The other night we had boxed mac and cheese and it was soooo boring. So, the following night I felt like we needed redeem ourselves. Behold - a mac and cheese with added flavor (the ham), added nutrients (the broccoli), and way more cheesy-creaminess (the addictive, homemade cheese sauce). Plus, fun pasta (medium shells) that hold in the sauce so deliciously.
This mac and cheese is made completely on the stovetop and then popped in the broiler for a few minutes at the end to get that nice, crispy top. That's why you can make the dish in 28 minutes or less! Ad like our Cream Cheese Pasta, this cheesy dish makes a great standalone meal or side dish for a meal!
Jump to:
👍 Why This Mac and Cheese in the Best!
- Homemade! Whatever with the boxed stuff. It's fine, I guess. But this mac n cheese is the epitome of classic, comfort deliciousness!
- And it's Easy! My 7 year old made like 75% of this recipe on her own.
- Quick! This really only takes a bit longer than making boxed mac n cheese, because you can make the whole cheese sauce while the pasta is still cooking. And while most mac n cheese recipes (that start stovetop and finish in the oven) take anywhere from 45 mins to an hour, ours takes only 28 minutes!
- Customizable! Add meat, add veggies, change up the seasonings. This mac and cheese can be adapted in so many ways. You can even skip the oven step.
While we made this dish on the stovetop, we decided to pop our mac and cheese into a casserole dish under the broiler at the very end to give it a nice, crisp and bubbly finish. This is totally optional, but seemed like a no brainer for us since our family loves an added crunch.
🛒 Ingredients
Notes and Substitutions:
Pasta - While elbow macaroni noodles are most common, any pasta will work. Best if it's a pasta with grooves that call hold in the yummy gooey cheese sauce, like shells, rotini, radiatori, or orecchiette.
Seasonings - We use just salt and mustard powder. Other good choices are onion powder, garlic powder, garlic salt, parsley, nutmeg, black pepper and cayenne.
Milk - We use 2% milk, but milk of any fat level will work: 2%, whole milk, cream, heavy cream. We wouldn't recommend skim, though, because it won't thicken up the sauce as much.
Cheese - Sooo many options here! An extra sharp cheddar tends to bring out the big flavor that won't get muted by the cream. You can also blend multiple cheeses. Some ideas: cheddar or sharp cheddar (yellow and/or white), italian cheese blend, gruyere, gouda, and monterey or colby jack cheeses.
Broccoli - Our fave veggie for mac and cheese with ham is broccoli. It compliments the saltiness of the ham really well. Frozen peas, a frozen veggie medley, chopped asparagus and mushrooms are all excellent options too.
Ham - Ham brings the saltiness and we're here for it! It's also great if you have leftover ham and need to use it up. You can also use chicken, turkey, bacon or tofu (just make sure it's seasoned enough).
Bread crumbs - Plain bread crumbs, panko or even crushed up potato chips make for an awesome topping! You can even mix one of these with parmesan and melted butter for added flavor and dimension.
Note: Check the recipe card below for ingredient quantities and more recipe detail.
⏲ Equipment
Pots, pans, big dishes 🍳: medium pot, dutch oven (or large pot), 9x13 casserole dish
Measuring stuff 🥣: ½ teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, ½ Tablespoon, 1 Tablespoon, ¼ cup, ½ cup, 1 cup, and Pyrex 4-cup for the milk
Smaller tools 🔪: a cute kitchen timer, slotted spoon, colander, whisk, spatula, our fave animal oven mitts
🧑🍳 Instructions
Only 4 Steps!
And You Get to Devour This!
Kids Cooking Tasks
Kids can take over most steps of this recipe, especially the pouring, stirring, and measuring. Make sure your kids have oven mitts and understand how hot the pots can get. And they can use this adorable kitchen timer for each step along the way.
🥄 Step 1: Pour the pasta shells into the boiling water (carefully, obvs). I don't know why, but my kid LOVES this task more than anything. Then, periodically, let kids taste and determine if pasta is done. Hungry toddlers love this job!
🥄 Step 2: This is the biggest step. Have your kiddo measure out everything first! Explain that they start by making a roux: a mix of fat and flour, which forms a paste that will thicken the sauce. The goal is just to add the ingredients in order, stirring constantly to avoid burning and lumps. They can alternate between the whisk and spatula.
🥄 Step 3: Easy peasy! Just add the pasta, broccoli and ham to the sauce and mix! A wooden spoon is great for mixing, but I love this silicone spatula from Thermoworks (it's really sturdy and comes in fun colors).
🥄 Step 4: Kids can sprinkle the bread crumbs and remaining cheese onto the dish.
Adult Cooking Tasks
Adults should helm the tasks involving really hot 🔥🔥🔥 things: draining the hot pasta water and taking the dish in and out of the broiler.
❓FAQs
We think that (extra) sharp cheddar cheese gives this dish the most flavor. Beyond cheddar, two popular choices are gruyere and gouda. But just pick your family's fave! Delish has a helpful reference on The Best Cheeses for Mac & Cheese that's worth checking out. Also worth noting is that many people prefer to shred their own cheese, as the consistency of pre-shredded cheese when melted isn't as smooth. We used pre-shredded cheese and thought it was fine, though.
Fresh, green veggie sides or salads go really well with mac and cheese, adding a nice, clean contrast to the creaminess of the pasta. We had our mac and cheese with sliced cucumber, baby tomatoes and sugar snap peas on the side.
To make this mac and cheese lighter you can use a lower fat milk (higher fat than skim, though), low-fat cheese, and a lower-sodium ham. Additionally, throw in more veggies!
