Mac and Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

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As a mac n cheese expert, I wasn't extremely happy with this recipe. First of all, it makes a TON. So even if you're making it for four people, I would HALF the recipe. My entire fridge is filled with leftover mac and cheese right now. If I were to make this again, I would add less milk and more cheese (I even added about 4 cups the first time. And like someone else recommended, I added some frozen peas...which was a great idea!

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This mac & cheese was very tasty. It was my first time making it, so next time I will make some modifications. This time, I used colby cheese because my husband prefers mild cheeses; however, with the milk and chicken stock, the flavor of the sharp would have been mild enough. The colby was too mild. Also, I used skim milk and the sauce was still delicious--not too runny as others have indicated. It's important to cook the sauce slowly to avoid burning. I had my husband's help because there was a lot going on at once. Next time I will add more cheese to the sauce. I will also make it a point to get some cayenne. This time I used chili powder because I couldn't find cayenne at my local store. I also used peas, which I've always added to my mac & cheese recipes since I was a kid. Once the sauce was done, I added it to the noodles, chicken, and peas and turned the burner on low for a few minutes to allow the sauce to soak in. I also wanted to make sure the chicken was nice and warm, as it had gotten cold while everything else was cooking. I will make this again when we're craving a good comfort meal.

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I made this recipe last night for me and my boyfriend. it was easy and fast to make. I would add a little more dijon mustard next time, and some more cheese. The sauce wasn't as gooey as i wanted, but the taste was good!

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Considering we didn't have to bake this for an hour, we thought it was pretty good. Some advice though: have your ingredients ready to avoid burning the roux. I wasn't expecting it to boil so fast and was caught off guard. We just removed it from the stovetop until i was ready with the milk and stock. I didn't think it was thickening quickly enough either, so we added a spoonful of corn starch which didn't change the flavor at all but smoothed out the sauce a bit. And finally, we would suggest more broccoli! It was soo sweet in that spicy sauce and I was wishing I had more with the macaroni. My boyfriend loved it though! More than Althon Brown's baked mac and cheese recipe which we found to be too oniony. Thanks RR!

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I thought this was a great basic recipe with a lot of flavor to offer on its own. I did follow some suggestions and boost up the cayenne, which definitely gave it a kick but I think next time I won't add as much. I decided to make this dish a bit healthier just because I'm watching my caloric intake. I didn't have whole milk so I used skim milk and decided not to add cream, which you can usually do as a substitute for not having whole milk. The sauce was much thinner than if I had added cream but next time I'm going to use skim again and just cut the sauce in half. Since it was much thinner, it coated everything fully and puddled on the bottom, so that's a great way to kick off calories and still have a satisfying sauce that covers everything. Also, I cut back a bit on the pasta just so I could add more broccoli and some cauliflower, which went perfectly with the dish. Me and my boyfriend loved this, and he hates vegetables, so it's a tasty way to sneak them in. Thanks!

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the first time i made this recipe, i added plenty of salt and pepper to taste, as well as kicked up the cayenne a little. however, i think what really saved the dish from any kind of blandness was the fact that i added bacon. i just cooked up bacon very crispy and crumbled it into the mac and cheese. it brought great flavor and texture to the dish. i would definitely recommend this addition.

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I followed some of the suggestions from other reviewers to give this recipe a little boost. This was my first time making it. All I changed, was adding 6 total cups of cheese at the end. I made it the other night for my boyfriend and I, I had so much leftover that I offered it to my roommates. They devoured it in less than a day! I would recommend this recipe to anyone with the change I made. It was delicious!!

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First time I made it: Substituted the cayenne pepper with a habanero. Big mistake, the dish had a good flavor but was way too spicy! This was my own fault, with out a doubt, so I added more cheese and milk to dull the spiciness which helped slightly. My Sauce was not clumpy or grainy like some other reviewers complained about it.

Second time: Used only a small amount of cayenne this time and it had just the right amount of kick. The only thing bad about this time was that my sauce somehow turned grainy and lacked some of the flavor it did the first time.

Conclusion: My theory is that the grainy sauce resulted from a lower quality cheese that I used. The first time I used a high quality block of cheddar while the second time i used prebagged shredded cheddar. The block was about $5 more but I believe that's why the sauce turned out grainy. I recommend that anyone who cooks this recipe in the future use high quality cheese and be careful with the amount of cayenne they put in.

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I, like the others, noticed something was missing. I am so used to using velveeta or cheese whiz which probably is the difference. My husband and I liked it for a more homemade cheese sauce but it did need more flavor. I do like the dijon mustard Rachael puts in almost all her dishes. I would make it again but it is not my favorite.

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This recipe is EXTREMELY if you follow the recipe... but once I added nearly 5-6 cups of cheese, a lot more salt, and let the cheese sauce and pasta sit on the stove on low heat for about 10 more minutes (stirring every so often it turned out GREAT.. now this is a favorite in my house.