Bacon Mac and Cheese
On April 29, 2025
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This Bacon Mac and Cheese is the grown up version of that comfort food you know and love from your childhood. It is easy to make and tasty to eat! You just can’t go wrong with a heaping amount of bacon added to your mac and cheese!
Homemade Mac and Cheese with Bacon
Remember how much you loved mac and cheese as a kid? Well, this grown-up version will reignite your joy, while satisfying your adult cravings. The boxed stuff doesn’t stand a chance against this homemade version that combines creamy cheese sauce with crispy, savory bacon in every bite.
What makes this recipe special is how it balances nostalgia with new layers of flavor and texture. The rich cheese sauce coats each piece of pasta perfectly, while the bacon adds both a smoky taste and much-need crunch. Every ingredient is familiar enough to make this dish kid-friendly, but the added elements make it something the whole family will enjoy.
If you’re ready to fall in love with this comfort-food classic all over again, while feeding the people you love at the same time, let me teach you how to make this Bacon Mac and Cheese.
Ingredients for 3-Cheese Cheese Sauce
Perfectly-cooked macaroni noodles and crispy bacon bits make every bite impressive, but the real secret to this recipe is the cheese sauce. Here’s what you’ll want on hand so you can make your own:
- 6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons butter (divided use)
- 4 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups Colby Jack cheese (shredded)
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
How to Make Bacon Mac and Cheese
After SEVERAL renditions over the past few years, I love what this mac and cheese has become. It’s rich, it’s creamy, and it has the most amazing stringy melted cheese dripping off of each bite. It also has those beautiful browned crispy cheese pieces around the edges, and it has bacon! Those salty little morsels of pork love are mixed into the mac and sprinkled on top so every single bite has a little extra boom-boom.
Here’s the 411 on making this tasty treat:
- Preheat the grill. Set your favorite grill up and get it to 425 degrees F. You can also make this in your oven if you don’t have access to a grill.
- Cook the noodles. Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and cook the macaroni noodles according to the instructions on the package. I recommend al dente for your cooked pasta, so it doesn’t overcook during baking.
- Make the bacon. Cook the sliced bacon in a 12-inch cast iron skillet until nice and crispy. Remove the bacon using a slotted wooden spoon so you can reserve the grease to start your roux.
- Make the cheese sauce. Make the cheese sauce by making a roux, adding seasonings, and melting in the cheese.
- Layer the mac and cheese. Add your cooked noodles and half of the bacon to a skillet or baking dish, then pour on the cheese sauce. Top with the remaining bacon and a little extra cheese, then transfer to the grill or oven.
- Bake. Bake the bacon mac and cheese in the oven or on the grill until the cheese is nice and melty. Make sure to serve this mac and cheese immediately while the cheese is still hot and oh-so gooey.
Storage and Reheating
This Bacon Mac and Cheese is super filling, so plan on leftovers. Hey, it’s not health food, it’s comfort food. The good news is, it stores easily and reheats beautifully. Allow your leftover mac and cheese to cool to room temperature, then place in an airtight container to store in your fridge. The flavors and textures will remain enjoyable for up to 3 more days.
If you need any help deciding how to use your leftovers, I suggest using it to give a kiss of bacon goodness to my Chili Mac.
More Crave-able Mac and Cheese Recipes
Mac and cheese is a comforting food that tastes as good on a rainy day as it does in the middle of summer. Because it’s so popular with kids, it’s a staple at our house. I’ve got plenty more easy and delicious options you can make at home in the Hey Grill Hey App. For now, check out these popular mac and cheese recipes:
Easy Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe
Follow the recipe card below so you can make this Bacon Mac and Cheese to feed the people you love. Make sure you come back after to leave a 5-star rating and tell me how yours turned out in the comments section. If you get any epic cheese-pull photos, tag @heygrillhey on Instagram and Facebook so I can cheer you on your way to becoming a Backyard BBQ Hero!
Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon diced
Macaroni
- 4 quarts water
- 1 pound elbow macaroni noodles
- 1 Tablespoon salt
Cheese Sauce
- 6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons butter divided use
- 4 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups colby jack cheese shredded
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven or grill. Preheat your oven or grill to 425 degrees F.
- Cook the macaroni. In a large pot bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni noodles to the water and stir to prevent the noodles from sticking. Cook according to package directions, then drain.4 quarts water, 1 pound elbow macaroni noodles, 1 Tablespoon salt
- Cook the bacon. In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Do not drain the bacon grease.1 pound bacon
- Make the roux. Add 2 Tablespoons butter the the hot bacon grease and stir until melted. Add in the 6 Tablespoons flour and cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until the flour has begun to brown.6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, 4 Tablespoons butter
- Finish making the cheese sauce. Add in the milk and heavy whipping cream to the roux, and return to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the salt, cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes.4 cups milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Add the cheese to the sauce. Reserve 1/2 cup of each of the jack and cheddar cheeses and set aside with the mozzarella. Stir the rest of the jack and cheddar cheese into the sauce, and whisk until the cheese is melted.2 cups colby jack cheese, 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Combine the noodles and the cheese sauce. After draining the cooked noodles, return them to the large pot. Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles and stir in half of the cooked bacon.
- Transfer the mac and cheese to a baking dish. Use the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter to coat the sides and bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. You can also cook this in a 12" cast iron skillet. Pour the mac and cheese from the large pot into the baking dish. Top with the remaining jack, cheddar, and mozzarella cheese and sprinkle on the remaining bacon crumbles.
- Bake the bacon mac and cheese. Place the bacon mac and cheese in the oven or on the grill for 20 minutes or until the sides are bubbling and the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
- Serve immediately. Remove from heat, serve immediately and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**I originally published this post in April 2015, but recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. However, the recipe remains the same.
I have made this Several times since I found it in 2021! It is Awesome & get destroyed in minutes. It also reheats so well. The Only thing I’d say u shld do is after baking, let it set for at least an hour (it’s hard to wait!) but it’s too hot to really taste all the yumminess.
If I want to make a day ahead of time and bake day of, do you suggest adding any liquid or something to the pan before baking?
I would just make it all the way, then warm it again the next day. But if you want to wait to. bake it, you should be fine as long as you cover and refrigerate it until ready to bake.
So yummy and cheesy –delish better than boxed any day!!!!! Thank you for this easy, yummy recipe.
Yvonne
All pounds of bacon do not have the same amount of grease. Keep that in mind. I think you want 4 tbsp of grease (which will the 2 tbsp of butter will make a 1:1 ratio with the flour). Tastes great!
If I want double the recipe wld I simply double everything? Btw, I need to double bc 1 lb of this Mac
I would follow the instructions on your pasta for how much water and salt to use. For the rest of the ingredients, you can double everything.
Can you stop at the baking step and freeze it for later?