The best part of this breakfast-inspired mac and cheese is the hash-brown topping. It couldn’t be easier: Just thaw frozen hash browns and toss them with butter so they bake up golden and crispy.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Inactive: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 55 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound breakfast sausage, casings removed
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 small green bell peppers, chopped
- 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 ounces sharp Cheddar, shredded (about 3 cups)
- 3 ounces Gruyere, shredded (about 1 cup)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Set an oven rack 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until it is al dente, about 6 minutes. Strain, reserving 1 3/4 cups of the pasta water. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until lightly browned, breaking up the meat with the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Transfer the browned meat to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the onions, 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt to the saucepan and cook until just starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping up any browned bits with the wooden spoon. Add the bell peppers and cook until lightly browned and softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the onion and green bell pepper to the plate with the browned sausage.
- Carefully wipe out the saucepan (or give it a quick rinse if it is really dirty). Add the half-and-half and cayenne and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Whisk in the Cheddar and Gruyere until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Add the macaroni and reserved pasta water to the saucepan and stir to combine. (The mixture will look very loose, but the pasta will suck up a lot of the sauce as it bakes.) Gently fold in the browned meat and vegetables and season with more salt if needed. Pour into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Toss the hash browns with the melted butter and a pinch of salt and scatter over the macaroni and cheese. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and the hash browns are just starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Broil until the hash browns are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 735 |
| Total Fat | 50 g |
| Saturated Fat | 24 g |
| Carbohydrates | 49 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 136 mg |
| Sodium | 742 mg |
Reviews
So yummy
Thanks
Healthy Food Care
Thanks
Healthy Food Care
This is disgustingly unhealthy. Someone is going to have a heart attack eating it.
Unbelievably tasty. Since it was my first time making this I followed the directions very close. It is more of a brunch meal in its current form and could easily be dinner. The only change I made was doubling the amount of potatoes and it was still a little lacking. I would add bacon next time, probably in the potatoes. The biggest changes I would make to this recipe have to do with the procedures. You could cut the time in half (albeit at the cost of more cleaning) if you make the pasta, reduce the half and half, and make the onions and sausage at the same time. As stated, I would start cooking the onions and then add the sausage to make things quicker. Definitely a keeper recipe though and can’t wait to make little tweaks to make it my own.
My two 10 year old twins were not fans of the sausage. However, they both uad seconds. I will definitely add bacon next time. The little bit of heat, cayenne pepper, was nice!
I made a few modifications to this to make it more of a dinner Mac n Cheese…I substituted 1lb of ground Italian sausage and used a Garlic Hack cheese instead of the Gyuere as it was to pricey for me. It turned out delicious and was even better the next day as leftovers. A definite keeper!
Made this without the green pepper because we just don’t like them, and everyone loved it!
This is so good. Im 15 and I had no problem making it and the rest of my family loved it.
This is absolutely delicious! The second time I tried this recipe I made it for brunch and all my guests were raving about it! I mostly followed the recipe exactly. The few changes I made were adding smoked gouda in addition to the other cheeses and I used half sausage half bacon. This is now officially my go to favorite!
This was ABSOLUTELY delicious – I only strayed a little from the original recipe – I don’t like green peppers so I used red peppers, added siracha for some more heat and crispy bacon in with the hash browns and 2 rolls of the breakfast sausauge vs. 1lb and salt and pepper to taste- this is definitely a keeper – I’m going to make this again next week for the group home for 3 young men that my husband works at, I’m sure they’ll gobble it all up. 🙂
This was amazing! I substituted the Gruyere with pepper jack. Other than that I did top it with fresh bacon bits. So filling.