You can keep your mac and cheese moist by using a pasta that will hold the cheese in its grooves (e.g. shells) and also by making sure you have enough cheese sauce. I always make a little extra cheese sauce to add to the leftovers.
🧊 Storage & Leftovers
You can store your leftover mac and cheese for 3-5 days in a sealed container in the fridge. However, I don't recommend freezing the leftovers. Mac and cheese is prone to drying out. So, my tip is to make 1 ½ times the cheese sauce in the recipe and set aside the extra in the fridge. When it's time to eat the leftovers, add 1-2 spoonfuls of the cheese sauce to the pasta before reheating. I actually used this extra cheese sauce in other dishes too and it only made everything taste better.
✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks
- Make this easy on yourself- Seriously! You don't have to cut up freshly baked ham, shred a whole block of cheese or steam and chop fresh broccoli. Freakin' buy the pre-diced ham, pre-shredded cheese and frozen broccoli in the microwave-steamable bag. I did. No shame. {Caveat - if you do have extra time, freshly grated cheese will have a smoother finish but is totally not necessary}
- Monitor the roux- While making the roux, the butter can easily burn if you're not paying attention. Watch the burner isn't too hot (everyone's stove-top is different) and that you're constantly whisking/stirring.
- Use cool milk- Basically, your milk should just be colder than the roux. Now, I went down the rabbit hole of all the opinions about the temperature milk should be for a bechamel sauce. But what I gather is that as long as the milk is a little cooler than the roux and you add it very gradually, the mixture won't separate or get lumpy.
- Add milk slowly- When you start adding milk to the roux, do so very slowly, stirring the whole time. This way the sauce won't lump, stick to the bottom of the pan or burn. And again, make sure the temp isn't too high.
- Broil with caution- My broiler gets crazy hot, and I found that putting the mac and cheese casserole in there for more than 2-3 minutes will scorch it. Check how powerful yours is. Another idea is to pop the dish into the oven at one of its highest temps instead of broiling. Just make sure your dish is oven and/or broiler safe.
👶 Tips for Picky Eaters
🍅 Swap the veggies! If your kids don't like broccoli, replace the broccoli with another veggie, like peas, green beans, cauliflower or mushrooms. Worth noting is that a veggie that comes in a frozen, steamable bag will save time.
🍅 Change or omit the meat. If ham isn't a family favorite, exchange it for another meat, like chicken, bacon or ground beef. For vegetarians, Beyond Meat has really great meat substitute products.
🍅 "Crunch" it up! Sometimes we sprinkle our macaroni and cheese with crushed potato chips before putting it into the oven. This adds an extra yummy crunch to the dish!
🧶 Craft for this Recipe
Make DIY Play Food Pasta: Mac and Cheese: Turn actual food into playfood! All you have to do is dye uncooked pasta with food coloring and glue it onto a paper plate. Instant mac and cheese play food - it's that easy! This craft guarantees an imaginative dinner that your kids will play with over and over again.
Note: If you decide to do our Mac and Cheese Play Food Craft, set aside some uncooked pasta from the box before cooking, or buy a little extra from the store.
🍽 Other Cheesy Pasta Dishes You'll Love
Follow Platein28 on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook and Sign up for our newsletter for all the latest recipes and crafts!
🧀 Creamy Mac and Cheese with Ham and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Tablespoons salt divided
- 1 Pound medium shell pasta
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons mustard powder
- 3 ¾ cups cold milk
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
- 16 ounce frozen broccoli
- 8 ounce diced ham
- ¼ cup plain bread crumbs or more
Instructions
- In medium pot, heat water for pasta. Add 1 T of the salt to water. Once boiling, add pasta and cook according to package. When pasta is done, strain, rinse with cold water, and set aside. Note: While pasta is cooking, turn on broiler.
- Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or large pot, heat butter on low-medium heat. Once melted, add flour, mustard powder, and the remaining ½ T salt. Whisk together until well combined (this is your roux). Slowly, add milk to the roux, stirring constantly. Turn heat up to medium. Whisk mixture frequently until lumps go away. Then stir constantly for 5-ish minutes, until you sauce is as thick as you'd like. Stir in 2 ½ cups of the cheese until cheese is melted.
- Cook broccoli in microwave according to package. Add pasta, cooked broccoli and ham to the cheese sauce. Mix together.
- Pour mixture into 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle casserole with bread crumbs and the remaining ½ cup of the cheese. Put dish on top rack of oven and broil for 2-4 minutes.
Notes
-
- Save time by buying pre-diced ham and pre-shredded cheese. Plus, I would recommend buying frozen broccoli in the microwave-steamable bag. Other good frozen veggies are peas or a veggie medley (like peas, corn, green beans).
-
- Monitor the roux. You don't want your butter to burn. Just make sure the burner isn't too hot and that you're constantly whisking/stirring.
-
- Use milk that's cooler than the roux. As long as the milk is a little cooler than the roux and you add it very gradually, the mixture won't separate or get lumpy.
-
- Add milk slowly, stirring the whole time. This way the sauce won't lump, stick to the bottom of the pan or burn. And again, make sure the temp isn't too high.
-
- Broil with caution. Some broilers (like mine) will scorch something after 2-3 mins. Check how powerful yours is. Another idea is to pop the dish into the oven at a very high baking temp instead of broiling. Just make sure your dish is oven and/or broiler safe.
- Make extra sauce to pour on your leftovers. I can't recommend this enough!
Nutrition
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. While we are not certified nutritionists, we work with a WordPress-integrated nutrition API to calculate our recipes' ingredient values.
Want more 28-minute recipes? Sign up and get recipes straight to your inbox!
Leave a Reply