Forget cakes and cookies, mac and cheese is my comfort food of choice. And luckily, there is no shortage of variations on classic homemade mac and cheese, so it just never gets old. :) This White Cheddar Mac and Cheese is incredibly simple, fast, easy, and a little more well rounded than plain mac and cheese, so it’s totally meal-worthy and perfect for busy weeknights. The flavor is a little smoky, a little garlicky, and full of that wonderfully sharp white cheddar. In other words, soooo good!
Do I Have to Use White Cheddar?
You can definitely use yellow (orange) cheddar in place of the white cheddar in this recipe, if you need. They both melt beautifully into a silky sauce. Yellow cheddar is usually much more budget-friendly, as well.
Can I Substitute the Evaporated Milk?
No, unfortunately, you can not substitute the evaporated milk in this recipe. This unique composition of evaporated (low moisture, high protein) is what allows the cheese to emulsify into a smooth sauce without using a roux (flour and butter mixture). It will not work with regular milk or dairy milk substitutes.
Other Substitution Ideas
Low Carb – Substitute the pasta with cauliflower florets.
Vegetarian – Substitute the chicken with tempeh, or cauliflower florets.
Cauliflower is a pretty versatile ingredient and just happens to go great with cheese sauce (see my Spicy Roasted Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce recipe).
White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. pasta (any short shape) ($0.67)
- 1/2 lb. frozen broccoli florets ($1.30)
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 2/3 lb.) ($2.00)
- 1 pinch salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 1 cup evaporated milk ($0.53)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 8 oz. extra sharp white cheddar, shredded ($1.75)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until tender. Add the frozen broccoli florets to the pot of boiling water and pasta, and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and broccoli together in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the chicken. Season both sides of the chicken breast with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add one tablespoon cooking oil to a large, deep skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, swirl the oil to coat the surface of the skillet, add the chicken breast, and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through (about 5-7 minutes per side). Remove the cooked chicken to a clean cutting board and allow it to rest for five minutes, then chop it into small cubes.
- Turn the heat under the skillet used to cook the chicken down to medium-low, and add the butter. Allow the butter to melt, and use a whisk to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Pour in the evaporated milk and continue to whisk to dissolve the browned bits completely off the bottom.
- Whisk the garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt into the evaporated milk. Once the evaporated milk is hot, begin adding the shredded white cheddar, one handful at a time, whisking until it is fully melted before adding the next handful. Once all the cheese has been whisked into the hot sauce, turn the heat down to low.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta and broccoli, and the chopped chicken to the skillet with the cheese sauce. Stir to combine and fully coat the pasta, broccoli, and chicken in the sauce, then enjoy!
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Nutrition
How to Make White Cheddar Mac and Cheese – Step by Step Photos
Start by cooking the pasta and broccoli. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then once boiling, add 1/2 lb. pasta. Continue to boil until the pasta is tender, then add 1/2 lb. frozen broccoli florets and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and broccoli together in a colander.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the chicken. Season one boneless skinless chicken breast with a pinch of salt on each side. Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil to a large deep skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, swirl the oil to coat the skillet, then add the chicken. Cook the chicken on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Remove the chicken to a clean cutting board, let it rest for five minutes, then chop into small cubes.
Turn the heat under the skillet used to cook the chicken down to medium-low and add 2 Tbsp butter. Allow the butter to melt and use a whisk to begin scraping up the browned bits from the bottom.
Pour in 1 cup evaporated milk and continue to cook and whisk until all the browned bits are dissolved off the bottom and the evaporated milk is hot.
Season the evaporated milk with 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Now that the evaporated milk is hot and well seasoned, begin adding the 8oz. shredded extra sharp white cheddar, one handful at a time. Whisk the cheese into the sauce until fully melted before adding the next handful.
Once all the cheddar has been added, the sauce will be smooth and thickened.
Add the cooked and drained pasta, broccoli, and chopped chicken back to the skillet with the sauce, then stir to coat.
And that’s it! White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli is served!!
Would this be tasty even without the chicken? Or is the chicken a big source of flavor? What can I do for flavor if I make this without the chicken?
