Nothing says comfort food like homemade Macaroni and Cheese! The gouda adds a creamy tang while the bacon adds a nice salty, smoked flavor! Try this at your next family dinner!
Serve this favorite side dish up with mom’s meatloaf recipe. Or save it for holidays and enjoy with your Thanksgiving turkey.
Why this Recipe Works
I love mac and cheese. My kids love mac and cheese. The whole world loves mac and cheese. Noodles tossed in cheese sauce might be the ultimate kid food but there are plenty of ways to make the dish a little more “grown up”.
Adding gouda cheese for a more complex flavor plus bacon for a smoky touch makes this Mac and Cheese recipe stand out from the crowd. However, it’s not so dressed up that the kids won’t recognize it as good ol’ classic mac!
We can all use a few more ideas for exciting and easy family meals. Gouda Bacon Mac and Cheese is one that’ll have everyone asking for seconds. It’s become my family’s most requested version of macaroni and cheese and I can’t wait for you to try it, too.
Ingredient Notes
- Smoked Gouda Cheese – I prefer to buy blocks of cheese and shred it myself. Freshly shredded cheese melts so much better!
- Bacon – Cook the bacon and crumble it before making your mac and cheese.
- Macaroni Elbow Noodles – Feel free to sub other small pasta noodles like penne, bow tie or shells instead.
- Bread – This is a great way to use leftover homemade bread or store bought bread that’s about the go stale.
Easy Instructions
Before making the cheese sauce, boil your macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside. You can do this while cooking the bacon!
To make the sauce, melt butter in a large pot on the stove, then stir in skim milk. Sprinkle in flour and whisk while the mixture becomes thick. Keep whisking while you add heavy cream and the seasonings.
Shred the cheeses in a food processor and add to the pot with the cream sauce. Stir until the cheese is melted and everything is combined. Add the cooked macaroni to the cheese mixture.
Now, it’s time to bake your mac and cheese!
Pulse the bread slices in your food processor to make crumbs, then stir in melted butter. Pour the macaroni and cheese into a baking dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs on top along with the cooked bacon crumbles.
Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes until the bread crumbs are lightly browned.
Tips and Tricks
- Feel free to toss vegetables in with the pasta before baking! Broccoli, peas and mushrooms would all be delicious additions.
- You can substitute store bought bread crumbs if preferred. Combine with melted butter before adding to the pan as directed.
- I used a 13 x 9 glass casserole dish for baking the macaroni.
- This recipe can be used for an unbaked macaroni and cheese too! Just skip the bread crumbs and serve hot!
- Have a vegetarian in your family? Bake the macaroni without the bacon and let everyone add crumbled bacon to their own bowl of mac if desired. Easy solution!
Recipe FAQ
Sure, but the flavors will be different. Other kinds of gouda (like chipotle) would be good if your family likes the flavor!
This pasta reheats fine in the microwave. The bread crumbs will loose their crispiness but the mac and cheese still tastes delicious!
I created this recipe based on what was in our fridge! Using skim milk coupled with the cream helped me control the creaminess of the finished sauce. Feel free to try it with whole milk if you prefer and let me know how it turns out!
Go for it! If you need a vegetarian option, leave the bacon off and you’ll have a delicious smoked gouda macaron and cheese as a main course or a side dish.
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Gouda Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 ounce elbow macaroni cooked and drained
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 2 ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire
- 1 pound smoked gouda cheese shredded
- ½ pound sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 5 slices bread about 2 cups crumbs
- 3 Tablespoons butter melted
- ½ pound bacon cooked and crumbled
Instructions
- Prepare macaroni according to package directions. Set aside.
- In large pot, melt butter over medium high heat. Add skim milk and bring to near boiling. Reduce heat to medium and sprinkle in flour. Whisk vigorously over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Mixture should be thick and boiling. Slowly add cream, while whisking. Add in salt, pepper, mustard and worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat to low and continue to stir for about 5 minutes.
- In food processor, shred Gouda and Cheddar cheese. Add to pot, stir until thoroughly combined.
- Add cooked macaroni to cheese mixture. Pour into a 13×9 dish.
- In same food processor bowl (no need to wash it after shredding the cheese), process 5 slices of bread to a fine crumb. Add melted butter. Sprinkle over macaroni. Top with crumbled bacon.
- Bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
I’ve never met a cheese lover who would turn down a helping or two of this Gouda Bacon Macaroni & Cheese! Warning: There’s a good chance this will become YOUR new favorite Mac n Cheese recipe!
I made this for the second time this weekend. Last time I had the gouda at room temperature when I added it and it melted just fine. This time it still melted eventually, but it took FOREVER. Next time I’ll be sure to take it out of the fridge an hour before I need to use it.
yessssss! Love gouda!
It’s soo goooooud-a.
This website is great e13ad0f26fff3933bfcc7c3db3f495cc
OMG! I saw the title of and started giggling like at fool (at work) cause it something i HAVE to make, soon.
That looks and sounds divine! I must make this soon!
This is cooking in the oven right now. Can’t wait to try it!
I can’t wait to try this! Unfortunately I’m currently stationed at a military base over seas and we don’t have gouda here (which is my favorite cheese!) I did some research and saw that i could substitute muenster cheese (which they DO have at my commisary) so I’ll be trying this with muenster this weekend 🙂
About to make this for the second time tonight. It’s already become a family favourite.
Emma, so glad you love the recipe! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
I finally made this last night and oh my gosh was it good! So decadent and creamy! Wonderful recipe!
Total yum! Ever since the first time I made Gouda mac, we haven’t had any interest in another kind. Now, if I add bacon… 🙂
Your macaroni and cheese sounds so delicious and comforting, I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thank you!
holy moly this keeps grabbing my attention over and over again! It sounds so heavenly!!
I would even eat bacon for a plate of this 😉 It looks amazing!!!
All I could do as I read this was shake my head. And as I read on, my head shaking got wider and wider..
It sounds freaking amazing! Mac n cheese is my favorite comfort food. I was deprived as a young Puerto Rican kid since my mom never cooked southern food. But that all changed when my southern raised wife introduced me to all its glory.
With mac n cheese being my favorite comfort food… gouda being one of my favorite cheeses… and bacon being my in-home mistress.. This thing HAS to be made.
Ugh, I’m sick right now and even though soup is supposed to be sick food, I think this mac and cheese would REALLY be comforting.
OMG. Like, seriously? No words. Just want to eat.
Is their anything more soothing than macaroni and cheese? This gourmet version of creamy gouda and crunchy topping looks fantastic!
Gouda and bacon, oh my goodness. This is heavenly, it looks so delicious!
Delicious comfort food!!