Skip to main content

Bacon Mac & Cheese

One of the most delicious, decadent bacon mac and cheese dishes you’ll ever try. Fully loaded with flavor, and pretty darn fool-proof. For a visual guide on how to make this, check out my blog.

By tastykitchen · From Open Recipes · 16 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Bacon Mac & Cheese

Why it works: Rosemary and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Bacon Mac & Cheese

Serves 6
Prep20 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1023Calories
34 gProtein
29 gFat
157 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Rosemary1 tsp dried (1.2g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Rosemary + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Rosemary + clovetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together519 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Thyme + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pasta, butter, flour, rosemary, thyme, pepper, nutmeg):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Sagefits better
  3. Winter savoryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pasta, butter, flour, rosemary, thyme, pepper, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.