This Three Cheese Bacon Mac and Cheese is loaded up with crispy baked bacon and three different kinds of cheese – Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Cheddar Cheese – it’s to die for!
If you’re a big Macaroni and Cheese you might also enjoy my Creamy Stovetop Mac and Cheese and my Crock Pot 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!
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!
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!
- Begin by preheating the 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, remove bacon from pan and 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. Melt butter and whisk in flour and seasonings and simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
- Whisk in 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and the other shredded cheeses one at a time until completely melted. Continue to simmer for a couple minutes, stirring frequently. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- After draining, put cooked macaroni pasta 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 baking 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.
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!
More Delicious Comfort Food Recipes
- Best Ever Meatloaf – You’ll love the secret ingredient!
- Chicken and Rice Casserole – This only requires one dish to make it!
- Chicken Tetrazzini – One of my husband’s favorite dinners!
- Cheesy Corn Casserole – Always a hit at Thanksgiving!
Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
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If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review; I love hearing from you! And don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges and win prizes!
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.
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Comments & Reviews
Rebecca Hubbell says
It should be okay.
Laura says
Have you ever made ahead of time (like a day or two before) and then baked? Trying to make for a potluck but need to make it in advance and take it to cook.
Rebecca Hubbell says
So glad you found the recipe again, it’s one of our favorites and I hope you find many more recipes you enjoy on the site!
Lori Smith says
My husband found this recipe a couple of years ago. We pulled it out to take to a post-lockdown get-together with friends for a dart night. It was a huge hit!!! We brought back a small amount of leftovers, which were even better warmed up.
Then I lost the recipe…and was asked to bring it again to another event. I searched and searched and found two alternatives, but couldn’t find the original. Both were not NEARLY as delicious and a big letdown!
Lo and behold, I found it yesterday in a stack of papers. I won’t lose this one again (it’s in my bookmarks AND recipe collection book too)!!! Going to try many more Sugar and Soul recipes in the future!
Crystal says
This is honestly the best Mac and Cheese recipe that I’ve made. It’s an amazing recipe with lots of delicious flavours and super cheesy! I highly recommend this one!
Rebecca Hubbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Leana says
delicious!!!! i love this so much, i’ll be saving the recipe :).
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Anna, thats size pan will work just fine, the one in the photo is slightly smaller, about 9×12.
Anna says
What size pan did you use? Was it a 9×13?
Pat Branch says
I made this and it tasted good but very dry. Needs the sauce recipe doubled.
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.