One-Pot Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese
This easy, tasty One-Pot Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese is lightened up comfort food your whole family will love. With crispy bacon and a rich, creamy cheese sauce, this dish tastes far more decadent than it is! Plus, I like broccoli many ways, but in cheese sauce might just be my favorite. I hate washing pots, so a one pot meal is always right up my alley, and this one comes together with ease making it great for weeknights. This recipe is just full of wins! Want one more? A cup of this creamy One-Pot Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese is just 279 calories or 9 WW Points. To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Looking for more tasty one-pot comfort food recipes like this One-Pot Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese? Check out my One-Pot Chicken Florentine Mac and Cheese, One-Pot Meatballs and Macaroni, One-Pot Barbecue Chicken Mac and Cheese, One-Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta with Chicken and Spinach, One-Pot Turkey and Veggie Spaghetti, One-Pot Cheesy Chili Mac, One-Pot Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta, One-Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese, Lemon Garlic Chicken and Beans Skillet, One-Pot Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta, One-Pot Spicy Dirty Rice with Chicken and Sausage, Spanish Chicken and Rice Skillet, Turkey Sloppy Joe Pasta, Chicken Pot Pasta, Beef Enchilada Pasta Skillet, Mexican Chicken Cauliflower Rice Skillet, and so many more in the One-Pot Meals category of my recipe index!
One-Pot Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 slices uncooked center cut bacon, chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoons light butter, (I use Land O’Lakes light butter spread with canola oil)
- 1 ½ cups skim milk
- 2 ½ cups water
- 12 oz dry whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 3 ½ cups broccoli florets
- 6 oz 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I use Cabot)
Instructions
- Place the chopped bacon in a 5 QT Dutch oven or large pot and bring to medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Transfer the bacon pieces to a stack of paper towels to drain using a slotted spoon. Discard the grease and wipe out the bottom of the pot.
- In a small dish, stir together the ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper with the ¼ cup flour. Place the butter into the pot and bring over medium heat. When the butter is melted, whisk the flour mixture in a little bit at a time until combined. Slowly whisk the milk into the butter/flour mixture a little at a time, until combined and smooth. Add the water and whisk to combine, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot from cooking the bacon.
- Increase the heat to med-high and stir occasionally until boiling. Reduce the heat to med-low and add the macaroni. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent sticking, until pasta is cooked.
- While the pasta is cooking, place the broccoli florets into a microwave-safe bowl and cover the bowl with a damp paper towel. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Broccoli should be softened but still firm and bright green. Set aside.
- Once the pasta is cooked, reduce the heat to low and stir in the shredded cheese until melted into the sauce. Add the broccoli florets and the bacon pieces to the pot and stir together until combined. Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
8 per (1 cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below)
My goodness that looks delicious! I was thinking I would like whole wheat pasta instead of white then the rice calls for whole wheat. The picture looks like white pasta. Looks yummy!
That’s comfort food for the soul. Here it was pretty cold and wet. I just made this for dinner last night and everyone enjoyed it so much. I had some peas and carrots too. So added along with the broccoli. It was yum.
I added garlic powder, onion powder and a tiny sprinkle of chili powder after adding the water, and it is SO GOOD! I was hoping to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow but I don’t know if there will be any left we all have second helpings
The ultimate comfort food lightened up and healthy broccoli added! Loved it!
I tried this recipe last night and it was a keeper! I am a beginner cook, married to a chef, so it means something if I impressed him. This will be something we will make again. We both only had one bowl but it was very filling!
This was unbelievably delicious! Just what I want to eat during the cold New England winter. Thank you so much! Its perfect!
Hey Emily! I’ve made this a few times but tonight we did something different that was really fun! We have a discada (a wok shaped pan than is intended for open fire cooking). Usually we just make fajitas on it, which is really fun, but I’ve wanted some new things we could do as it’s a fun social way to cook, sitting around a fire. Tried this tonight and it worked great! We needed to add some more liquid as our for was really hot, but all in all it was delicious, fast and fun! Highly recommend for outdoor cooking.