Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese
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This copycat recipe of Panera’s new Broccoli Cheddar Mac and Cheese is spot on perfection! They took their two fan favorites: mac & cheese and broccoli cheddar soup and combine those favorite flavors together to make magic!
Panera’s macaroni and cheese is very rich and thick – and the key to this copycat recipe is to combine white cheddar with yellow cheddar to get that thick consistency and creaminess. I definitely like this version better than the regular mac – I love the little bites of broccoli and carrots!
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Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese Ingredients
This recipe is the perfect melding of Panera’s signature Broccoli Cheddar soup with their delicious white cheddar macaroni & cheese. Here’s what you’ll need for groceries:
- uncooked macaroni (or Pipe Regatta – this is what they use at Panera)
- butter
- yellow onion
- carrots
- broccoli florets
- all purpose flour
- 2% milk – you can use skim milk or whole milk as well
- heavy cream
- chicken broth
- salt
- white pepper
- dry mustard
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- extra sharp WHITE cheddar cheese
- WHITE American cheese
- sharp YELLOW cheddar cheese
Is Panera’s broccoli mac and cheese vegetarian?
Nope. They use chicken broth. You could swap out the chicken broth with water or vegetable broth in this recipe.
How do you make Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese?
This is a fairly easy recipe and you make it all on the stove top – but it takes a little bit of time and a couple of pots.
- First up, boil your pasta! Panera uses a Pipe Regatta pasta which is pretty hard to find so I went with extra large macaroni.
- Next – veggie time! Saute broccoli, carrots and onion in a little butter until softened. This is a key step – you want to chop all the veggies fairly small but still with bite-size pieces. I mainly used the leafy parts of the broccoli and shredded the carrots to stay true to Panera’s soup.
- For the cheese sauce – I highly recommend getting all your ingredients set out and measured. The steps go quickly – you don’t want to burn something because you’re measuring!
- To start, in a sauce pan, make a rue by melting butter and then adding flour.
- You’ll want the measured milk, cream and chicken broth close by with your whisk.
- Alternate adding them all to the flour/butter mixture and your sauce will form quickly!
- Let this thicken for about five minutes – whisking the whole time.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in your spices.
- Finally, back to the stove and whisk in your cheeses and stir until melty and smooth.
- Then, add your cooked veggies and pour mac in. Stir and serve!
Can you freeze Panera’s Macaroni and Cheese?
Yes – thank goodness! I made a BIG pot of this – it’s sort of hard not too! I had to freeze half of the mac & cheese solely so I wouldn’t be eating it for a week straight! (Single life!)
I use these glass containers – they’re BPA free, seal better than a plastic container and heat up with no stained containers.
To reheat – I’ll let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. If it’s a little dry – add milk or chicken broth to sauce it back up.
Why are you using chicken broth in macaroni & cheese?
Because this dish is basically a combination of their mac & cheese and their broccoli cheddar soup – I wanted to pull from both dishes. To give this a looser sauce, the chicken broth will help vs. adding more cream.
What to serve with Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese?
More Panera Recipes for Easy Meal Ideas
Panera’s Bakery-Cafe has so much good stuff – here are some of my favorite recipes:
Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb uncooked macaroni (or Pipe Regatta)
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- 3 cups broccoli florets small dice
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 cup extra sharp WHITE cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup WHITE American cheese shredded
- 1 cup sharp YELLOW cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot with well salted water.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt butter. Add in onions, carrots and broccoli. Cook to soften about 5 minutes (may be more or less depending on the size vegetables you cut). if mixture gets dry add 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Remove veggies from pan and set aside in bowl
- At this point – get all of your liquids out in measuring cups and cheeses grated.
- In veggie pan, melt butter over medium heat. When melted, whisk in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly to cook out the raw flour.
- Begin splashing in milk, cream and broth, alternating and whisking well. Continue pouring milk and cream in small amounts, constantly whisking to ensure smoothness, until the mixture is no longer a paste-like consistency but more like a soupy liquid.
- Turn heat to medium-low, whisking consistently and getting into the corners (to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom or the corners and burns), until the mixture becomes thick, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in salt, pepper, mustard powder, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Place back on heat on low and add cheeses and stir until melted and smooth.
- Add in broccoli mixture and noodles, stir.
Notes
- Panera uses Pipe Regatta pasta which is difficult to find – large elbow works fine
- For the broccoli, use mainly the “leafy” parts of the broccoli crowns and chop fairly fine
- For the carrots, use regular carrots and grate them. NOT baby carrots
- If you want a saucier mac & cheese, reduce cream by 1/2 cup and increase broth by 1/2 cup
- To reheat, remove from refrigerator and add chicken broth or water – 1/4 cup per portion and reheat on stove or in microwave
We love adding broccoli and cauliflower to our mac and cheese. A great way to eat more veg.
This is my second Recipes and I love this easy recipe! I Bookmarked this page, will come back for more.
An absolutely genius idea of adding broccoli to mac and cheese. My mouth is watering. I am sure my kids are going to love this one.
Two of our favorite combinations of flavor and all that cheese is going to make this broccoli dish over the top!
Wow, adding vegetables to mac and cheese makes it more beautiful and maybe a little bit healthier too. Love this idea!
Our youngest two are obsessed with Panera’s Mac and Cheese, I can’t wait to try this!!
This is the best Mac n’Cheese ever. It is so rich and delicious. Next time I’m going to make a triple batch so that I can freeze some because it was such a big hit.
love to hear that!!!
My family loved it . You left out the garlic measurement but I did 1 tsp . I didn’t use American cheese . Just added 1/2 cup more of each cheddar . I didn’t have white pepper so used black . I really enjoyed making this !! Thank you 🤗 my grandaughter said it was as good as Panera’s
Sorry about that – just updated the recipe! Glad you liked it!!!!
It was so good, tasted just like Panera! I noticed mine almost had a chalky texture, I think it might have been from over cooking the flour too much or maybe cause I used pre shredded cheese? If you have any ideas as to why I’d love to know for next time!
There’s not very much flour in this recipe – but I would say either your flour wasn’t mixed into butter enough and/or the pre-shredded cheese. That bagged stuff all has that powdery preservative and it doesn’t melt the same! But so glad you liked it!!
Amazing recipe thank you.
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This recipe is exactly what I needed! Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods, but I never thought I could replicate it at home. Your step-by-step instructions make it look so easy, and I love that you use simple ingredients that I already have in my pantry. The addition of broccoli gives it the perfect balance of flavor and texture, and I can already imagine how creamy and delicious it’s going to be. I’m definitely making this for dinner tonight! Thanks for sharing this amazing copycat recipe—I know my family will love it!
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bjs used to sell the Panera bread broccoli machine n cheese but I haven’t seen it in a while so I tried making it on my own. I have picky eaters but this washoe recipe the whole family liked. my first attempt and I’m so happy with the results!
aw glad you liked!!! its so good!