This delightful one-pot butternut squash mac and cheese recipe is not only incredibly easy to prepare but also promises a mouthwatering experience for your taste buds. It’s a creative and healthy way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. Whether you serve it as the main course or a side dish, this scrumptious dish is destined to become a family favorite, making its way into your roster of wholesome comfort food recipes.
What You’ll Need
To whip up this fiber-packed mac and cheese, you’ll require the following ingredients:
- Butternut Squash: You can opt for a whole butternut squash and peel and dice it yourself, purchase pre-cubed squash, or use frozen butternut squash (refer to the note below).
- Short-Cut Pasta: Feel free to choose your preferred variety of short-cut pasta, such as gomiti, elbow macaroni, cavatappi, conchiglie, penne, or fusilli. In this recipe, I’ve used pipe rigate, also known as small snail pasta.
- Cheese: For the best texture and flavor, I recommend a combination of sharp cheddar cheese and gruyere. If you can’t find gruyere cheese, simply substitute it with additional cheddar, ensuring you use high-quality cheese, as it takes the spotlight in this mac and cheese.
- Butter: It adds creaminess and is used to fry the sage.
- Milk: Whole milk or 2% milk works best for creating the cheese sauce.
- Onion Powder: Enhances the flavor profile.
- Garlic Powder: Adds an extra layer of flavor.
- Salt: Essential for seasoning.
- Fresh Sage: While optional, fresh sage elevates the flavors and makes for a fantastic garnish.
As an optional flavor enhancer, you can also include a pinch of smoked paprika.
