This post is sponsored by Dragon Wales.
Christmas macaroni and cheese is festive comfort food at its finest! Tender macaroni in creamy, cheesy chicken and tarragon sauce; topped with juicy pigs in blankets and finished with crunchy sage and onion stuffing topping. Quick and easy to make, and a wonderful way to use up Christmas leftovers.
When I was asked to create a festive recipe using Dragon Cheese’s new Handcrafted range of Welsh cavern-aged cheeses, mac and cheese was one of the first ideas that sprang to mind. It’s definitely up there with my favourite cold weather comfort foods, and it makes for a great way to use up Christmas dinner leftovers, or any cheese going spare after your Christmas cheeseboard.
Read on for the full recipe, and make sure you bookmark or pin this page so you can find it later!
Ingredients for Christmas macaroni and cheese
A basic macaroni cheese recipe calls for dried macaroni, butter, plain flour, milk, cheese (often Cheddar) and, sometimes, breadcrumbs and/or grated Parmesan for the topping. Some recipes call for mustard and/or nutmeg, too.
In a festive twist on the classic recipe, my Christmas macaroni and cheese is made using chicken stock, fresh tarragon and double cream for an indulgent, comforting cheese sauce, finished with juicy pigs in blankets and crunchy sage and onion stuffing.
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need:
- Dried macaroni
- Dragon Cheese Handcrafted Cavern Platinum (Welsh cavern-aged Cheddar)
- Dragon Cheese Handcrafted Cavern Ruby (Welsh cavern-aged Red Leicester)
- Dragon Cheese Welsh Salted Butter
- Dried macaroni
- Plain flour
- Whole milk
- Chicken stock (I used a Knorr stock pot)
- Double cream
- Fresh tarragon
- Sage and onion stuffing mix
- Pigs in blankets – ideally, sourced from a quality local butcher (mine are from Oriel Jones)
Variations
- Substitute macaroni with penne, rigatoni or spirali
- Switch whole milk for semi-skimmed for a lighter option
- Swap the chicken stock pot for fresh chicken stock or a chicken stock cube (although if using a cube, crumble it when making your roux to prevent clumping)
- Leave out the double cream, or swap it with mascarpone or crème fraîche
- Replace 1 tbsp fresh tarragon with 1 tsp dried tarragon, or other herbs of your choice (e.g. thyme, sage)
- Add mozzarella or Gruyère cheese for an Instagram-worthy cheese pull. Blue cheese and brie work well well for added flavour, while grated Parmesan is a go-to mac n’cheese topping
- Experiment with different stuffing flavours; opt for a simple breadcrumb topping instead; or for a festive touch, try ground roast chestnuts, breadcrumbs and herbs.
- Swap pigs in blankets for leftover roast turkey, bacon and/or sprouts – check out my Brussels sprout and bacon gratin for inspiration.
How to make my Christmas macaroni and cheese
1. Cook the pigs and blankets according to the packet instructions, and set aside.
2. Cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions drain and set aside, reserving some of the pasta water for later.
3. While the macaroni is cooking, melt 30g salted butter in a large non-stick saucepan or skillet.
4. Once melted, stir in the flour and beat to form a roux, stirring continuously over a low heat for a couple of minutes or so.
5. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a microwave or in a small pan on the stove and, once hot, gradually stir it into the roux a little at a time over a low to medium heat, stirring continuously until all the milk has been added, forming a Bechamel sauce.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and add 75g grated Cavern Platinum and 75g grated Cavern Ruby, stirring to combine.
7. Add the chicken stock pot and stir until dissolved.
8. Add the double cream and stir through…
9. …followed by the fresh tarragon…
10. …and the pasta water.
