Smoky Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese. This indulgent baked pasta dish has 3 cheeses, plenty of crisp bacon, and smoky spiced chicken cooked right in. This makes an ultimate comfort food meal.
Smoky Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese.
This terrific baked pasta dinner has it all. Tender grilled chicken, bacon, a creamy, flavourful sauce and a buttery crumb topping!
Winter is the best time for dishes like these that please the whole family. It’s warming, hearty comfort food with all the right familiar flavours.
It may just be my favourite baked pasta dinner. That is probably due to the fact that it’s based upon my favourite Bacon Mac n’ Cheese Recipe, which I’ve been making for years.
Assembled ingredients.
Chopped cooked chicken.
The finished sauce.
Using a grill pan to cook the chicken thighs.
The fully cooked chicken thighs.
We had planned to make it again with guests coming for dinner, as my sister amd mom were in the city for the day. On a busy day, we wanted something simple to make a little ahead, and mac and cheese fit the bill.
Very often, we use our incredibly popular Smokin’ Summer Spice Seasoning Blend on grilled chicken, so that was the initial plan. We have had that blend continuously on hand all year long, since I first developed it well over a decade ago.
It is such a versatile seasoning for everything from pork chops to burgers. We use it in everything.
The inspiration for Smoky Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese.
I first thought about serving the Summer Spice Grilled Chicken with the mac and cheese on the side along with a healthy salad as a little healthy balance for the indulgent pasta.
As I was grilling the chicken I thought, why not add the chicken into the mac n’ cheese?
If I added the chicken into the dish directly, that would make a more complete meal of the leftovers. Brilliant, I thought, so I did just that.
Ready to assemble.
Adding another chicken layer.
Adding a layer of cheese.
Adding the sauce.
Adding the crumb topping.
Ready for the oven.
As with many baked pastas, we freeze the leftovers , as single portions for an easy lunch later on. We vacuum seal it in individual portions, so it’s easy to thaw in a bowl of water, if you don’t want to dry it out too much in the microwave.
They can be finicky machines the best of times, and often overheat leftovers, especially from frozen!
Just yesterday we did that with the leftovers from our baked ziti this week. (That recipe is coming soon too!)
Leftover Baked Ziti ready for the freezer.
The reviews!
The whole family of visitors loved it. So did Spouse and I!
In fact, only a couple of weeks after first making the dish, we had finished off about 3 meals of the leftovers for lunch. I made a double batch to make sure there would indeed BE leftovers and that was a very smart decision indeed!
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Smoky Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese
Smoky Chicken Bacon Mac and Cheese. This indulgent baked pasta dish has 3 cheeses, plenty crisp bacon, ans=d smoky spiced chicken cooked right in. This makes an ultimate comfort food meal.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry macaroni or scooby doo pasta
For the chicken
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)
- 3 tbsp Smoky Spice BBQ Seasoning ( see Note below)
- salt and pepper to season
For the Sauce
- 2 cups whole milk (or use half milk and half whipping cream for extra richness)
- ½ pound smoked bacon
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 clove minced garlic, optional
- 2 tbsp regular or Dijon mustard
- 8 ounces mozzarella
- 8 ounces smoked cheddar or aged cheddar d
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
For the topping
- 1 cup cracker or bread crumbs, I use Ritz cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- Pinch of cracked black pepper
Instructions
To prepare the chicken
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and add the BBQ spice seasoning liberally over both sides of the chicken thighs.
- Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side in a lightly oiled grill pan or a skillet.
- Rest the cooked chicken for 10 minutes.
- Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces
For the Sauce
- In the microwave, scald the milk almost to boiling
- In a medium saucepan, slowly fry the bacon.
- Cook to crisp, rendering out as much of the fat as possible. Drain on paper towels and strain all the fat from the pan.
- Do not clean the saucepan but return it to the stove and add the butter, flour, black pepper, salt & garlic.
- Cook together for 1 to 2 minutes until foamy.
- Whisking constantly, slowly pour in scalded milk. Continue to cook for 2 more minutes stirring constantly.
- Finally, stir in the mustard.
For the pasta
- Cook the macaroni in well salted water until al dente or even a little less.
- The pasta will absorb some liquid from the sauce, so you don't want it to become too mushy
For the Topping
- Mix together the crumbs, butter and pepper.
- Sprinkle evenly over the top.
To layer the mac and cheese
- Grate the cheeses and blend them together.
- Butter an 10-12 cup casserole dish. (9x13 works well)
- Place ⅓ of the pasta in the bottom of the dish.
- Pour on ⅓ the sauce.
- Scatter 1/3 of the bacon over the surface.
- Add 1/3 of the chicken pieces in an even layer.
- Sprinkle ⅓ of the cheese blend over the chicken layer.
- Repeat the layers ending with cheese on the top.
- Sprinkle on the crumb topping
To Bake
- Cover the casserole dish and bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and cook for 15 minutes longer or until it just starts to bubble at the center
- If you double this recipe, add additional baking time for larger casserole dish.
Notes
I use my Smokin’ Summer Spice Dry Rub for the seasoning on the chicken. It's something we always have on hand year round at our house.
You can use your favourite BBq seasoning if you like or make a simple seasoning mix with
2 tbsp Smoked paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
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Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 705Total Fat 37gSaturated Fat 17gUnsaturated Fat 20gCholesterol 193mgSodium 2745mgCarbohydrates 42gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 49g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
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