make it organic or at least GMO-free. But it’s still a great choice.
Where to Buy Golden Grain Pasta
I grew up with Golden Grain Pasta and thought everyone did. It turns out, they’re a west coast brand. Check out their website for the store finder to find a location near you. Here in Seattle they’re available at Safeway stores.
Connect With Golden Grain Pasta
Win a Years Worth of Golden Grain Pasta!
One lucky winner will receive 24 coupons for free pasta ($1.99 each, a $48 value!)
:giveaways:
:free:
This chicken and penne looks so tasty and a breeze to make,also;thanks for recipe.
This looks like a quick and easy pasta dish- thanks for sharing. I could probably even sneak some veggies in so my toddler wouldn’t notice! And love the idea of fresh basil- that truly “makes” a pasta dish. Yum!
I use a frozen “fresh” basil so I always have it on hand and ready to use! And yes, sneak veggies in – that would be great!
This looks amazing. I have never tried using chicken I use Italian sausage.
I’d use penne the most
We use a lot of spaghetti. I make spaghetti and cheese a lot. Cheap dish.
I think the hidden veggies spaghetti . I would make spaghetti with meatballs with lots of sauce.
i would use the twisted elbow macaroni. I’ve never seen these before. My favorite thing is homemade mac and cheese
The small Penne. I would make Sausage and Peppers with this penne pasta.
I hit enter before I finished — I also use onions, mushrooms and spaghetti sauce with this pasta dish.
We would love the thin spaghetti, penne and the elbow noodles. We love our pasta dishes.
They would like the thin spaghetti, I would make spaghetti and meatballs with garlic cheese bread and salad. yum
I would love to try the great grains spaghetti noodles.
I would use the twisted elbows, though I hope they will come out with the rotini pasta. I would make a pasta sale, with fresh veggies, Italian dressing and shredded cheese…a family fave
pedidentalasst at yahoo dot com
Spaghetti noodles we eat it once a week with garlic bread & green beans.
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The Spaghetti For Sure We Eat It Once A Week Its A Fave Go To Dinner For All Of Us.Of Course With My Favorite Meat Sauce And A Lil Garlic Bread On The Side .
The small penne would probably be our favorite. I would love to serve it with pesto or a thick bolognese sauce!
I think our family’s favorite of the 3 Hidden Veggie Pastas would be the small penne . I’d make tuna cheese casserole with it.
Honestly, I don’t think we have a favorite! We would use all of them!
Well, it would be three of the pastas.
Thin Spaghetti, as I love to make TVP/Ground Turkey/Onions, with Spaghetti, and a vegetable red sauce.
Penne, as I like to make a black olive, celery, tomatoes, croutons, thousand island dish.
and
Elbow pasta, as I love making mac and cheese, and a TVP version of Hamburger Mac/Cheese casserole!
Yum!
I’d like to come to your house for dinner! 🙂
I like the small penne noodles. I would make chicken alfredo with the noodles.
All of them, but my family eats a ton of spaghetti. Love the recipe above!
I would use the small penne noodles and make my homemade spaghetti recipe. I have tried their noodles and like them.
I think we would like the small penne, we always use penne pasta when cooking so the small ones would be neat.
We’d like the twisted elbows. We eat a lot of macaroni and cheese in this house!
I think I would love the Twisted Elbows! I would love to make baked Mac N’ Cheese! 🙂
Our favorite would probably be the thin spaghetti. I would start off with boring spaghetti and sauce then maybe try mac n cheese with the elbows or a yummy casserole!
My girls would love all these noodles, but the spaghetti would probably be there favorite.
I would fix homemade tomato sauce w/meatballs or ground sausage, homemade bread-sticks and maybe some sauteed zucchini. =)
I’d make macaroni salad with the Twisted Elbow Pasta.
I think our favorite would be the penne because my son can easily pick it up. We would probably make something with tomato sauce and zucchini and squash. My son is allergic to milk, otherwise I’d love to use cheese sauce of some kind.
Our family would love the thin sphaghetti the most! Its a fun food and I can make many adult and kid friendly foods with its texture and shape! Thank you for this opportunity!
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The hidden veggie penne!
We would make our favorite minestrone, baked ziti, and pasta primavera!
I would use their Penne and make a casserole of ground beef, tomato sauce, broccoli and cheese. It’s one of my family’s favorite meals and I serve it with a nice leafy salad.
My favorite would be the Hidden Veggie Thin Spaghetti. I would start off with vegan cincinnati chili.
small penne is my family’s favorite. we make baked pasta dishes with it!
I think the penne would. I prefer penne to other types of pastas. I would make a zuccini pasta bake with vodka sauce. My husband loves that dish.
We’d like the Thin Spaghetti & would make my spaghetti pie with it.
We prefer whole grain pasta.
Thank you.
My favorite would be the Hidden Veggie Thin Spaghetti. I would start off with vegan cincinnati chili.
The spaghetti would be the favorite and of course we would use it for spaghetti. But I personally love mac and cheese.
The spaghetti
I am a noodle nut and 24 boxes would not be a years supply for me. I love all kinds of pasta and don’t have a favorite. I really love unique shaped noodles when I can find them. Bring on the pasta!
My favorite would definitely be elbow macaroni! I would love to make some tasty vegetarian minestrone soup and a couple batches of oven-roasted gourmet macaroni and cheese with roasted broccoli.
The Hidden Veggie Penne would be used in my dynamite Penne with Vodka sauce recipe given to me by my best friend Rita, and it really is fantastic!
My family’s favorite pasta would definitely be the thin spaghetti usually with a simple lemon sauce, parm cheese and spinach- yummy!
My kids would like the thin spaghetti and I would make a sauce and serve meatballs as well and give them cheese to put on top.
Which of the 3 Hidden Veggie Pastas do I think will be my family’s favorite? I’d say 3: the spaghetti, penne and elbow pasta. We love all 3 and I’d make pasta with meat sauce and some vegetarian pasta dishes.
Most likely they would prefer the spaghetti just because that is what we normally eat. It would be nice to try out the other shapes as well.
Hidden Veggie Small Penne for sure would be my fav! I would use 4 cheese rosa sauce and top it with mozzarella!
Do they have gluten free? If not I’d get a variety to give to my brother if I won!!
The Small penne. I usually will add chicken and broccolli and some cheese and they love it. Sometimes it is simple like parmesan, salt and pepper.
I would want to try the Thin Spaghetti. I would combine some ground beef with spaghetti sauce and pour it over the pasta.
Chicken Penne Pasta would probably be a hit. Garlic bread is always a great side to pasta dishes as well as salad.
I think my family would like the 100% Whole Grain Spaghetti. And with this spaghetti, the Veggie Spaghetti recipe on their website sounds great to try. Thanks for a great giveaway!
The penne, spaghetti and elbow would probably be a hit in out house. My daughter is vegetarian, so I would love to try the recipe you posted above.