Yes, you can definitely make this without the chicken, too, and it wouldn’t need anything to replace it. The cheddar is the major flavor player here, so it would be just as delish! :)
This would be a perfect for dinner for me! My husband on the other hand doesn’t enjoy, just a pasta dish, no matter what’s in it, for dinner. He likes to see a variety. Any suggestion on sides to serve with this?
You could do a hearty green salad or something like Charred Corn and Zucchini Salad
Can you use regular milk instead of evaporated milk? Just try to cut the cost as low as possible and using items I already have to save money. Had a rough month and running low on $$. Thanks!
No, unfortunately the unique chemistry of the evaporated milk is what helps the cheese emulsify into a smooth sauce instead of clumping up into a glob. :(
yes yes yes you can. Don’t go out and buy something like that especially if you have milk on hand. With regular milk you would need to gently boil it down to get rid of the moisture. 2 1/4 cup 2% milk can be gently boiled down until you have 1cup. That’s identical to what you would buy in the store. That’s all evaporated milk is. I’ve only used heavy cream and half and half and it also turned out great. It says you can’t use anything else but if you look at alot of the comments alot of people have subbed for cream or half and half one person even used sour cream instead so yes you definitely can substitute the evaporated milk.
So yummy! I wanted leftovers for the week so I doubled the recipe (except for the chicken, which I tripled, and I used a tiny bit more of the spices to make sure it was seasoned enough) and it came out great. I used rotini pasta. Next time I will throw in another bag of vegetables to bulk it up even more!
Easily my top favorite of yours! My husband uses sharp cheddar and some sweetened condensed milk and it tastes like heaven!!
Can I use fresh broccoli florets instead of frozen? Should I add them to the water with the pasta in the beginning or can I add them towards the end like with frozen? Thanks!
Yes, you can use fresh, and your intuition was spot on. Add them to the boiling pasta water when the pasta is almost finished. You should only need to boil them for a few minutes, just until they are bright green and a little tender. :)
I dont usually comment on the recipes I try online
But this came out so good and it was super easy. Not yo mention healthy.
I havent found anything that is quick n easy, healthy and good
My 5 year old daughter loved it.
It’ll be a regular on our weeknight menu
Couple of changes I did no chicken or substitute and I used yellow sharp cheddar
What other vegetables do you recommend that can be added to this ?
Broccoli is definitely my go-to, but peas or spinach also work great!
Best homemade Mac and cheese I’ve ever made! :) thank you!
This meal, was sustaining and balanced (even though i would have added more broccoli 😋). I doubled the recipe because cooking daily in a small rv is not efficient. Given that, I still prefer more seasoning than was listed. I used penne pasta, per my so’s request, which grabbed the cheese sauce nicely. I will probably make this again, but would try a different cheese or blend for even smoother final consistency (the sharp white cheddar gave it a grainy texture as it coagulated/cooled down).
So I don’t usually comment on recipes, I made this exactly as written and my husband straight up lost his mind. I can’t remember the last time he loved a random weeknight dinner this much, especially something that was this easy to make. You are now a legend in my house.
Yay!! That makes me so happy!! :D
The cheese was impossible do do and came out terrible :( Maybe I am just a bad cook. This does not seem to be for beginners. I ended up just adding butter to the noodles and sprinkled some other cheese on top.
Turn heat down to low before adding cheese. Natural cheese with clump with too much heat.
YES…just yes. This was delicious!!! I am eating a bowl right now!! This recipe is a keeper and I am gonna make it again – thank you so much!!
This was SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS! I used orecchiette from Trader Joe’s (fine but kinda crumbly w/ lots of broken pieces) and a chicken thigh (which I bought extra of so that I could make the honey mustard chicken!), and it was SO GOOD! I haven’t tried the leftovers yet but I’m sure they’ll be amazing. The sauce was soooo creamy and yummy.
I enjoyed the recipe it was great. I used yellow sharp cheddar and still turned out good.
This tasted a little strange to me at first, I think perhaps because of the evaporated milk, but what I really liked was how good this tasted cold. I also liked how the sauce didn’t congeal like most mac & cheese sauces and stayed “gooey” long after refrigeration. It’s been super hot here in La La Land and any meal that can be eaten cold but still tastes good (I actually think this dish tastes better cold than hot) = WIN!