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!
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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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If you don’t have shallots are there anything else that can be substitute for it?
You can substitute with a 1:1 ratio of shallots to onions. 🙂
5+ Creamy and wonderful!!! I had half a bag of frozen broccoli and used this. Wished I had more broccoli, I’d make again!!
Has anyone tried substituting whole milk for the 1 cup of half and half? Did it come out ok?
Hi Chungah, I am a 1st time poster. I have tried this recipe along with your pan sheet ones, my fav there. Love all of what you are doing. I’m retired (74) still in good shape and I usually make most breakfasts and lunches. My wife (polish decent) kicks me out of the kitchen so she can make dinner. lol. I’m not complaining there as I’m not exactly a great cook as she’s the best with great old recipe’s. I eat moderately and she doesn’t complain. Nor do I of her cooking. lol. And honestly just want to say how great both of us really enjoy your recipe’s even when we pick and choose along the way with yours as you have so many great variations. We really appreciate your effort of a great love of food to share with others. That’s special. And if Jana is a friend and helper with recipe’s, our best to her also. You both have a great thing going and sure great families. God Bless and thank you again. Let’s all eat on to keep smiles on faces. I raise a glass of cheer to you! Well, I mean tonight! It’s my turn for dinner.
Gary, you are the sweetest! Thank you so much. We appreciate you and love that you and your wife are enjoying our recipes so much!
Made this tonight and enjoyed it! So as of now we’re friends. But all bets are off tomorrow when my Rockies come for your Dodgers
Thanks, Diana!
Can you use frozen broccoli instead?
I recommend using fresh broccoli whenever possible.
Unfortunately my fresh broccoli was unusable so I substituted with a bag of frozen that I threw in with the pasta last few minutes of cooking. Turned out great! Family loved the recipe.
I will try it on my granddaughter. I love butters on instagram
very good. Thank you for sharing!
As a Canadian I am home to the capital of Mac and Cheese and as a veteran of home made Mac and cheeses I have a couple minor amendments.
Double the pasta.. One cup of cooked pasta barely feeds me forget the family. I used 2 cups of macaroni
The cheese should be apx 1 1/2 cups. Can adjust as neccsary
Steam the broccoli for 2-3 minutes overtop the pasta and add it at the end as stated
The rest of the recipe is as is. You’ll have plenty of sauce even with the pasta doubled, rest assured. Just made it this way and it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Do you have recommendations for converting measurements to the metric system? I live in a country that doesn’t use the standard system and I find that straight conversion of oz to grams or liters doesn’t always work out.
Yes, there are many free online conversion calculators/charts that can easily be used! Here’s an example: http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/metric-conversion-charts.
All I have to say is OMG…. so. dang. good. I was worried at first because the cheese sauce was taking a while to thicken, but don’t worry for those who are trying this for the first time: it thickens at the last second and man oh man is it good.
Thank you Sam! So glad you liked it.
This was sooooo delicious! I like broccoli and I know that broccoli can help me lose weight . I will make this dish tomorrow
This recipe is a winner; easy to prepare and my family loved it! I lightly steamed the broccoli, added slightly more cheese, no Dijon (daughter hates all mustard), low fat milk, and it was super yummy. I have yet to try one of your recipes that I didn’t like. Thanks so much for being awesome and posting this recipe whilst dealing with lost luggage on your trip to Paris.
Thank you so much Vicki!
Made this today and it came out so creamy and delicious. This recipe is a keeper!
It’s one of my faves as well. So good!
Do you think I could used almond milk instead of whole milk or will that ruin the consistency of the dish?
Unfortunately, we can’t answer with certainty since we haven’t tried that ourselves. It will most likely change the consistency, I usually use canned coconut milk myself when I substitute, but you have to like the flavor.
I tried this and it was great! I also varied it by adding pulled BBQ chicken and it was DELICIOUS. Thank you!
That sounds awesome. Thank you for sharing!
This mac n cheese recipe is amazing, my 8 & 9 year old kids agree! I personally am not a fan of mac n cheese but this tasted perfect and have searched for years for a recipe that was creamy, not dry, chalky or have any dreaded eggs in it. Only week I did was use half sharp cheddar and half american (for extra creaminess) , but this recipe is spot on the best I have ever made.
Awesome Stephanie! Thanks for sharing 🙂
In this email you have another broccoli and cheese recipe that’s for the Instant Pot. Could this one be made in the Instant Post, as well?
Retha, I recommend using the Instant Pot recipe.
https://damndelicious.net/2018/03/25/instant-pot-creamy-broccoli-mac-and-cheese/
I ended up trying to double the recipe and used sharp cheddar cheese. It seems that the consistency ended up being just off and seemed more yeasty and buttery. If you were making double the amount, would the amount of all purpose flour have to be less than 4 tablespoons? I want to make this again but I got so bummed, I ended up throwing it all away.
Hi Jacqueline! I’m so sorry to hear that. Mac and cheese can be very finicky so I wouldn’t recommend doubling the recipe as it just becomes too much pasta, too much cheese, too much of everything!
I didn’t have shell pasta on hand. So I use tri colored rigatoni. I doubled the recipe . I also used sharp cheddar & a blend of cheese . I steamed my broccoli, too.
The mac and cheese looks amazing, thinking of making the lighter version by substituting butter with olive oil and half and half with low fat milk. And I’m sure my son going to love this.