Homemade Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese
Homemade broccoli macaroni and cheese is a recipe every one should know how to make! If you enjoy eating mac and cheese, and who doesn't, this is a recipe you've got to try! It's perfect for weeknight dinners, bringing to a friend, or serving to the whole family! This homemade broccoli macaroni and cheese is made with corkscrew pasta, homemade cheese sauce, broccoli and finished with a bread crumb topping.
This post is a part of my series on bringing meals to others. This Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese is the dish I bring to people most often when I bring a meal over. It's classic, creamy and comforting. This series is all about bringing meals to people who are going through a transitional or tough time.
Macaroni and Cheese. It's one of two things I pretty much cannot turn down (the other being Chick-Fil-A).
The truth behind that statement is that I grew up and lived off of Kraft Mac & Cheese. Something my grandmother loves to remind me of. I think my mom is just glad I didn't turn into macaroni and cheese. Even though it's not what I eat every night anymore (thankfully), it's still one of my number one comfort foods, and consequentially, it's one of the number one things I love to bring to people, so it feels pretty natural that this (updated) recipe would be the first I'd share during this maternity leave.
It turns out that macaroni and cheese is one of those things I didn't think I could make homemade. I mean, we can't compete with Kraft mac and cheese, of course 😉 but we certainly can try. Homemade macaroni and cheese is actually just about as simple as making a pasta dish at home. Making the cheese sauce is really easy, and after making it for a few years now, I found an even easier and more foolproof way to make it.
This is one of my favorite meals to bring to others because it's comforting but also easy to change up. I love adding some pan-grilled chicken to make this a complete meal or leaving the broccoli on the side so people can make their own macaroni and cheese creations. You could add tons of extra fixins to really spruce up this dish if you want, or leave it as is because I promise it's good just as it is.
The real reason I love bringing this to people may be that it's so easy to double and have dinner ready for?my family too. To make enough to fill a 9x13 pan you only use half of a box of pasta, so I usually will just double that and double the sauce and broccoli portion, split it between two pans and dinner is totally ready!
If you want to make this dish even better when you bring it to someone, include a bag of salad, some bakery rolls, a pan of brownies or chocolate chip cookies! Just a few fun ideas that are easy to grab when you get your supplies for this recipe.
Recommended Tools:
Ready to make your own Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese??
If you make this recipe or you're thinking about making this recipe, please leave a comment and rating below to let me know!
Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 ounces uncooked pasta cavatappi or other twisted pasta
- 10 ounces uncooked broccoli cut into florets
- 2 ½ cups milk
- ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup diced onions
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 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 pasta according to package directions, add 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 butter to the pan and when it melts, add diced onions. Sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes, then add flour to pan and stir to coat onions. Once flour is mostly dissolved, gradually whisk in 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 cheddar cheese, mustard, salt and pepper.
- Pour over cooked, drained pasta and broccoli. Toss to mix and coat.
- Transfer to greased baking dish.
- Combine melted butter and 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
My friends call me Mad and you can too. Here you'll find easy, wholesome recipes, and designed to share with those you love.
I made this for my friend's 40th birthday party and it was a hit. People kept telling me it was their favorite macaroni and cheese. I tripled the recipe to make it for 25 people and it ended up being a little too much but it's great leftover.
Oh, Madison, this looks INCREDIBLE. I'm all about some mac 'n cheese these days, and I cannot wait to make this... for dinner tonight!
This looks AMAZING! Two of my favorite things: cheese and broccoli. I need to make this and freeze it for myself. haha
I totally approve of that plan!!