Making green mac & cheese
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use food skills to make green mac & cheese, making a roux sauce.
Key learning points
- Different pasta, vegetables and cheeses can be used. Cheese is made from milk, which can be from a cow, sheep or goat.
- Recipes can be modified to help meet healthy eating messages, such as using reduced fat cheese and adding extra veg.
- Starch granules in flour swell and thicken when in liquid and heated, a process called gelatinisation.
- The food skills used to make mac & cheese are measuring, grating, slicing, using the hob and grill and draining.
- Home-cooked and shop-bought dishes can be compared, such as cost, food skills, convenience, taste and health.
Keywords
Macaroni - a type of pasta, sometimes shortened to ‘mac’
Gelatinisation - the process of thickening a mixture of starch (flour) in liquid when heated
Roux sauce - a classic French sauce, made with butter, flour and milk
Common misconception
A roux sauce can have all the liquid (milk) added at the same time, and whisked occasionally.
A roux sauce must have the liquid (milk) added gradually, and the sauce should be whisked continually to prevent lumps.
Teacher tip
To add variety, encourage pupils to use different types of pasta, cheese, and vegetables, as well as other flavourings. If time is tight, allow pupils to finish off grilling their 'green mac & cheese' at home.
Equipment
For ingredients and equipment, see the recipe in additional materials.
Content guidance
Risk assessment required - may contain allergens
Risk assessment required - equipment
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these are not a 'getting ready to cook' step?
Q2.Which of these is the bridge hold?
Q3.Match the equipment to the action:
grate cheese
stir-fry vegetables
cook fishcakes
dice an onion
drain pasta
Q4.What does this logo mean on food packaging?
Q5.Place this recipe for scones in the correct order.
Q6.What is the scientific term for when egg is cooked and it becomes firm (sets)?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Match the equipment to its function when making green mac and cheese.
draining pasta
boiling and simmering the sauce
whisking the sauce
grating cheese
measuring milk
Q2.True or false? A roux sauce can have all the liquid (milk) added at the same time, and whisked occasionally.
Q3.Match the following way a recipe could be modified to help meet healthy eating guidelines.
using a reduced fat cheese
using wholemeal pasta
adding more veg and/or beans
adding fish, such as tuna or mackerel
Q4.The process of a roux sauce becoming thick is called ...
Q5.Place this simplified macaroni cheese recipe in the correct order.
To help you plan your 8 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Making green mac & cheese, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Making green mac & cheese, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 cooking and nutrition lessons from the Cooking techniques and proficiency unit, dive into the full secondary cooking and nutrition curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.