Traditional, creamy baked macaroni and cheese gets a flavor boost from dill pickle relish in addition to some added crunch.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 1 1 1/2-quart casserole dish |
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1 ½ cups elbow macaroni
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- ⅓ cup dill pickle relish, well drained
- ¼ cup minced onion
- 1 teaspoon chile-garlic sauce (such as Sriracha®) (Optional)
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 slice bread
- 1 teaspoon butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 7 minutes, making sure not to overcook. Drain and set aside.
- While the macaroni is cooking, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat in a large saucepan. Blend in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes paste-like and light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook and stir until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Mix in Cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese; stir until melted. Add dill pickle relish, onion, Sriracha sauce, salt, and pepper to cheese mixture. Stir in cooked macaroni. Pour mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
- Butter both sides of bread and tear into large pieces. Blend in a food processor or electric blender until you have crumbs. Spread on top of casserole.
- Bake in the preheated oven until bubbling and browned on top, about 45 minutes.
- A mini chopper/food processor works really well for making the buttered-bread crumb casserole topping. If you have one of the mini choppers that comes with an immersion blender, that’s perfect too.
- For variety of flavor, a couple slices of crisp, crumbled bacon stirred into the mac and cheese mixture will also style it up.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 369 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 30 g |
| Cholesterol | 60 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 509 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
?? Yumm
Followed recipe, omitting breadcrumb topping. Bland, couldn’t taste the cheese, and only a slight dill pickle taste.
Thought it was bland and so did m family. Added cheese and dill to spice it up
this looks good
Delicious!
I used my own garlicky panko style bread crumb topping. Other than the topping I followed the recipe and thought it was very good. Would rate 4.5 stars if that was an option. I give few 5 starts.
Made exactly as written. Really yummy. I think next time I will sauté the onions a bit before adding them to the sauce.