Bacon mac and cheese
Creamy baked mac and cheese made from scratch, with smoky bacon in every bite and a golden crunchy panko top.
- 60 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $1.83 a serving
- 850 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 8 slices bacon
- 1 lb elbow macaroni
- ¼ cup butter, divided
- 3 cups milk
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 3 cups shredded cheddar
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, plus ½ teaspoon
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
Each serving has about 850 calories, 32 g protein, 71 g carbs and 47 g fat, and costs about $1.83 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No elbow macaroni? Penne works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F. Bring a large pot of water with 1 tablespoon salt.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cut the bacon into ½-inch pieces and cook it in a large over medium for 8 to 10 minutes, until . Scoop it onto a paper towel.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
Cook the macaroni 2 minutes less than the package says, then it. It finishes in the oven.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 6 min
3 tablespoons butter in the empty pasta pot over medium, whisk in the flour, and cook 1 minute, , until it smells toasty.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Slowly pour in the milk while , then 4 to 5 minutes, whisking often, until it’s thick enough to coat a spoon.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Pour a little milk at a time at first. It turns lumpy if it all goes in at once.Take the pot off the heat and stir in the mustard, ½ teaspoon salt and 2½ cups cheddar until smooth.
Stir in the macaroni and most of the bacon, then spread it in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Dolly’s tip: It looks too saucy now. The pasta drinks it up in the oven.the last tablespoon of butter, it with the panko, and sprinkle the crumbs, the rest of the cheese and the rest of the bacon over the top.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
20 minutes, until bubbling and on top, then let it 5 minutes before scooping.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 25 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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