My recipe for Brussels Sprouts, Bacon & Chestnuts Macaroni Cheese is a must try this winter season! It is the ultimate comfort food, full of seasonal touches that is known to please even the most avid brussels sprouts haters!
We do love Brussels sprouts in our house and by "we" I mean myself and hubby. As one would expect kids are not so keen to say the least. What they don't know is that their clever mummy tends to sneak this delicious winter veg into number of different dinner offerings with them being none the wiser!
Take this Brussels Sprouts, Bacon & Chestnuts Macaroni Cheese for example. It is packed full of hated brussels sprouts but they absolutely love it! Initially, I had to resort to little white lie and say that green bits are leeks, which they are fine with, but now they do know the real ingredient and their love for this winter macaroni cheese hasn't diminished!
There is so much to love about this dish! It's comforting, cheesy, full of seasonal ingredients and really easy to make too. I love how using certain ingredients can transform a simple dish like macaroni and cheese into something seasonal and that little bit extra special too! I managed to achieve that before with my Butternut Squash Macaroni Cheese.
Brussels sprouts, bacon and chestnuts are classic combination that is well tried and tested and gives this dish its festive and wintery feel with different flavours and textures. That lovely bit of sweetness and crunch from chestnuts, smoky flavour from bacon and good old sprouts, work so well together! All that in a lovely, creamy cheese sauce with some pasta... Mmm, yum!
Preparing, freezing and other practical info.
You can easily prepare Brussels Sprouts, Bacon & Chestnuts Macaroni Cheese in advance and pop it in the fridge until you are ready to bake it (add extra 10 minutes to timings stated in the recipe below if baking from chilled).
This dish is also super freezer friendly so simply cover your baking dish tightly with some cling film followed by aluminium foil and pop in the freezer. If making this specifically for freezing I would suggest undercooking your pasta a bit so that you don't end up with mushy mess later and also adding more cheese sauce (1.5 instead of 1 quantity from the recipe below). This way when you cook your macaroni cheese from frozen and pasta soaks up lots of sauce when cooking, you won't end up with dry and flavourless dinner.
Cook your macaroni cheese from frozen (make sure you remove the cling film first!) for approx 1-1.5 hrs (start checking for doneness from 1 hr). It should be piping hot in the middle. You can also defrost it in the fridge overnight and cook as you would from chilled.
As you can imagine this macaroni cheese is very filling and little really goes a long way so if you are left with any leftovers, you can enjoy some for lunch the following day!
Some other seasonal dishes you might enjoy:
Butternut Squash & Chestnut Soup
Roasted Brussels sprouts with Parmesan & Garlic
Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies
Easy Chocolate Gingerbread Biscuits
Vegan Sausage Casserole with Lentils & Cavolo Nero
Easy Roasted Butternut Squash Veggie Wellington
One Pot Leftover Ham and Pea Pasta
Brussels Sprouts, Bacon & Chestnuts Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
- 300 g macaroni pasta or your favourite pasta shapes
- 300 g brussel sprouts tougher, outer leaves removed, shredded or sliced very thinly
- 90 g pack smoked bacon or pancetta
- 100 g cooked chestnuts chopped
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 40 g plain flour
- 600 ml full fat milk
- 200 g mature cheddar
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder optional
- salt, pepper, olive oil
Crispy topping
- 30 g breadcrumbs
- 30 g grated parmesan
- handful cooked and chopped chestnuts optional
Instructions
- Prepare your brussels sprouts and chestnuts as per instructions above.
- Boil large pan of salted water and cook pasta according to packet instructions or couple of minutes less for more al dente version (it will cook some more in the oven). Drain and set aside.
- While your pasta is cooking pour a small glug of oil into large frying or casserole style pan and add smoked bacon or pancetta together with shredded brussels sprouts. Fry until sprouts start to soften for approx 8-10 min. Add chopped chestnuts and set aside.
- To prepare your cheese sauce, in a medium saucepan melt butter on a low heat and add flour mixing vigorously until you get paste like consistency (roux). Add milk and mustard powder and mix gently over low heat until mixture starts to thicken. Next add grated cheddar cheese and mix it in. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Add cooked macaroni to the sprouts, bacon and chestnuts mixture and follow with the cheese sauce. Mix well.
