Dinner

◦

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese

Jump to Recipe

Mac and Cheese is my ultimate comfort food. Poor Kev, anytime we go anywhere that has mac and cheese on the menu, it always somehow gets added to our tab. I really have no bias towards different styles either; extra cheesy, from the box, savory, or seafood, no matter! I hardly ever make it at home, solely because it’s just not awesome to be eating that much butter and cheese and carbs all the time, but there are times that just call for it. Like, when you go to a BBQ place and order a side of mac and they’re out and you can’t stop thinking about it, or like when it gets down to 45 degrees in Texas and you decide it’s the perfect time for comfort food. Either way, it was time to make some mac!

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese. Lightened up mac and cheese with a crunchy corn chip, parmesan, and thyme top.

I used the Pioneer Woman’s Butternut Mac and Cheese as a base for my recipe and then made a few alterations, especially with the crust. A few things to watch for: in the recipe you’ll notice there’s no salt measurement; you’ll just need to taste test before you throw it in the oven and adjust as necessary, also, make sure you cook your caramelized onions until they’re extremely soft: I undercooked mine a bit and so they still had a bit of bite after baking.

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese. Lightened up mac and cheese with a crunchy corn chip, parmesan, and thyme top.

The best thing about this recipe is that the addition of the butternut squash cuts down on the amount of butter/cheese/milk that is ordinarily added to mac and cheese. This means you can eat twice as much and not feel bad about it! 😉

I’m all about sneaking veggies into foods and so when I figured out that lots can be hidden in my guilty pleasure, life changed. If you’ve been around the blog for awhile you’ll find that a lot of my recipes include veggies in one way or another. This isn’t because I love veggies a super lot, it’s because to be honest, I don’t really love them as much as I should, so I end up disguising them in a lot of dishes to make sure we get our daily quota!

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese. Lightened up mac and cheese with a crunchy corn chip, parmesan, and thyme top.

I love these two too much. Their lives have had a lot of turmoil the last few months with moving and then with having AirBnb guests in our home all the time, but they’ve dealt with it like champs. We finally started letting Albie join Percy outside at nighttime because he was unbearable when we were trying to sleep and ever since then everyone’s been so much happier! We’re sleeping during the night, the cats are out doing their thing in the neighborhood, and then they come in and cuddle with each other all day. Win win for everyone!

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese. Lightened up mac and cheese with a crunchy corn chip, parmesan, and thyme top.

I’d love to chat longer, but I’m off to bury myself in this bowl.

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese. Lightened up mac and cheese with a crunchy corn chip, parmesan, and thyme top.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Baked Butternut Mac and Cheese

No reviews
  • Author: Kitschen Cat
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 8 1x
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 12 ounces uncooked Macaroni
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed Butternut Squash
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (affiliate)
  • 2 whole Yellow Onions, Sliced
  • 6 Tablespoons Butter (affiliate)
  • 2 Tablespoons Flour
  • 2 cups Milk (Whole or 2%)
  • Salt And Pepper to taste
  • 2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
  • 1 cup crushed corn chips
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh parmesan

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
  2. To prepare butternut squash, slice whole squash in half and place on a large baking sheet then brush with olive oil flesh side up. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
  3. Remove from oven and scoop out squash flesh then mash and set aside.
  4. While squash is roasting, add 2 tablespoons of butter to oven-proof skillet and add sliced onions. Cook on medium low heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Set onions aside.
  5. Boil macaroni according to package directions. Do not cook further than al dente.
  6. In same skillet you cooked the onions, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat and sprinkle flour over top. Whisk flour and butter until golden brown and bubbly, about 2 minutes.
  7. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly to ensure no clumps of flour form. Add salt and pepper to gravy, tasting along the way!
  8. Add mashed squash and stir to combine then stir in cooked macaroni.
  9. Once macaroni is completely heated through, stir in grated cheese and stir until cheese is melted.
  10. In small bowl, mix together crushed corn chips, thyme, and parmesan and sprinkle over top of macaroni in oven safe skillet.
  11. Place in oven at 400 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes until macaroni is bubbling and crusty top is golden brown.
  • Prep Time: 40 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins

 

Other Mac And Cheese Recipes You’ll Love!

Pressure Cooker Roasted Cauliflower And Sun-Dried Tomato Mac And Cheese

Pressure Cooker Savory Pumpkin Mac And Cheese

Healthy Mac N’ Cheese With Greens And Gruyere