Best Macaroni And Cheese With Bacon And Onions Recipes

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.

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.

BACON AND CARAMELIZED ONION MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add onions to skillet; cook uncovered 10 minutes, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, until tender and starting to brown. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 35 to 40 minutes longer, stirring every 5 minutes, until onions are deep golden brown; set aside.
• Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta as directed on package except omit salt. Spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. Pour pasta into baking dish; keep warm.
• While pasta is cooking, make cheese sauce. In 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and mustard with wire whisk. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in caramelized onions and all remaining cheese sauce ingredients.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Pour cheese sauce over pasta in baking dish. Sprinkle with topping ingredients. Bake uncovered 10 minutes or until heated through (topping will not be brown).

MINI MAC & CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain., Meanwhile, sprinkle 1/4 cup bread crumbs into 36 greased mini-muffin cups. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and seasonings until smooth; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese and Swiss cheese until melted., Remove from heat; stir in biscuit mix, eggs and 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Add macaroni; toss to coat. Spoon about 2 tablespoons macaroni mixture into prepared mini-muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese and bread crumbs., Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pans 5 minutes before serving.

CARAMELIZED ONION AND WHITE CHEDDAR MAC

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cook the macaroni in boiling water until al dente according to the package instructions, then drain and set aside.
• Fry the bacon in a dry skillet over medium heat, turning several times, until almost crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove and set aside. Pour away all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Return the skillet to the heat and add the garlic, onions and thyme. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, then cook over medium-low heat until the onions are golden and caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes.
• While the onions cook, make the cheese sauce for the macaroni. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour, whisking to combine. Cook the flour, stirring, for a minute or so. Continue to whisk as you add the milk, then the heavy cream. Cook until thick and bubbling, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the Cheddar and processed cheese, stirring until completely melted. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the cooked macaroni until completely coated.
• Add half of the onion mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with half of the macaroni mixture. Repeat with another layer of onions and the remaining macaroni mixture. Dot the top with the goat cheese.
• Chop the bacon and toss with the panko breadcrumbs, oregano, rosemary, melted butter and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle over the top of the dish. Bake until bubbly and golden, about 20 minutes.

BACON-PEPPER MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.
• Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the butter in small bowl. Stir bell pepper and onions into butter in saucepan. Increase heat to medium; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and mustard. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly. Increase heat to medium-high. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Gently stir in bacon and pasta.
• Remove from heat; stir in cheeses until melted. Pour into casserole. Stir bread crumbs into melted butter in small bowl. Sprinkle over pasta mixture.
• Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are bubbly.

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.

BACON MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from skillet and crumble (discard bacon fat).
• Heat broiler. In a large straight-sided, oven-safe skillet, melt butter. Remove 1 tablespoon butter and combine with breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
• Whisk in flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Very gradually whisk in milk and bring to a simmer. Add macaroni and cook, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pan, until tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in remaining cheese and the bacon and mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Top with breadcrumb mixture and broil until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.