11. Finally, add the drained macaroni, stirring to ensure each piece is fully coated in sauce.
11. Pour the mixture into a deep oven dish.
12. Scatter the remaining grated cheese over the top.
13. Arrange the pigs in blankets on top of the cheese, jutting out at a slight angle.
14. Scatter the sage and onion stuffing mix over the mac n’cheese, then melt the remaining butter and drizzle it over the top (to help to prevent it from drying out, or burning under the grill). Preheat the grill to low to medium heat, carefully place the dish or skillet inside and grill for 5-10 minutes, until golden and bubbling.
Storage tips
My pigs in blankets mac and cheese tastes best served hot but leftovers can be refrigerated for 2-3 days and enjoyed cold, or reheated in an oven or microwave. However, be aware that it won’t be quite as saucy once reheated. As this recipe uses contains double cream, I don’t advise freezing this dish.
Pigs in blankets Christmas macaroni and cheese
Equipment
- 1 large oven dish or skillet
Ingredients
- 8 pigs in blankets
- 250 g dried macaroni
- 60 g Dragon Welsh Salted Butter
- 30 g plain flour
- 400 ml whole milk
- 125 g Dragon Cavern Platinum grated
- 125 g Dragon Handcrafted Cavern Ruby grated
- 1 chicken stock pot or fresh chicken stock
- 150 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon finely chopped
- 20 g sage and onion stuffing mix
Instructions
- Cook the pigs and blankets according to the packet instructions, and set aside.
- Cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions drain and set aside, reserving some of the cooking water for later.
- While the macaroni is cooking, melt 30g salted butter in a large non-stick saucepan or skillet. Once melted, stir in the flour and beat to form a roux, stirring continuously over a low heat for a couple of minutes or so to cook the flour.
- Meanwhile, heat the milk in a microwave or in a small pan on the stove and, once hot, gradually stir it into the roux a little at a time over a low to medium heat, stirring continuously until all the milk has been added. By now, you should have a creamy Bechamel sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add 75g grated Cavern Platinum and 75g grated Cavern Ruby, stirring to combine.
- Add the chicken stock pot and stir until dissolved.
- Add the double cream and fresh tarragon, stirring through, followed by the reserved pasta water.
- Finally, add the drained macaroni to the mix, stirring to ensure each piece is fully coated in sauce.
- Pour the mixture into a deep oven dish, and top with the remaining grated cheese.
- Arrange the pigs in blankets on top of the grated cheese, sticking out at a slight angle.
- Scatter the sage and onion stuffing mix over the mac n'cheese, then melt the remaining butter and drizzle it over the top (to help to prevent it from drying out, or burning under the grill).
- Preheat the grill to low to medium heat, carefully place the dish inside and grill for 8-10 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t have a stock pot to hand, you can use a crumbled stock cube instead, but I’d recommend adding it with the flour when making your roux, to prevent clumping.
- Use as much or as little double cream as you like, depending on personal tastes (you can leave it out altogether if you prefer!)
- Mac n’cheese tastes best served hot but if you store any leftovers in the fridge, they can be enjoyed cold, or reheated in an oven or microwave (although it may not be quite as saucy once reheated). As my pigs in blankets mac and cheese contains double cream, I don’t advise freezing it.
- Don’t fancy a sage and onion stuffing topping? Opt for a simple cheese and/or breadcrumb layer or, for a festive alternative, ground roast chestnuts and sourdough breadcrumbs work well.
Nutrition
Alternate recipes
If you like this pigs in blankets mac n’cheese recipe, here are some other festive recipes you might like:
- Pigs in blankets toad-in-the-hole
- Leftover turkey, brie and cranberry quesadillas
- Pigs in blankets tray bake
- Brussels sprout Welsh rarebit
- Brie and cranberry-stuffed pigs in blankets
- Nutella and Baileys brownies
Find Dragon’s Handcrafted range on the Dragon website, and at local stockists and independent UK supermarkets.
This post is sponsored by Dragon Wales.
This looks amazing. Marcus loves Mac and Cheese and adding the pigs in blankets is genius!
Thanks Mel, so glad to hear you like the look of it. Bet Marcus would enjoy this 😀