Bacon Cauliflower Macaroni And Cheese
Bacon Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese is the ultimate comfort food. Creamy macaroni and cheese are mixed with flavorful bacon and farm fresh cauliflower.
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It’s comfort food season. Are you in? Yep, I am taking full advantage of all the warm comforting deliciousness that the cold weather introduces. I have a slight weakness for macaroni and cheese. Well, slight is sort of an understatement. Macaroni and Cheese is my ultimate comfort food. I took the concept of comfort food to the next level with this Bacon Cauliflower Macaroni And Cheese.
Try This Delicious Recipe!
Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. We grow a lot of it on our farm, so I am so lucky that I get to enjoy it frequently during the fall growing season. Since this fall was unseasonably warm here in New Jersey
, our growing season was prolonged. I was so happy that I was able to enjoy our “Jersey Fresh” cauliflower up until Christmas.Bacon is a whole other story, because everything is better with bacon, right??!! For this Bacon Cauliflower Macaroni And Cheese, I combined two delicious ingredients to make one outstanding dish
What To You Need To Make Bacon Cauliflower Mac & Cheese?
- Elbow Macaroni (or any small shaped macaroni of choice)
- Cooked Bacon
- Shredded gruyere cheese, shredded
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Fresh Cauliflower
- Butter
- Whole Milk
- Flour
- Salt & Black Pepper
- White Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper
- Panko Breadcrumbs
How Do You Make This Classic Macaroni & Cheese Recipe?
I used a combination of shredded
The cheese is added to a roux made with milk, flour, and butter. Cauliflower is then mixed in and the roux is cooked until it is thick and creamy. It is then mixed with macaroni and baked in a casserole dish
This Bacon Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese is perfect for a cold winter day. But let’s face it, it perfect for any time for the year. It’s perfectly comforting “comfort food”. Enjoy!
Save this delicious mac & cheese recipe for later. Pin the image below to your favorite Pinterest Board.
Bacon Cauliflower Macaroni And Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 ounces elbow macaroni
- 8 slices cooked bacon, chopped
- 2 1/2 cups gruyere cheese, shredded
- 2 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 3 cups of cauliflower
- 1/2 cup butter
- 5 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to boil. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Blend in the flour, salt and pepper; gradually stir in the milk. Cook constantly until the sauce begins to thicken and the mixture begins to boil.
- Slowly add the cheese, bacon and cauliflower. Stir and bring to a low boil for one minute.
- Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.
- Stir together the cooked pasta with the cheese sauce. Pour into butter casserole dish.
- Melt three tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add panko breadcrumbs and toast for 3 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat and spread over top of the macaroni and cheese.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Yum. We love macaroni here, but I’ve never thought to put in cauliflower. Might try that next time (although not with the OH – he’s a purist – hates me adding extra veg.
Don’t mind me over here drooling over my keyboard – this looks a m a z i n g ! Such a great way to sneak in extra veggies too. Love it!
Oh my goodness, what decadence Melissa. We have a mac & cheese place around the corner and my boys love it. But that’s not homemade, and theirs would not hold a candle to yours. We will definitely have to try this, I love that you incorporated cauliflower!
Ooh cheddar + gruyere?? I am so on board with that! That’s awesome that you can just go pick your own cauliflower! It’s one of my favorite veggies!
Precook cauliflower before adding to roux?
Thanks for this recipe. I added a bit more white pepper to kick up the taste a notch and added some chopped green scallions. I also steamed the cauliflower per some other similar recipes first or about 6 minutes. Thank you for this!
Oh yes and it also didn’t specify when to add the crumbs but I left off. I just don’t like bread crumbs on my mac and cheese – personal preference. Thanks again. Came out amazing.
Do you cook cauliflower before adding to cheese sauce