Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese
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The EASIEST and CREAMIEST mac and cheese made in less than 30 min! Comfort food perfection! And it is the perfect way to sneak in those greens!
Featured Comment
Greetings from Paris!!! We hopped on a flight from Indianapolis to JFK to Paris, except our luggage didn’t quite follow us all the way to France.
So we’re drowning our sorrows in croissant after croissant after croissant. It really seems to be helping.
But in the meantime, for those of you getting ready for those New Year’s resolutions, I have my favorite mac and cheese recipe to share today.
Now when I say resolutions, I’ll be eating kale and kale starting January 1st. So for these last 3 days, let’s indulge and eat our hearts out with the creamiest mac and cheese ever.
I also did you guys a favor and added broccoli.
The broccoli is good for you – promise.
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute penne, elbow macaroni, ziti or fusilli.
This really depends on personal preference. The broccoli florets (if chopped small) should cook through with the cheese in the last few steps but if you prefer softer broccoli, you can parboil them, adding them in during the last 5 minutes when cooking your pasta shells.
Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.
Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces medium pasta shells
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ⅓ cups whole milk
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 6 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and shallot, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, half and half and Dijon until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in pasta, broccoli and cheese until well combined, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made this. The recipe is missing the directions for cooking the broccoli, so I cooked it for a little bit in the noodle water. My husband said it was good.
I’m looking forward to trying this, I love all of your recipe’s but note, it can’t be called mac and cheese if you’re not using macaroni. In this case it’s pasta shells and cheese.
This is a great recipe. I made this for my daughter who is recovering from a tonsillectomy so I precooked the broccoli so it was extra soft. Came out delicious and smooth. I grated the cheddar myself … a while ago I found that the anti-caking agents in pre-grated cheese make for a grainy texture in the sauce.
It was AMAZING!!!
COOK THE BROCCOLI!
I thought it was weird and should have read the comments before making but talked myself out of it. Do a little par boil on those florets.
Even though the broccoli was a little crunchy this was so so so good. I used jovial gluten free elbow and king Arthur’s cup for cup gluten free flour and it turned out perfect. Served with blackened chicken. Will make again for sure!
Very good. I put the broccoli in with the pasta for the last couple of minutes of cooking . I also added Worcestershire sauce and a bit of franks hot sauce to give the cheese sauce a bit of a kick
Thank you
Made it tonight in my cast iron skillet, added ham and Gouda cheese along with the sharp cheddar. Also grated more cheddar cheese and then broiled it. For spices I added smoked paprika and Italian seasoning. Amazing as all the recipes from Damn Delicious
I’ve made this a few times, my kids and I love it!
Made this tonight. Doubled the recipe. Substituted onion for shallot, because that’s what I had. Added leftover turkey breast. Everyone liked it. Will go into my saved recipes for repeat. Thank you!
Did you used raw broccoli, or did you use the steamed broccoli bag?
Excellent dish! Followed recipe, no changes.
Seeem really tasty thank you i will try this recipe.
Hi there I havent made this dish yet 1 question I have though is what is a shallot? Do I need to use that when making this dish??
Small, mild onions.
What a lovely recipe. This was a hit with my 2.5 year old. I pulverized the broccoli florets in my food processor to make it as fine as possible so it kind of melts away into the sauce. I also used Gruyère cheese; I can’t wait to make this again!
Am I missing the cheese in the ingredients list? I don’t see it!
At the bottom of the list of ingredients – ‘6 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated’
Hi…I’m in Australia and I can’t find half and half… what can I substitute it with and what is the measurement for the alternative
You can sub milk mixed with a bit of flour and butter.
should I put the broccoli in raw?
Omg , so damn good!!!!! And believe it or not quick live it will totally make again.
Just as it said, quick and delicious! Super easy recipe with the cheese sauce being the perfect consistency. I’ll definitely make this recipe again.
would definitely make again… and again! I added broccoli and cauliflower to mine (waste not want not!) Also in addition to the Dijon mustard, I added just a splash of Winchester sauce for a deeper flavor. I didn’t have enough sharp cheddar, so I grated some Munster cheese too so small changes are ok with this recipe… make it “yours.” And when you delve in to your first bite…. OMG!!! Yummy!
This was fantastic! I added my broccoli to my pasta for the last minute of boiling time to make sure it was soft enough. I also added a couple good sprinkles of seasoning salt to my cheese sauce. I wanted to make it a complete meal so I rinsed a couple cans of chicken breast (canned chicken saved me an enormous amount of time) and added it to the cheese sauce when I added my pasta and broccoli. I then put it all in a baking dish and put some smashed up ritz crackers and butter on top. Popped it under the broiler for a couple minutes and voila! It was the perfect easy meal!!
So yummy! Was in the mood for broccoli Mac and cheese and I came across this recipe. I used gluten free elbow pasta to really get that mac and cheese feel and it turned out great. Luckily I checked out the reviews before cooking so I added the broccoli in with the pasta 3 minutes before the pasta was done and it cooked perfect. I added a little more broccoli than the recipe and after seeing how sparse it was in the dish I’m definitely going to add another cup next time. I added 2 extra oz of cheddar and since I had blocks of Parmesan and Romano just sitting in my fridge I threw some in there. Tasted great! Even with the extra cheese I still thought it could’ve been cheesier. Can’t wait to tweak this next time!