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FINALLY made this after my friend wouldn’t stop raving about it….and she was so right. Wow, this is a whole pot of YUM, thank you so much!
Anne
I have a thing for butternut squash mac and cheese, mostly because I have a thing for secretly healthy things that don’t seem healthy.
But the butternut squash is just the beginning. In case you didn’t notice by the longest blog title ever, there is a ton of good stuff in this mac and cheese, because sometimes I just need to add in everything.
And by everything, I mean caramelized onions, fresh crispy sweet apples, and crispy bacon
Are you in love yet? My stomach is happy and so are my skinny jeans and so is my husband. This is a delicious miracle!
Now, for the moment of truth. Come on, you can uncover your eyes. This mac n’ cheese is almost guilt-free!
And I guess if you wanted to be a little weird, you could leave out the cheese for an even more guilt free (but still creamy and super delicious) meal!
Butternut Squash Mac n’ Cheese with Bacon, Caramelized Onions, and Apples
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This healthy butternut squash mac and cheese has caramelized onions, crispy bacon, and fresh sweet apples. It’s my go-to comfort food!
Ingredients
- 1/2 box whole grain elbow macaroni (about 2.5 cups dry)
- 1 cup canned butternut squash puree
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 oz low fat cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup onions, sliced thinly
- 1 large crispy apple, chopped or grated
- 4 tablespoons crumbled bacon
Instructions
- Heat butter in a skillet over low heat. When melted, add onions and let caramelize for at least 30 minutes for the best flavor. Keep heat on low/low-medium.
- Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and return to pan over low heat. Add butternut squash, chicken broth, evaporated milk, and cream cheese. When combined, add in salt.
- Add onions and apples to the pasta. Stir to combine and add a tablespoon more broth or milk if needed.
- Just before serving, mix in cheese and stir until melted. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon bacon.
Notes
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: healthy butternut squash mac and cheese, healthy mac and cheese, squash mac and cheese
If this is eating healthy, I like it.
I also like rewarding myself with these cookies afterwards.
Nice to see this helpful content…thankyou so much
I made this recipe today for 10 people. I made a few modifications like adding more cream cheese, apples, onions and bacon than the recipe called for. In addition, I added salt, pepper, nutmeg and paprika. I couldn’t find pureed butternut squash, so I roasted the butternut squash in the oven before I pureed it in my blender. I added the apples to the blender and chopped into small pieces.
The biggest change was baking everything in the oven instead of keeping it on the stove. Once I cooked the macaroni, I mixed it in with all the other ingredients and put everything into the oven. I turned it into a casserole.
This was met with lots of success. Everyone enjoyed the meal.
Amazing recipe!! My partner and I gobbled down the food so fast, it was so delicious. I don’t do well with cow’s milk so I substituted it with oat milk. I sauteed the chopped apple prior to sauteeing the onions and then combined them. Will definitely make this again!
Hi there – this is one of my family’s favorites! Quick question – can I freeze leftovers?
Hi Ann! We haven’t tried freezing this recipe, but it should work just fine.
Absolutely awesome! Will be making again!
Yay! So happy to hear this, Veronica!
I was super skeptical about this recipe but it turned out great – my friends really loved it! The hardest part was finding the butternut squash puree canned. I doubled the recipe – it heats up very well!
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Love this recipe and make it at least once or twice a year! I’m planning on doing up a huge batch for my daughter’s birthday party tomorrow. One problem I’ve had when making multiple recipes at once is that it can be difficult to get the mac back up to temp without burning or mushing it, especially when I prepare some components in advance and keep them in the fridge. Thoughts on making it into a baked mac and cheese at the end? Thanks!
Made this for dinner last night with dilatini pasta (because its such a cute little noodle! – is that weird?) and it was delicious. Took leftovers to work for lunch and reheated in microwave with a little water, which turned out great as well. Yum!!! Even though it is still in the high 70s to low 80s where I am, it is cooling down at night and that has pushed me into full on FALL mode! Thanks for this yummy recipe!
Glad to hear that, Lindsay!
I made this last night for dinner and it was SO GOOD. I couldn’t find canned squash at my grocery store so I used canned pumpkin, since they’re fairly similar. I also used a mix of gruyere and cheddar since I wanted to finish the gruyere I had open. There was a lot of prep (chopping onions, grating apple, cooking bacon, chopping bacon) but totally worth it for the end product.
THANK YOU for another amazing recipe!!
Long-time reader, first time commenter š This recipe blew my socks off! I also resorted to using baby food (three grocery stores and no canned pureed squash) and it worked out great. Will be making again and again.
Ha! That’s awesome. Glad to hear it!
Made this last night and it was delicious! I used the water out of a can of full fat coconut milk instead of evaporated milk. I also added broccoli florets which I cooked with the pasta and omitted the bacon entirely. It was wonderful. My one year old devoured it so it’s definitely kid approved!! Thank you for a great recipe to add to our rotation š
i’m looking for vegetarian recipes. I just recently turned vegetarian and are looking for recipes to try.
FINALLY made this after my friend wouldn’t stop raving about it….and she was so right. Wow, this is a whole pot of YUM, thank you so much!
Do you think butternut squash bisque would work? My blender has blown up and I am waiting till Christmas for a new so I can’t puree my own and my local grocery store doesn’t carry canned puree.
Sure! But the stuff in this recipe is a little thicker than the soup would be so you just might want to compensate with a less liquid.
I’d like to find out more? I’d care to find out some additional information.
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Thanks Jessica! Hope you liked it!
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