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Beer & Bacon Mac and Cheese

Beer & Bacon Mac and cheese

Not much needs to be said for this Mac & Cheese. Crispy bacon, beer and cheese all in one dish? Yes please!

Beer & Bacon Mac and cheese

This might seem like it’s ‘bloke-only’ food but I have to say, I loved this so much I had seconds and found myself picking at the left-overs all night. I like to make a huge amount of this as there never seems to be enough but also because I love (LOVE) left-over Mac & cheese the next day. Re-heated with tons of chilli sauce, it’s one of my guilty pleasures in life.

Beer & Bacon Mac and cheese

Serve the Mac & cheese with a zesty side salad and cold beers for a weeknight favourite revisited!

 

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Beer & Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8-10
 

Ingredients
for the sauce
  • 500g (17.64 ounces) bacon, diced
  • 150g (5.29 ounces) butter
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 can beer (approximately 330ml (11.16 fluid ounces))
  • 250ml (8.45 fluid ounces) milk
  • 250ml (8.45 fluid ounces) cream
  • 2-3 cups strong cheddar, grated
  • pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • salt & pepper to taste
to assemble
  • 1kg (2.2 pounds) cooked macaroni (reserve 2 cups of the cooking water)
  • 1 cup grated cheese mixed with 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°c and grease a large oven-proof dish.
  2. Fry the bacon in a large pot until crisp and golden.
  3. Remove the bacon from the pot but leave the fat.
  4. Add the butter to the bacon fat and allow to melt before adding the flour.
  5. Stir and cook for 1 minute before slowly pouring in the beer whilst whisking. When all the beer has been incorporated, add the milk and cream and mix until the sauce is smooth. At this point you might need to add a little more liquid, I just add more milk but you can also use chicken stock if you prefer. The sauce needs to be the consistency of shop-bought custard. Take the pot off the heat and Add the cheese and bacon back to the sauce and stir until the cheese has melted.
  6. When the sauce is cooked, mix it with the cooked macaroni. Add some of the reserved cooking water and mix well. The macaroni needs to be well covered by the sauce and will almost look like it’s got too much sauce covering it. If it doesn’t, add more of the water. If you wanted to be very decadent you could add more cream at this stage too.
  7. Transfer the macaroni into the prepared dish and cover with the breadcrumbs/cheese mixture.
  8. Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

 

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Post By Alida Ryder
 
 
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  • Sal

    Oh my word! this sounds amazing!!!

    As a matter of interest, what beer did you use?

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      I used a South African lager called Castle Lite. :)

  • http://www.roastedrootfood.com Julia {The Roasted Root}

    Homemade mac and cheese is fun and deeelicious! I’ve never put bacon in my mac and I can’t for the life of me figure out why because this is pure genius! Always looking for someone else’s take on the mac and I love yours!

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      Thanks for the lovely comment Julia. I would love to hear what you think once you’ve tried it!

  • Rachel

    Oh my goodness! I made this for my husband’s birthday and it was fabulous. I choose a lite beer but next time, I will go with an ipa. I mixed up a couple of cheese (provolone and american) and it was so good!

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      Rachel, I’m so glad you and your husband liked it!

  • charmaine

    Excellent receipe – definitely the best mac and cheese we ever had.

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      Wow Charmaine. Thanks for the lovely comment! Glad you liked it!

      • Charmaine

        Your Mac and cheese is my all time favorite. How long in advance can u make it and keep it in the fridge before u bake it. I want to make it Monday and bake it Wednesday. Your website and receipes is awesome.

  • http://exceptfortripe.wordpress.com/ Kim

    Alida, I just finished eating way too much of this mac and cheese. It encompasses all things good in life – pasta, cheese, bacon, and beer. It was INCREDIBLE. WOW. Luckily I have an enormous amount leftover to eat for days. I added onions and mushrooms, too, which was a really nice addition. THANKS!

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      Kim, I’m SO glad you enjoyed it! :) It really is my favourite mac and cheese at the moment!

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  • Racheln

    This may be a silly question but can I feed this to my 2.5 yr old, would all the alcohol have cooked off?

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      Rachel, my kids ate it and LOVED it. All the alcohol cooks off but if you’re nervous, rather make your toddler their own little portion without the beer?

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  • Samantha

    This sounds amazing! Is there any way not to make this with beer, though? Or something to substitute for it?

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      Samantha, I would suggest you just replace with milk/chicken stock if you didn’t want to use the beer.

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  • Andy

    I’ve got to say I made this for my room mate and I tonight. Turned out incredibly delicious. One quick note, I didn’t see the paprika / nutmeg step at all. I just added it in after the all the cheese and macaroni was ready to go in the baking dish. Definitely earned a “very good” from my roomie.

    • http://www.simply-delicious.co.za Alida Ryder

      I’m so glad you liked it Andy! :)

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