I have been experimenting with Mac & Cheese recipes for a while. Sure, the ones that I had made in the past were good, but I hadn’t made any that I thought “WOW! I wouldn’t change a thing!” I mean, don’t get me wrong, I could crush a store-bought box of Mac and Cheese and be perfectly happy. There are so many Mac & Cheese recipes out there that I thought “why put another one out there unless it’s exceptional?!”
I knew that when I stuck this particular recipe in the oven that I had what I was looking for… something exceptional. Todd had just gotten home right after I had pulled it out of the oven. I plated some up for the both of us, he took a bite, set down his fork and walked over to me and gave me a HUGE hug! Haha! BINGO!
This Mac and Cheese is super easy to make and is done in about 35-40 minutes. It is soooo goood.
Start this dish by cooking your bacon. Cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess grease. Do NOT throw out the bacon grease in the pan! That is what is going to give your Mac and Cheese all of the bacon-y flavor. But, you don’t want all of the burnt, big chunks of bacon that are left in the grease. So grab a mesh sieve and run the grease through it. Reserve at least 3 tbsp of the bacon grease.
Start cooking your pasta. You can use whatever pasta you like, but I really recommend cavatappi. You’ll want a pasta that the cheese sauce is going to “hug” all over.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a glass or ceramic 13×9” baking dish and set aside. Now start the cheese sauce as well. Start by adding 1/2 cup of unsalted butter to a large skillet (with high sides) over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add 3 tbsp of the reserved, strained bacon grease.
Add the flour. Stir constantly until the flour is cooked, about 2 minutes.
You can see some of the bacon-y flavor 👆🏻
Now, slowly add the milk (I used 1%), whisking constantly until the milk is incorporated and smooth. You don’t want any lumps. Add the salt, pepper and ground mustard.
Bring the cream sauce to a boil and then lower the heat to medium-low. Cook until the sauce has thickened, it should coat the back of a spoon and look like this… 👇🏻
Remove the cream sauce from the heat and add the 6 cups of shredded cheese. Let’s talk cheese- very rarely will I say that you HAVE to do something in a recipe, but let me say right now that you HAVE to shred your own cheese for this and use freshly shredded. There isn’t a big difference taste-wise between pre-shredded and freshly shredded, but there is a HUGE difference in texture. Pre-shredded cheese is more dried out. Shred your own and it will be soft and so much easier to melt. Also, you can use whatever type of cheese that you’d like… I’d recommend using at least some Cheddar though. Half Cheddar and half Colby Jack is my favorite combination for this dish.
So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way… add your freshly shredded cheese to the cream sauce and stir until all of the cheese is melted and creamy. If it doesn’t melt all of the way, put your skillet back over low heat and stir until it is completely melted.
Add about half of the chopped bacon pieces to the cheese sauce and reserve the other ya,f for the topping. The bacon pieces that go into the cheese sauce will soften a little, so you’ll want some crunchy bacon on top as well.
Give it a good stir and it will look like this…
It will look like this 👆🏻 Holy smokes! I totally understand if you wanna grab some bread and try it out!
Drain your cooked pasta and dump the pasta back into the big pot that you cooked it in. Pour that divine bacon-cheese sauce over the pasta. Give it a good stir to coat all of the pasta.
Pour the pasta into your prepared baking dish. Top it with some more freshly shredded cheese, about 1/2 cup.
Now, if you don’t want the Panko breadcrumb topping, you could just sprinkle on the reserved chopped bacon pieces. I’d highly recommend the Panko topping though- it gives it a nice crunch.
To make the topping, add 5 tbsp of butter to a medium-sized skillet. Once melted, add the breadcrumbs. Stir constantly until the breadcrumbs are toasted, about 3-4 minutes. Be careful to not burn them, once they start toasting, it will happen quickly. This is what you want them to look like…
Stir together the Panko with the reserved chopped bacon and evenly sprinkle the topping all over the Mac and Cheese.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and hot.
And this is what it looks like on the inside after you start scooping some of that cheesy treasure into a bowl…
It is so creamy and so divine. The bacon flavor in this puts it over the top 🙌🏻, but it is not overwhelming. You still get all of that lucious cheese flavor coming through. Enjoy this as a side dish or a main course.
| Prep Time | 10 Minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 Minutes |
| Servings |
Servings
|
- 8 Slices Uncooked Bacon
- 3 Tbsp Strained, Reserved Bacon Grease
- 1 Lb Cavatappi Pasta
- 3 Cups Freshly Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese + more for topping (about 1/2 cup)
- 3 Cups Freshly Shredded Colby Jack
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter + more for buttering the dish
- 1/2 Cup AP Flour
- 4 Cups Milk
- 2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp Ground Mustard
- 5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1 Cup Plain Panko Breadcrumbs
Ingredients
Topping:
|
|
- Cook the bacon slices until crispy. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess grease. Using a mesh sieve, strain the bacon grease in the pan to remove the big chunks and any burnt pieces. Reserve at least 3 Tbsp of the bacon grease.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and lightly butter a glass or ceramic 13x9” baking dish. Start the cheese sauce. Melt 1/2 cup of butter to a large skillet (with high sides) over medium heat. Once melted, add the bacon grease and stir well to incorporate.
- Add the flour and stir constantly to cook the flour, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly to ensure a smooth sauce. Begin cooking your pasta.
- Add the salt, pepper and ground mustard. Whisk well to incorporate. Bring the cream sauce to a boil and then lower heat to low until the sauce has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. The cream sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the 6 cups of cheese. Stir well until the cheese is completely melted. If it does not melt completely, add it back to low heat until the cheese has melted.
- Chop up the cooked bacon pieces. Add 1/3- 1/2 of the chopped bacon pieces to the cheese sauce. Reserve the rest of the chopped bacon for the topping.
- Drain your cooked pasta. Add the pasta back tothe large pasta pot. Pour bacon-cheese sauce over pasta and stir well to coat all of the pasta.
- Pour the pasta into the prepared dish. Top with about 1/2 cup more freshly shredded cheese. Begin cooking your topping.
- Add the 5 tbsp of butter to a medium skillet. Once the butter is melted, add the Panko breadcrumbs. Stir constantly until the breadcrumbs are toasted, about 3-4 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
- Stir the toasted breadcrumbs with the reserved chopped bacon. Evenly spread the bacon-Panko mixture over the top of the Mac and cheese.
- Bake in a preheated oven until nice and bubbly and hot, about 25 minutes. Enjoy as a main dish or a side.
Welcome to Cupcakes and Sarcasm! My name is Maggie and I am the creator of C & S. I am a wife and mom of two beautiful kiddos. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and now live in Northeast Ohio with my family. I have been cooking and baking since I was a kid. I decided in 2017 that I wanted to share my passion (and recipes) with all of you! On this site, you’ll find easy and delicious recipes- both savory and sweet. I’ll also sprinkle in some stories of parenting and our adventures along the way.