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I make it a rule that I can’t post any recipe that I don’t personally like on the site. Otherwise why am I recommending it, right? In this particular case, I don’t like this truffle mac and cheese, I friggin’ LOVE it. It’s now in contention for my favorite entree (or side!) yet. I fretted a ton over the amount of truffle oil and salt, but ultimately, I wouldn’t change a thing. I mean, hell, it’s got this trinity of decadence: brown butter, white truffle oil, and three kinds of cheeses.
I intended for this to be a Super Bowl side, to go along with these chocolate-covered strawberry footballs and a soon-to-be-posted, Southwest-inspired appetizer. Stay tuned for that later this week.
Oh party food, you are the funnest of the funs.
How to make brown butter
If you’re used to making boxed macaroni and cheese, I don’t blame you, it’s yummy. But there’s something magical about making your own cheese sauce. The trick is mastering the roux, which is pretty easy. A roux is just a mixture of a fat (in this case brown butter) and flour, forming a thickening agent for the sauce. It’s the magic that makes béchamel sauce, which, when added to a crap-ton of cheese, is what mac and cheese is all about.
Have you already seen my post on how to make brown butter? If not, go forth and find the joy.
This truffle mac and cheese is the ultimate mash-up of comfort food and party food. For upcoming Super Bowl and Oscar parties, I may form these into balls and bake ’em up as little bite-sized appetizers.
You can absolutely eat this after mixing the macaroni with the cheese sauce and skip the baking part altogether, but the topping is a nice bonus. It’s a mix of cheese, bread crumbs, and some Parmesan. Optional, but awesome.
Prepare for a photo dump of how I made this sauce for the truffle mac and cheese. There’s a step-by-step in the recipe itself, but you can see each step below as well.
This is the white truffle oil I used. You can snag it on Amazon if you have trouble finding it in stores. You can also sub in truffle salt, just adjust your other salt accordingly. It also may not be quite as truffle-y using the salt as compared to the oil, which is intense.
TIP: use this bad boy sparingly, but use it on anything you like: mac and cheese, casseroles, FRIES.
The Force roux awakens.
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Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp unsalted browned butter, recipe here! (substitute regular unsalted butter if you prefer)
- 1 lb large elbow macaroni
- 2 tsp truffle oil
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs or panko
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- Dash ground pepper, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until not quite al dente, stirring occasionally.
- Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle with truffle oil and stir very well.
- Return the saucepan to medium-low heat and melt butter. Add the flour, paprika, and mustard powder and cook for about 2 minutes until a roux forms and no lumps remain.
- Slowly whisk in milk, half-and-half, and a large pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Lower hear to a simmer, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add a pinch of pepper and 1 cup each of the white cheddar and smoked Gouda. Stir until smooth.
- In a small, separate bowl, combine the remaining shredded cheeses, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
- Pour the cheese sauce onto the macaroni and stir. Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle with the bread crumb and cheese mixture.
- Bake until the top is lightly browned and the sauce is bubbly, about 25 to 30 minutes.
https://www.bijouxandbits.com/2016/02/truffle-mac-and-cheese/
This recipe is copyrighted to Bijoux & Bits
If you make this recipe, share a photo and hashtag it #BIJOUXANDBITS. I’d love to see what you’re cooking!
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma.
Catherine Clark is a Chicago native sharing noteworthy things she sees and attempts to make in the world. She's a geek, cat lady, designer and editor by day, and noob chef by night.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Yes please. Sign me up. I love mac and cheese so much, and brown butter + truffle just takes it to the next level! This looks delicious!
Catherine saysRight? Brown butter is magical!
- Cate says
WOOAAAHHHH <3
- Erica says
Omg. This looks amazing!! For some reason, I have yet to conquer mac n cheese. Every time I make it, it’s just okay, but not amazing. MUST try your recipe! <3 <3 <3
- Catherine says
That was always my problem, too! For whatever reason, the roux, the amount of cheese… something wasn’t rich enough. But I think this one finally nails the right amount. 🙂 Thanks, Erica!
- Kristal says
OMG, this recipe is amazing! I made it last night as an accompanying side dish for our thanksgiving feast. The smokey gouda with the brown butter roux gives it this amazing smoked nuttiness! I omitted the truffle oil, just because I thought it might be too rich for an already heavy meal, but I absolutely plan on making it again with the truffle goodness! I also replaced the pepper with white pepper.
GUUUUURRRRL, keep doing what you’re doing. This s**t is bananas!
- Catherine says
Hi, Kristal! Thanks so much for stopping by and trying it out. You’re totally right, the truffle oil is easily omitted for a lighter tasting dish. I’m so glad you liked it!!
- Alia says
How many people would you say this serves?
- Catherine says
Just one: ME! I kid, I kid. 😉 It’s actually a pretty good amount, so I’d say you could easily serve 6-8 as a main course, and even more as a side dish. Prepare for leftovers. Thanks for giving it a go!
- Alia says
Great thanks!! Trying to decide how much to make for thanksgiving for 19 people…looks delicious!! Can’t wait to try!
- Amanda says
Shut Up! Too good. Even better than the beer cheese of Thanksgiving past. I was going to make pork chops for dinner, no need, one bowl and done!
- Catherine says
Sounds perfect! What a good combination 🙂
- Katie says
I have black truffle oil vs white. Would you recommend increasing the volume as The flavor isn’t as intense? Or do you think using white is an important element?
- Catherine says
You can definitely substitute in black truffle oil. Feel free to add just a dash more though as the flavor is quite strong with the white and would probably be strong enough at the same amount. You know how truffle oil can be. 😉 Good luck!
- Erin says
Can I prep this ahead of time and throw in oven when ready to servce?
- Catherine says
You can! I’ve made it 24 hours ahead and then baked when it was needed. 🙂
