Smoked Gouda with Crab and Bacon Mac ‘N Cheese
on Jan 13, 2014, Updated Nov 21, 2020
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Crab Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
I think that if you ask any of our boys what their favorite food is, they would all say mac and cheese. We make a lot of mac and cheese. If is not very often that we don’t have any children around, but today was one of those days. I was craving mac and cheese myself, but without the kids, it did not feel right. But wait, what if I was able to make mac and cheese “adult” friendly? Have I piqued your interest?
With the weather being so cold lately, who wants to go out to the grocery store? Not me. My challenge was to use only things that we had in our house.
So, I went grocery shopping in our kitchen. What did I find you may ask? Some smoked Gouda cheese purchased for the holidays, grated sharp cheddar cheese, along with some bacon. Well certainly that would make a nice base for mac and cheese, but I wanted to step it up a bit. When I opened the freezer, it hit me, crab legs.
I purchased those for the holidays as well but never made them. This would most certainly make my mac and cheese more adult in composition.
After a little of this and a little of that, the mac and cheese was done. My challenge was complete. I was successful in making a delicious “grown-up” mac and cheese. I think that I may have found my new favorite food. Have a bite and let me know what you think!
Smoked Gouda with Crab and Bacon Mac 'N Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb Crab legs
- 1/2 lb chopped bacon
- 7 oz Grated Smoked Gouda
- 5 oz Grated Cheddar Cheese
- 2 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tbs butter
- 2 tbs flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbs nutmeg
- 1 tbs ground mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz medium shell pasta
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Boil or steam crab legs and then shell. Place meat in a bowl and set aside.
- Fully fry (or bake) bacon and roughly chop then set aside.
- In a sauce pan, melt 2 tbs butter and add flour over medium heat.
- Cook butter and flour mixture for approximately 2 minutes.
- Stir in milk, bay leaf, nutmeg and ground mustard. Cook for approximately 6-8 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken. You may need to raise the temperature, being careful not to scorch the milk.
- Once the mixture has thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon, lower the temperature and remove the bay leaf.
- Add gouda and cheddar cheese and a tablespoon of butter. Stir until cheese is melted.
- Add crab meat and bacon and salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook pasta according to packaging, drain and stir into cheese mixture.
- Put mac and cheese in an oven safe casserole dish and cover with foil.
- Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes, removing the foil halfway through the baking process.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks absolutely heavenly.
This sounds so decadent and delightful!
I LOVE smoked gouda! This looks so delicious! All that yummy cheese…AND bacon! What’s not to love here?
Cheers
Kiki
Thanks, Kiki! This all works well together!
I’m looking for a recipe I could use at a crab cook off. Do you think this could be served at room temperature? It may be a hot day. Thanks.
Absolutely! This would be delicious for that purpose!
Looking at this is making me sooo hungry! What a wonderful combination, just yum!
Thank you, Diana! We hope you try!
This sounds like something I need to make tongitht!
Wow I’ve never thought of adding crab before, this looks so indulgent and delicious.
Gosh, that looks delicious. I’ve added bacon to mac and cheese before but not crab and I love the sound of it!
What an awesome version of mac and cheese. Crab here is so on point!
Mac and cheese with lobster sounds belly warming and decadent! Yes, hide this from the kids. We need this delicious meal to ourselves!
ooooo… smoked gouda is AMAZING!!!! I love it with red wine. Red wine and smoked gouda mac and cheese.. that sounds like a well rounded meal right there 😉 lol