Breakfast Mac and Cheese

By Dinner or Dessert

I love cheese almost as much as I love sugar so when I crave mac and cheese, I want the option of eating it as breakfast, lunch or dinner.

This breakfast mac and cheese recipe combines all my favorite breakfast add-ins into a delicious mac and cheese. I decided to go with Wisconsin Colby Jack, a mild cheese that would be perfect in a savory breakfast dish. I used all the usual ingredients you would find in an omelette like sausage, onions, peppers, cheese and eggs and then combined them with pasta and crumbled biscuit pieces.

The sweet breakfast sausage, creamy Colby Jack and spice from the jalapeno and Pepper Jack Cheese seriously makes this dish taste like the best breakfast casserole you have ever had. You might even eat mac and cheese for breakfast instead of dinner from now on. Or maybe both, I won’t judge!

Breakfast Mac and Cheese
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 pound pasta (I used cavatelli shaped pasta)
1 pound breakfast sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
1 large onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, discard seeds and dice
1/2 tablespoon garlic salt
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
4 cups whole milk
5 cups (about 20 ounces) Wisconsin Colby Jack Cheese, shredded and divided
1 cup (about 4 ounces) Wisconsin Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded and divided
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
6 toasted biscuits, crumbled (homemade or from the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage until browned. Remove sausage from the pan, drain the fat off and set sausage aside. In the same skillet, add the onion, peppers and garlic salt and cook over medium-high heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove onion and pepper mixture from pan and set aside.

Add butter to the same skillet and stir constantly until melted. Add the flour and stir constantly over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk and whisk continuously until it is smooth and has thickened, about 4-6 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 4 cups of Colby Jack and 1/2 cup of Pepper Jack. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the pasta, cooked sausage, onion/pepper mixture to the cheese mixture and stir until combined. Pour into a large buttered baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs. Add in the remaining cheese and crumbled biscuits and stir until combined. Pour this mixture over the pasta in the baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

breakfast, Colby Jack, macaroni, Pepper Jack, Wisconsin Cheese

3 Responses to “Breakfast Mac and Cheese”

1. Stephanie says:

   March 13, 2012 at 2:12 pm

   This sounds wonderful. I don’t eat eggs though. Could I leave those out or substitute for something else?
2. Elise says:

   December 8, 2012 at 9:42 am

   Eggs make this mac n cheese set more like a casserole. You can make this without eggs, but if you do, keep in mind that once you put it in the oven all of the ingredients are already cooked. You probably need to bake it for only half the time for everything to incorporate. With the eggs included, the specific cooking time is so that the eggs will be thoroughly cooked. Either way, it will be delicious!
3. Amanda says:

   January 17, 2013 at 10:48 am

   Can you make this the night before and cook it in the morning?