A side dish with a bacon ranch kick! Make this Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese tonight with dinner or add in some rotisserie chicken to make it a full meal!
It’s over! We did it!
Wasn’t it terrifying? What a night!
Great Halloween everybody! I believe it was our most horrible yet! Thank you everyone.
Haha YES! I did happen to quote the beginning of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ok, ok, you know I’m not super excited about Halloween being over. You know how much I love Halloween but even thought we’re done with Halloween for this year, I still have some pretty great recipes to share with you leading up to Thanksgiving!
Do you know that Thomas is ready to start putting up Christmas stuff? Heck, he was ready to put up Christmas stuff like a month ago!
It’s so odd because normally Thomas doesn’t get excited about Christmas. Normally I’m having to drag him to get the Christmas tree the week before Christmas.
This year though, he’s ready!
I mean it is Nov 2nd. I suppose that we could put the tree up haha. How early do you normally put up your tree? I know a few friends of mine had their trees up in October!
Speaking of Thanksgiving, let’s start with some new side dish ideas for your Thanksgiving table! I’m thinking about doing a “10 days of Mac and Cheese” series on the blog this month for Thanksgiving. I don’t know….perhaps I’ll do 10 mac and cheese recipes in a row but still post with my normal Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. We’ll see.
I started making a version of this mac and cheese a few months ago and I love it so much. It’s so easy to make and I think it might be one of the simplest mac and cheese recipes that I’ve ever made.
This is probably the 3rd or 4th version of mac and cheese I’ve made using this same mac and cheese base recipe.
I made a White Mac and Cheese with Ham and Peas like this that will be published in the Roanoker Magazine this month as well as a creamy stove stop cheddar mac and cheese that I’ll be posting on the blog this Friday.
You know what else I love about this Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese? My husband, who hates ranch, loved this.
When I was making it I was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to be interested in in at all but he promised me that he would give it a taste once it was done.
Side Note! The last time I made this Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese I served it with these Italian Paleo Chicken Fingers from Tastes of Lizzy T’s and it made the perfect dinner!
Cook bacon in a medium skillet until crispy, lay on a paper towel to drain.
Let bacon cool and then chop into bits.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add shell pasta and cook for 10 minutes.
In a the same pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour.
Whisk flour and butter together for 1-2 minutes.
Pour in milk and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in dry mustard and white pepper.
Heat milk until hot and then add in cream cheese.
Add in all grated cheese and whisk until melted.
Pour shell pasta into cheese sauce and mix well.
Stir well and heat for 2-3 minutes.
What’s not to love about this?? Can’t wait to try it!
Macaroni and cheese is my weakness – add bacon and ranch = heaven!
OMG YES. All of the bacon and all of the cheese. This looks heavenly!
I say it is still too soon to put up Christmas stuff. You gotta wait till the weekend before Thanksgiving 🙂 This looks like the perfect weeknight dinner.
What a great idea for the upcoming holidays! My family would absolutely love this!
Looooove all the different kinds of cheese in this. I want a ginormous serving of that pasta right now!!
Ever since I saw this on instagram I’ve been drooling over it!
This is some serious comfort food! What a cozy meal.
Bacon and creamy ranch is one of the best combos in history! Looks so good!
I love all things mac and cheese. Ranch? Not quite as much, but that’s a texture thing. I love the flavor from those seasoning packets so I just know that I’ll love this mac and cheese!
I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t love this!
Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorites and I love the addition of bacon and the other types of cheeses. So creamy – my family would love this!
Now that’s a dish of comfort food! I’m definitely not ready for Christmas decorations yet, but I am all about comfort dishes that can feed a crowd.