Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese
by Chungah
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This easy broccoli mac and cheese is so dreamy and so creamy, made in less than 30 minutes! It’s speedy comfort food with sneaked in veggies!
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Why you’ll love broccoli mac and cheese
- Creamy comfort food. Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, a beloved feel good staple, and it’s an absolute family-favorite.
- Made with real cheese. Say goodbye to boxed mac and cheese! With real cheese and a thick, velvety cream sauce, this is a recipe you’ll be coming back to again and again.
- Sneaked-in veggies. The broccoli soaks up all the cheesy flavors, sneaking in fiber and vitamins for all the picky eaters! They won’t even notice the added veggies!
- Versatile, flexible recipe. This recipe is incredibly flexible and forgiving, substituting with what you have on hand, and even adding in leftover rotisserie chicken for added protein!
Prepping the broccoli
Preparing the broccoli depends on how you prefer your vegetables in mac and cheese.
- For tender broccoli: parboil the broccoli florets with the pasta during the last few minutes of the pasta cook time, about 3-4 minutes
- For crisp-tender broccoli: cut the broccoli into small florets and allow them to cook through when the cheese is added
- For blended broccoli: finely chop or pulse the broccoli in a food processor and let it cook through when the cheese is added
how to make broccoli mac and cheese
- Boil the pasta. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water just until al dente, draining well.
- Sauté the aromatics. Cook the garlic and shallot in melted butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat until fragrant.
- Make the roux. Stir in the flour until lightly browned, creating a roux and eliminating the raw flour taste.
- Add the liquids. Stir in the milk, half and half, Dijon, salt, and pepper until slightly thickened.
- Combine. Stir in the al dente pasta, broccoli florets and cheese (a handful at a time) until smooth. Pro tip: for extra protein and repurposing leftovers, stir in shredded rotisserie chicken with the cooked pasta.
- Serve. Serve warm.
Tools For This Recipe
Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions
Use short, ridge-shaped pasta to hold up sauce such as shells, elbows, penne or cavatappi.
Fresh broccoli florets will yield the best crisp-tender texture but frozen broccoli can absolutely be used if it is cooked and drained well (or the cheese sauce will be runny).
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 and add them in during the last few minutes when boiling the pasta.
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.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheat gently on the stovetop, adding a splash of milk to restore some of the moisture, until warmed through and creamy.
Creamy Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Video
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.
Equipment
Notes
- Use ridge-shaped pasta. Shells is perfectly bite-sized and well-suited for capturing sauces. Elbows, penne or cavatappi are also excellent options.
- Cook the pasta until al dente. The pasta will finish cooking in the warm cheese sauce.
- Freshly grated cheese goes a long way. Pre-packaged shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents that can lead to grainy, gritty mac and cheese. Freshly grated cheese will melt uniformly, ensuring a smoother melt, better creamy texture, and richer flavors throughout.
- Stir in the cheese a handful at a time. This will prevent the sauce from becoming grainy or clumpy.
- Clean out the fridge. Add leftover rotisserie chicken or any lingering veggies such as zucchini, peas, spinach or kale.
Did you make this recipe?
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This wasn’t bad but made per recipe it was bland. It definitely needs some spices like salt, pepper, paprika.
I’ve made this for years and the recipe I have calls for ham as well. Very good recipe!
Love this recipe. It’s best fresh so I don’t like to have leftovers of it but it’s so good!
Hi, I am wanting to double the amount of noodles! What else should I double to accommodate?
Do I cook the broccoli before combining with the pasta & sauce? I love your recipes.
I think this has to be my longest running recipe in my line up! I’m obsessedddddd! So so good!
Absolutely delicious! My whole family including my 4 year old loved it! These are the worst and best kind of reviews. I hope it shows the reader the recipe is very well planned even with substitutions. I didn’t have whole milk so I used reserved pasta water. I didn’t have a shallot so I used an onion. And I used 1/2 pepper jack and 1/2 sharp cheddar. It still came out AMAZING. I was terrified of using the flour but it was so easy and really worked wonderfully! Printed this recipe out and put it into my very selective drawer of recipes (there’s only about 12 in there). Thank you again! Will be following your blog frequently from now on!
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!