- Prepare your crispy topping by mixing together some breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese. You can also add some more chopped chestnuts if you wish.
- Transfer your macaroni into large baking dish and sprinkle over breadcrumbs parmesan mix. Bake in the preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for approximately 20-30 min until hot and golden on top.
- Serve with some green salad or seasonal vegetables. Enjoy!
Notes
- Calories are approximate, per portion and as guidance only.
Nutrition
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I’m linking my Brussels Sprouts, Bacon & Chestnuts Macaroni Cheese recipe with the following pages:
Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Helen at Casa Costello
Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Corina at Searching for Spice
Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie and co-hosted by Mollie at Frugal Hausfrau and Monika at Everyday Healthy Recipes
Angie | Fiesta Friday says
Oh, I love this so much! We eat a lot of mac n cheese (that's what my daughter always asks for) so it's nice to have it a little different here with brussels sprouts and chestnuts. YUM, Jo!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Angie! 🙂 Can't beat mac n cheese and the great thing about it is that it's a perfect vessel for sneaking veggie goodness too. We hardly ever have it plain these days there is always some sort of veggie or two luring inside lol. This combo is definitely a keeper! 🙂
[email protected] says
What a fabulous idea! I"m not surprised your kids like it, despite their professed dislike of sprouts. I'd tweak this to use a dash of Liquid Smoke or smoked paprika instead of the bacon, but otherwise - perfect for us!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Kellie! 🙂 Oh wow, I have never hear of liquid smoke and am super intrigued now, will need to check it out!
Ceri Jones says
What a fun idea adding something many people dislike (sprouts - not me though) into a well loved dish of mac and cheese. Next time I get these in my veg bag I'll think of this!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Ceri! 🙂 Things one's got to do to get her kids like brussels lol. This mac and cheese has worked a treat!
Mandy says
Brussels sprouts macaroni cheese! What a brilliant idea. I wish I'd thought of that. Will be trying this without the bacon!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Mandy! Brussels, cheese and pasta - perfect winter's comfort food combo, who knew lol! 🙂 I was so pleased how well these work together.
Choclette says
Macaroni cheese is just one of the best comfort foods out there, especially when it's cold and miserable outside. Love your inclusion of chestnuts. I know it's not quite December, but I'm starting to get into the festive spirit.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Choclette! 🙂 It is very comforting but also really wintery so there is an excuse to eat it before and beyond the Christmas season! 🙂
Rita says
Wow - like the Fiesta Friday. Thanks for sharing.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Rita! 🙂
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
A sprouts / mac n cheese mashup? This has my name written all over it!! (In fact, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it first!!) Sounds utterly delicious and I love how you've managed to sneak sprouts into your little ones 😀 Eb x
joskitchenlarder says
Ha, ha thanks Eb! I'm so glad it got your approval! This cheesy sprouts, bacon, chestnuts combo works on so many levels and the fact that kids are big fans now is a huge added bonus! 🙂 x
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
I would definitely make this veggie friendly and devour it!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kat! I couldn't resist a bit of bacon but you can simply leave it out! 🙂
Anna | Once Upon A Food Blog says
Ooh, this looks fantastic. I love different takes on macaroni cheese and this one looks super wintry!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Anna! 🙂 That was my intention and I'm so pleased you like the sound of it! 🙂
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
This is such a comforting winter dish! I love brussel sprouts and can image how tasty they are in this dish. Yum! x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Cat! I love brussels sprouts too and to me they are one of the quintessential winter veggies and they work soo well in this cheesy pasta! x
Corina Blum says
This sounds like a brilliant winter warming dish. I love cheesy pasta and hiding a few sprouts in there is a great idea, especially with the bacon and chestnuts. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Corina! Macaroni cheese bakes are always very satisfying but I thought "winterising" it a bit with seasonal flavours might be a nice change. I love the fact that my kids loved it despite the addition of brussels! lol