This Three Cheese Bacon Mac and Cheese is loaded up with crispy baked bacon and three different kinds of cheese, it’s to die for!
Three Cheese Bacon Mac and Cheese
I’m a sucker for Mac and Cheese. It’s kinda the ultimate comfort food, am I right? Now when I say that this Three Cheese Bacon Mac and Cheese recipe is to die for, I mean that pretty literally.
I’m pretty sure I can actually feel it clogging my arteries as I eat it, but it’s just so good I can’t help myself.
I mean bacon, pasta, and cheese… it’s like the perfect combo! So if in the end, it’s the Mac and Cheese that gets me, well, at least it was something I enjoyed.
But I’d die 1,000,000,000 times happier if I got to follow it up with Banoffee Pie before meeting my fate. After all, I am a dessert kinda girl!
JUST TAKE ME TO THE BACON MAC AND CHEESE RECIPE ALREADY!
If you’d rather skip my (very helpful, I think) tips and tricks, essential cooking info, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to this deliciously easy Best Ever BACON MAC AND CHEESE Recipe – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
This recipe was actually inspired by Longhorn’s Steakhouse Bacon Mac and Cheese! I have to get it every time we go there and decided that I really needed to make a copycat recipe at home.
I might be being a little biased, but I think I nailed it!
This Bacon Mac and Cheese is one of the first recipe ever posted here on the blog, and it was finally time to update photos and the recipe. This is one of those recipes that reminded me just how far I’ve come.
Even with poor quality photos, this recipe has always been popular and I hope you’ll all give it a try and enjoy it as much as we do!
It’s the perfect comfort food and great for snowy days trapped inside! If you want a leaner cozy recipe, try my Healthy and Easy Turkey Chili. Don’t forget to pin this recipe for later!
How To Make Bacon Mac and Cheese:
This delicious comfort food recipe is really simple to make and you can even cook your bacon up ahead of time to make it even quicker!
We usually cook up a whole pound of bacon and enjoy some for breakfast and add the rest to this mac and cheese for dinner!
1. Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place two cooling racks on top of a jelly pan and lay the bacon out on it, the bacon can be touching to start, it will shrink up during cooking, and bake bacon for 15 – 18 minutes. Once bacon finishes cooking, transport it to a paper towel-lined plate to rest.
3. Turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
4. Bring water to a boil in a large pan, making sure to salt it. Once boiling, add in pasta and cook until Al dente.
5. While pasta and bacon are cooking, add butter and heavy cream to a medium saucepan. Once butter has melted, whisk in flour and seasonings and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.
6. Whisk in 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and the other cheeses one at a time until completely melted, continue to simmer for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
7. Once pasta had finished cooking and has been drained, put it back in the pan and then pour cheese sauce over it.
8. Chop up bacon and transfer to the pan and stir it in and transfer mac n cheese to a medium-sized casserole dish.
9. Add breadcrumbs and 2 tablespoons of butter to a medium skillet and toast until breadcrumbs are golden brown. Remove from heat and add the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the mac and cheese.
10. Bake for 20 minutes and enjoy warm.
More Delicious Comfort Food Recipes
Mini Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cakes
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This post was originally published March 20, 2013.
Three Cheese Bacon Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 8 strips thick-cut bacon cooked and chopped
- 16 ounces Cavatappi pasta
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Topping:
- 1/2-3/4 cup Parmesan Bread Crumbs
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place two cooling racks on top of a jelly pan and lay the bacon out on it, the bacon can be touching to start, it will shrink up during cooking, and bake bacon for 15 - 18 minutes. Once bacon finishes cooking, transport it to a paper towel-lined plate to rest.
- Turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pan, making sure to salt it. Once boiling, add in pasta and cook until Al dente.
- While pasta and bacon are cooking, add butter and heavy cream to a medium saucepan. Once butter has melted, whisk in flour and seasonings and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Whisk in 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and the other cheeses one at a time until completely melted, continue to simmer for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Once pasta had finished cooking and has been drained, put it back in the pan and then pour cheese sauce over it.
- Chop up bacon and transfer to the pan and stir it in and transfer mac n cheese to a medium-sized casserole dish.
- Add breadcrumbs and 2 tablespoons of butter to a medium skillet and toast until breadcrumbs are golden brown. Remove from heat and add the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the mac and cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes and enjoy warm.
Ashley says
Love this dish and so does my family! I double the cheese sauce and add some shredded chicken too.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Yum, love the chicken addition!
Anthony says
This recipe is definitely going somewhere but I followed the recipe to the T and that’s where the crucial error comes in. The Mac and cheese may as well have been Mac and that’s it. You could taste the cheese slightly but it was not gooey one bit as Mac and cheese should be, it was very dry. I would think the only way to make this good would be to double the cheese or the whole sauce as a hole(cheese and everything). Was making this for an anniversary dinner and was extremely dissapointed.