One of my favorite dishes, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, is macaroni and cheese. When my family moved to the South, we quickly retired our boxes of mac and cheese in favor of the baked versions. It seems like every good Southerner has their own special recipe and I think I’ve tried my fair share of them – my mom went through several (not complaining!) until she found a couple that were home runs. My mom frequently makes a baked version for holidays that’s creamy and decadent but still has those all important crispy edges.
A close second to mac and cheese, crab is another food that I just can’t get enough of. I often make a simple salad of crab, avocado, tomatoes, and some greens and just eat it by the spoonful -and it’s always topped with a little Old Bay seasoning. Crab cakes are another guilty pleasure that I make with a remoulade sauce that my dad taught me. And crab legs? We have those every Christmas that have been marinated in garlic, parsley, and lemon juice along with shrimp. We all dive in and the crab is always the first to go.
I wanted to take two of my favorites and combine them to make the ultimate macaroni and cheese (at least in my mind). The velvety, cheesy sauce just blankets the cavatappi (which is my favorite pasta shape) and keeps in all of the goodness. Folding in the bacon and finally the crab, just puts it way over the top. After it’s baked, it’s crispy around the edges and the topping seals the middle making it creamy and beyond decadent inside. It’s a side dish that may be reserved for special occasions, but you’ll probably want to make it more often than that.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound cavatappi or elbow macaroni, cooked per instructions, about 8-10 minutes, drained
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 8 slices of bacon, cooked and diced into small pieces
- 8 oz cooked crab meat, drained (I used jumbo lump, but feel free to use claw meat)
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1-2 Tbsp butter
- Scallions, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium to medium high heat. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk to combine and let the flour taste cook out, about 1-2 minutes. Add the milk and continue to whisk for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened. Turn the heat down to low and add the cheeses in, about 1/2 cup at a time, whisking to combine. Keep adding the cheeses in batches and whisking until all incorporated. Finally, add in the Old Bay seasoning and salt and pepper, to taste. Take off the heat.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the cavatappi. Mix well to coat all of the noodles. Add the chopped bacon and crab meat and gently fold into the pasta and cheese sauce. Place the mixture in individual ramekins or in one 9x9 baking dish.
- Mix the bread crumbs and butter in a small dish and sprinkle on top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Top with lots of fresh scallions and serve immediately.
In this post: french onion soup bowls, Williams-Sonoma {similar} // gold flatware, West Elm {similar} // bottle opener, Anthropologie
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As soon as I saw mozzarella cheese in the ingredients list, I knew this would be a hit! IMO, it’s essential for good mac and cheese. I can’t believe more people don’t use it. And hooray for no Velveeta! I have gotten into massive arguments with people about these things. Ha ha ha! Can’t stay on my high horse though because my very first mac and cheese recipe used 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup. I loved it and made it all the time. *hangs head in shame*
I know the stringiness (is that a word?) of the mozz makes it SO great! hHaha! That’s so funny! I do have a pretty bangin’ recipe for mac and cheese using velveeta, but it also contains a lot of other cheeses so it balances it out? That’s what I tell myself! 🙂 HAHA um can I say in college one of my friends used to make this awesome pasta (I won’t call it mac and cheese…you’ll see why) that had noodles, cans of cheddar cheese soup, and a can of stewed tomatoes, and shredded chicken? It sounds so gross, but it was SO good. Not sure I’d make it again buttttt it was pretty good considering 🙂
This looks so decadent! You just combined three of my favorite foods and I’m seriously drooling. I’m going to make some this weekend.
Thank you!!! Three of my favorite foods too, how can you go wrong? Hope you love it! 🙂
Wow that looks amazing! I love macaroni and cheese too, this sounds like a great variation! Your photos are so pretty, they are making me hungry right now. 🙂
Isn’t mac and cheese the best? I’m hoping you’ll do a vegan version of it – I have tried a few and ended up throwing them all out -nothing has been good! 🙁 And thank you! That means a lot!! 🙂
this looks incredibly delicious. never used crab in mac + cheese before.. but something i will be trying after reading this post. thanks for the awesome idea.
Thanks!! It’s really good – I’m sure you’ll love it!
Made this fabulous dish for a “bacon” fest last night. Won first place for overall category! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Hi Kim! I’m SO glad it was a hit – that just made my day! This is one of my favorite dishes – the bacon is probably the best part. 🙂 I’m so glad you and your company enjoyed it- thanks again!
So how many cups is 1/2 lb of pasta?
Hi Melissa! It equals about 2 and 1/2 cups of dried pasta (it will yield more than that when cooked). Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
OMG!!! Let me tell you….my best friend every year makes this amazing macaroni and cheese for a potluck we do every year with coworkers and this year I was determined to make something great and that’s when I stumbled across your recipe. Well let me tell you….IT WAS THE TALK OF THE PARTY!! I didn’t change a thing in the recipe and can I just say it felt SO good having people come up to me and ask for seconds and praise my dish. The bacon and crab made it so fancy and it was the FIRST thing to go. My girlfriend was SOOOOOOO jealous!! Lol. Later she asked me for the recipe. Nope!! This is MY little secret gem. Thank you so much for sharing. You truly made my day!!!
Oh, wow!!! You have no idea how you have made MY week!! I’m so glad it was such a success!! Hahaha- I don’t blame you for not wanting to share it – it can be your secret weapon now 🙂 Thank you SO much for letting me know how it turned out – it’s a favorite of mine, but I always like to see how other people like it as well. I am beyond ecstatic it went over so well!!
This sounds AMAZING and can’t wait to make it!! Can you mix it all up the night before and bake the next day?
Hi Megan! Thanks so much for the kind words!
As for mixing it up the night before, I haven’t tried it personally with this dish, but I think it’d be more than fine to do it ahead of time. The only thing I would do is to leave off the topping of breadcrumbs and butter and save those for right before you put it in the oven. I hope you love it! Thanks again! 🙂
Instead of the old bay I tossed one large diced shallot in the butter before adding the flour. It was a very delicious addition
Hi Christina – so glad you liked it! That sounds SO good! Next time I make it I will definitely try your addition – thanks for the suggestion!
this is rich and such a comfort food !! that being said and with reading the reviews there are so many ways to make mac and cheese why not play with it and have fun with it with what you have,on the shelf, velveta or can cheese hell ya, my twist on it is Cream Cheese, and crushed french fried onions on top instead of bread crumbs, to me {how my mom made it} the cheesy with a hint of onion is what i remember as a kid,
That sounds delicious – I will definitely have to try it!! That is the best part of mac and cheese – you can customize it in so many ways and I think that’s what makes it such a classic comfort dish!
Any ideas on how to convert this to a 9×13 baking dish size recipe? Want to make a crab mac and cheese dish for Christmas this year and this sounds perfect! But definitely need for it to be in a bigger size dish for my family 🙂
Hi Shari! Hmmm…I would say that probably the easiest way would be to just double the recipe…if you think it may have too many servings (which you may love because of the leftovers 🙂 ), you could try increasing the original by 1/4. I haven’t personally tried increasing the recipe, but I really can’t think of any problems that you may have except you may need to bake it a little longer.
I hope you do get to try it for Christmas and I hope you love it as much as I do! If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask 🙂
OMG. This looks amazing!
Thanks so much, Hillary!
Making it the night before thanksgiving. How do I reheat so it doesn’t dry out. Thank you!