Best 4 Cheese Mac N Bacon Recipes

BAKED MAC AND CHEESE WITH BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil over high in a large stock-pot. Stir in pasta and 1 tablespoon of the salt, and return to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender but still firm, about 6 minutes. Reserve and set aside 2 cups cooking water, and then drain the pasta. Return pasta to pot, and remove from heat. Cover to keep warm.
• Generously butter a 13- x 9-inch baking dish, and set aside. Toss together breadcrumbs; Parmesan cheese; and half of the cooked, crumbled bacon in a bowl, and set aside. Stir together flour, pepper, mustard, and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a small bowl. Heat milk and buttermilk in a medium saucepan over medium, undisturbed, until barely steaming but not boiling, 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high. Add flour mixture. Cook, whisking often, until mixture is smooth and thick and has a delicate golden color and toasted aroma, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in warm milk mixture. Bring to a boil over high. Cook, stirring often, until thickened to the texture of cream, about 3 minutes.
• Stir shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses into milk mixture, and remove from heat. Stir in beaten eggs until mixture forms a smooth sauce.
• Uncover cooked pasta, and stir. (If pasta sticks together, stir in reserved warm cooking water, and drain again.) Stir cheese mixture and remaining bacon into drained pasta in stockpot.
• Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish, and sprinkle evenly with breadcrumb mixture. Bake in preheated oven until firm, puffed up, and lightly browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

EASY WEEKNIGHT BACON MAC 'N CHEESE

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.
• 2. Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, heat cooking sauce, milk and garlic to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses until melted. Stir in pasta, bacon and bell pepper. Spoon into casserole.
• 3. Bake uncovered 20 minutes or until edges are bubbly. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

MAC AND FOUR CHEESES

Steps:

• Cook the macaroni according to the package directions in lightly salted water, leaning toward the al dente side. Do not overcook!
• Put the cream, butter and garlic clove into a Dutch oven and heat on the stove over low heat. When the cream is hot, add the fontina, goat cheese, Parmesan and Romano.
• Drain the macaroni (reserving some of the cooking water if needed) and add it to the pot. Stir gently to combine, adding hot macaroni water as needed for consistency. Don't overmix; if there are little clumps of cheese here and there, it's fine! Taste and add about 1/2 teaspoon salt if needed. Add some pepper and minced parsley and stir. Serve immediately.

MAC 'N CHEESE WITH BACON AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small saucepan heat the milk with the thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Strain the solids out of the milk and whisk it into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
• While that bakes, heat a saute pan. Add the bacon, render the fat and cook until crispy. Add onion, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, scatter the bacon mixture over the mac and cheese. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.

BACON MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook macaroni according to package directions., Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Saute jalapeno in reserved drippings. Add milk and cheeses to pan; cook and stir until blended. Stir in the onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper and pepper sauce. , Drain macaroni; add to pan with the onions and cooked bacon. Mix well. , Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through.

4-CHEESE MAC 'N' BACON

Steps:

• Heat oven at 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish. Fry bacon slices; set on paper towels. Pour off all but approximately 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Put pan back on medium heat and add onion. Cook about 5 minutes, until softened. While stirring constantly, add about a third of the flour; continue stirring and slowly adding flour, for at least 1 minute. Transfer onion/flour mixture to a large, heavy saucepan on medium heat. While whisking, slowly pour in milk. Cook while whisking until mixture bubbles and gets thicker (not necessarily "thick"). Remove pan from heat. Add salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, the cheeses and stir. Crumble bacon and add it, stirring. Set aside. Cook pasta in a large saucepan about 2-3 minutes less than box's instructions. Drain pasta in a colander, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Stir pasta into the cooked cheese sauce. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Let dish stand for at least 5 minutes before serving.

CHEDDAR-BACON MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cook macaroni as directed on package. Meanwhile, melt butter in large saucepan on low heat. Stir in flour; cook 2 min. or until bubbly. Gradually stir in milk; cook on medium heat until mixture comes to boil, stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat 3 to 5 min. or until thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese; cook and stir 5 min. or until melted.
• Drain macaroni. Add to sauce with bacon; mix lightly. Spoon into 1 1/2 quart casserole; top with remaining cheese.
• Bake 20 min. or until heated through.

CHICKEN RANCH MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a 6-qt. stockpot, cook macaroni according to package directions for al dente; drain and return to pot., Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Stir in cheeses until blended. Stir in dressing., Add chicken and sauce to macaroni, tossing to combine. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish., Toss bread crumbs with melted butter; sprinkle over macaroni. Top with bacon. Bake, uncovered, 30-35 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley. Freeze option: Prepare recipe as directed, increasing milk to 1-1/3 cups. Cool unbaked casserole; cover and freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Cover casserole with foil; bake 30 minutes. Uncover; continue baking as directed or until heated through and a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°.