Broccoli & Chicken Baked Macaroni and Cheese
I've always had a love for macaroni and cheese. I used to live off of the blue box kind, but decided that making it homemade would probably be better for my health. Good thing this broccoli and chicken baked macaroni and cheese is super easy to make and delicious!
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Broccoli and Chicken Baked Macaroni
I've been making this baked macaroni recipe for years now and it's basically become second nature to make this by now. I actually love serving it to guests or bringing it over as a meal for friends (more on that here). It's perfect to customize depending on if you are bringing it for vegetarians or not, and it's something even the kids will like!
Since this is a favorite hospitality recipe of mine, I often make it separated into different throw away dishes and serve it with a loaf of bread to complete the meal. It only takes about 30 minutes to make and 15 minutes or so to bake- unless it's being heated from the refrigerator- so it's perfect to make last minute or if you're craving mac and cheese for lunch (or maybe that's just me who does that).
Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 ounces uncooked pasta cavatappi or other twisted pasta
- 10 ounces uncooked broccoli cut into florets
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup diced onions
- ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and grease a 9"x13" glass casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- Cook 6 ounces uncooked pasta according to package directions, add 10 ounces uncooked broccoli florets to the water for the final 3 minutes of cook time.
- Drain pasta and broccoli when complete. Set aside and return saucepan to the stove top over medium heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter to the pan and when it melts, add diced ½ cup diced onions. Sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes, then add ⅓ cups all purpose flour to pan and stir to coat onions. Once flour is mostly dissolved, gradually whisk in 2 ½ cups milk.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is thick, about 2 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat and stir in 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
- Pour over cooked, drained pasta and broccoli. Toss to mix and coat.
- Transfer to greased baking dish.
- Melt ¼ cup unsalted butter and mix with 1 cup Italian style breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Feel free to add extra breadcrumbs if the mixture seems too wet. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the broccoli mac and cheese, covering as much as possible.
- Bake in oven until bubbly at edges, 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition
I always thought making homemade mac and cheese wouldn't be as good as the boxed kind- which is so backwards. Apparently when I was little my mom made me homemade mac and cheese and I didn't like it. Good thing somethings do change. This is a huge favorite in our house and I love to make it ahead of time and have leftovers for DAYS.
The beauty of this recipe is it's easy to make in bulk (I usually end up doubling it and having enough for three of these cake pans) and it's amazing leftover. I am not a huge leftover person so for me to want to eat this over and over is a big sign of it's deliciousness! If you are taking it for friends, it's great because kids will love that it's mac and cheese but you can feel good about bringing a healthier version of baked macaroni and cheese to your friends.
Do you have a go to dish you bring to friends or serve to guests?
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