One-Pan Broccoli-Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese

This Mac 'n' Cheese was very underwhelming. 

The Mac N' Cheese was easy enough to make, but required more ingredients to make it good.  I would add more bacon, 6 pieces should be enough.  I added cayenne pepper, just a pinch and it made it so much better.

I tried this recipe because it came up on my meal plan for the Cooking Light Diet.  It was very tasty!  My family didn't even notice the butternut squash.  I could not find frozen so I bought fresh, steamed it, and pureed it in my food  processor.  I did add a few extra slices of bacon :)  Will definately make this again.

One of our go to meals. We have this almost weekly! It's a great weeknight meal for this full-time working mom. People are complaining that it needs more bacon and cheese, but Hello, it's supposed to be healthy. My 10 year old said he hated squash when he saw me buying it, but he didn't even realize it was in the mac & cheese until the 3rd time I made it and only because he saw me put it in lol 

My husband and I really liked this. I made it with 12 oz of penne and a 12 oz bag of frozen broccoli because that's what I had on hand. I simmered it longer to cook the pasta and broccoli. I used Cascadian Farms frozen winter squash purée and Applewood bacon. Next time I will use more bacon. It was an easy, savory, and satisfying one-dish meal that seems relatively healthy. I will definitely add this to my regular recipe rotation.

I make a batch of this each week and my son (age 13) takes it for lunch in a thermos. He really likes it and it's a healthy, filling lunch for him. It's very quick to make and only involves the single pan.  I do put a little more cheese in than called for but have made it with the suggested amount of cheese and it's still good.

Nice easy weeknight meal.  And it was tasty.  My family really enjoyed this.  Serve it with a green salad.  I especially liked the fact that I only needed on pan to make it.

This is really great, and I cannot believe it only has 3.5 stars! It's not a company dish, but my two year old who cries at the thought of vegetables will happily down multiple servings of this stuff. I always use whole wheat bow tie pasta.  

My husband and I liked this. It's not a wow, but it's a solid meal. Good portion size for the calorie count. Easy to make. For some reason, I cannot find large elbow macaroni anywhere, so I used 12 oz of what I guess is the regular size.I also used a really good, flavorful organic bacon. No additional bacon, drippings, or cheese, but I did add an additional half teaspoon of salt. We are two people, so the leftovers will provide lunch for a few days. Thought the ratio of broccoli to pasta was good. I will make it again.

I was skeptical on this "one pot dish," but it turned out really good!  I made my own squash puree earlier in the week when i was roasting butternut squash for a different dish.  I'm vegetarian, so I left out the bacon entirely and used half vegetable broth, half water instead of chicken stock.  I used whole wheat macaroni and cooked it for a little longer than directed.  Was able to half the salt (probably because there was salt in my veggie broth).  Will definitely make again!

Delicious take on this comfort food.

I made my own butternut squash and was able to put half in the freezer for next time. My husband is ultra picky about low cal meals and he loved it.:) YAY!!! Now is it the same as the real thing? Of course not, but it is a GREAT healthy alternative. Good job Cooking Light!!!!!!

I made my own butternut squash puree for this dish.  Very easy and pretty good flavor (I used sharp cheese).  Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner or if you are just craving comfort food.  I cooked the broccoli for 5 minutes, instead of 3.  Will definitely make again.  The family really liked it.

Easy and made a lot, plus both of my kids ate it---and they had no idea it contained butternut squash! Score! But I agree with other reviewers: use MUCH more bacon, and consider doubling the cheese. (We aren't overly fat- and calorie-conscious in my house.) And definitely use sharp cheddar to boost the flavor. I think seasoning the sauce more (with smoked paprika or cayenne) could help, too. Worth trying for a quick, kid-friendly meal, though.

Anything with bacon and cheese is usually devoured in our house...however this dish was so bland that nobody even had seconds! I even used extra bacon. I suggest tasting your sauce and flavoring to taste at that point. More garlic, or garlic salt and even cayenne pepper like someone else thought. I also would some extra flavorful cheese and more of it would be good. I will make again but will have to add my own touches. And nobody noticed the butternut squash purée, which I was hoping would come out more.

This is easy and great. With extra sharp cheese I couldn't taste the squash.

This recipe provided a great base. I added six slices of bacon. I used a 16 oz. bag of pasta and increased the broth by 2 cups. I agree with needed flavor- my husband added Sriracha to his bowl. I would consider topping with some toasted Italian bread crumbs next time and using a bolder cheese. 

After reading the reviews, I omitted the bacon fat - and to solve the problem of weak flavor (which some mentioned) I added about 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika to the milk mixture.  I also used Extra sharp cheddar.  For the broccoli, I tossed it in some olive oil and salt and roasted it at 475 while the dish was cooking (until the edges of the broccoli became a little crispy) then I added it to the dish at the very end.  

After reading reviews of this recipe being bland, I added some nutmeg and a dash of cayenne for a kick and it came out amazing!!! Everybody in my family loved it!

I had high hopes for this recipe, but it wasn't that great. I did tweak it - I used brown rice pasta, pumpkin, and a combo of medium Cheddar and Parmesan,. Unusually, the brown rice pasta took about twice as long to cook as stated, and, frankly, it could have been more flavourful. Might use the combination of flavours again, but with a roux-based sauce.

I made this exactly according to the recipe.  I wanted to like it because of the butternut squash (which I love), bacon and sharp cheddar cheese.  Unfortunately, it was very bland.  It made very large portions which  were more than we could eat.  It would have been nice to have leftovers if it had been better. My husband added a slice of American cheese and hot sauce to the leftovers for lunch.  I used Barilla, gluten-free pasta, which is my go-to brand of gluten-free pasta.  It held up well in the recipe and during reheating for lunch. I thought the broccoli flavor overpowered the dish and the bacon and cheese flavors were lost.  If someone was inclined to try making this I would suggest adding 4 slices of bacon and omitting the bacon fat, as it didn't add enough flavor to the recipe to make a difference.  I think if additional bacon was chopped and mixed in, it would give the bacon flavor throughout the dish. I also would suggest either adding more sharp cheddar cheese or some low-fat, pepper-jack cheese instead.  Reduce the amount of broccoli by 1/3 or even 1/2.  I did like that the pasta was cooked in the butternut squash/broth mixture because it gave the dish good color.  For those who are reluctant to use the butternut squash, you really don't taste it in the dish. 

I made this with pumpkin from our garden and Kerrygold Dubliner cheese and I subbed turkey bacon for the bacon. I also added sundried tomatoes in olive oil to cook the garlic.it was very flavorful and my family loved it.

...for mac 'n' cheese. I expected more from something with bacon and sharp cheddar in it. Love the idea of sneaking in extra veg with the butternut squash, though - I might try that with other mac 'n' cheese recipes in the future.

Made this tonight, used mashed sweet potato since I didn't have the butternut purée, and pasta shells instead of elbow. Might have added more cheese than the recipe called for. Came out delicious, easy to make and was a hit with the family! Between my husband and I and our 3 yr old, we didn't have any leftovers. Will definitely be making this again.

My 11 year old made most of this recipe on her own and loved the result.  We made the suggested substitution of canned, unsweetened pumpkin for the butternut squash puree.  It was delicious!  My pickier 13 year old didn't like the broccoli taste, but we will definitely make it again.