no boil baked pumpkin mac and cheese
Who are my mac and cheese as a Thanksgiving side dish people?
I, for one, never grew up with that option. We were all traditional, from turkey and stuffing to cranberry sauce and mom’s best broccoli and cheese. Apparently, mac and cheese is a very Southern dish for the holiday. Quite a few people I know who grew up in any of the Bible Belt states keep it on their menus.
So, this No Boil Baked Pumpkin Mac and Cheese is both for the Thanksgiving planners and for anyone who just wants a cheesy, warming pumpkin dish to eek out one last can of our favorite gourd before October slips into the holidays.
Bit of a long baking time, but the effort is minimal. You can Swiffer your floor or clean out your underwear drawer while it cooks up and flings ridiculously tempting aromas around your house. I happened to do both, thank you very much. The result is a giant pan of gooey, hot, melty mac you can dish out for the rest of the week, give to your new neighbor as a housewarming treat, or gobble up during a gathering. Your soul will surely feel the loving embrace of a big bowl of pasta as the temps cool off.
No Boil? No Shit!
For real, all of the ingredients in this mac get stirred up in one pan (well, and a bowl), covered in foil, and flung into the oven to do its thang for a good long spell. Not much simpler than that.
First, mix up your cheesy filling. Filling? That’s not really the right word. It’s the liquid concoction that gets poured over the pasta, so it’s not really filling anything other than your belly once it’s baked.
Anywho…milk, heavy cream, pumpkin puree, garlic powder, onion powder, and a tiny bit of nutmeg. Tiny. We ain’t making pumpkin pie here, fellas. Then, stir in some gouda, cheddar, and mozzarella cheeses.
Dump your pasta into a lightly greased baking dish. Pour in 1 cup of water, then your milk and cheese mishmash. Cover the dish with foil.
Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes. This long bake time ensures the pasta gets properly softened. You can check the noodles after 35 minutes to gauge doneness. Keep in mind that larger pastas (shells, shellbows, or jumbo macaronis) will likely take a dab longer than the regular elbow pasta that is standard in those nostalgic boxes of mac we all had when we were kids.
At this point, pull the foil off the macaroni. Well, take the pan out of the oven then pull the foil off. Cover with a good heap more of cheese. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes longer until ooey gooey shmooey tooey. I don’t know what that means.
Be sure to dive facefirst into a big bowl of this hearty hug immediately. Whatever remains stores beautifully for up to 5 days in the fridge. Microwaving is a breeze and restores the lump of noodles into a saucy plate of goodness.
I like this with some steamed broccoli or roasted Brussels sprouts, and found myself enjoying a portion with tuna or fake chicken, also, for a little protein. And, of course, if you are serving this for Thanksgiving, do so with all the sides your heart desires.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
More mac, less problems:
Stove Top Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Stove Top Buffalo Cheddar Mac and Cheese
No Boil Spinach Artichoke Mac and Cheese
no boil baked pumpkin mac and cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb short cut pasta (shells, shellbows, macaroni, etc.)
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups gouda cheese, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- In a bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, pumpkin puree, garlic powder, onion powder, nutmeg, and half of each cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
- Dump the pasta into the baking dish. Pour in 1 cup of water, then the milk and cheese mixture. Stir to combine.
- Cover the dish with foil. Bake 40-45 minutes – test the pasta to be sure it is nearly al-dente at this point. Remove from the oven, uncover, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake 15-20 minutes longer until the pasta is cooked and the cheese is bubbly and golden. Remove from the oven and cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving!
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