We really love pumpkin season and one of our favorite fall recipes is this Pumpkin Mac and Cheese. It’s so creamy, rich and delicious with just the right amount of pumpkin goodness. This dish also comes together in under 30 minutes, which we’re huge fans of, so it makes a perfect weeknight dinner!
How to Make Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
This is the ultimate in cozy recipes. The pumpkin cheese sauce is super gooey and flavorful. It’s all about the sauce for this one! It’s pretty easy to make once you have all your ingredients organized.
Process
- Combine milk and pumpkin purée. Stir together.
- Bring a large pot water to boil and generously salt. Boil pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Melt butter in a saucepan and add flour.
- Whisk together. Cook together and stir in thyme.
- Whisk pumpkin-milk mixture into flour mixture. Simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from heat and stir cheese into pumpkin béchamel sauce until smooth.
- Add pasta to pumpkin cheese sauce.
- Fold together until fully incorporated.
- Top each serving with toasted panko and serve immediately.
Tools You Will Need
- knife
- cutting board
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- colander
- whisk
- wooden spoon
- pasta pot
- saucepan
Best Types of Pasta to Use for Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
We use fusilli for this pumpkin thyme mac and cheese because we love how the pasta holds onto the sauce so well. You can use another shaped pasta for this dish if you’re not a fan of fusilli or you don’t have it on hand.
Other great pasta shapes to use for this dish are standard elbow macaroni, cavatappi, small or medium shells, and bow tie.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Make Ahead
The pasta can be boiled up to 5 days ahead of time. When ready to use, stir into hot cheese sauce and place over low heat until pasta warms through.
Freezing
While we think this dish is better when made fresh, you can freeze this dish for up to 3 months, in an airtight container. We recommend keeping the pasta and cheese sauce separate when freezing.
When ready to use, add frozen pasta to boiling water for 1 minute or until it has thawed and just heated through. Drain and set aside. Slightly thaw cheese sauce and pour into a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons milk. Once cheese sauce is simmering, whisk cornstarch slurring into sauce and continue to simmer until thickened. Season with salt and pepper and stir pasta into sauce.
Can This Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Be Baked?
Yes! Lightly grease a 8″x 8″ baking dish and add mac and cheese. Sprinkle top with more shredded cheese, thyme and breadcrumbs. Bake dish for 10 minutes at 400˚F, until cheese on top has melted and slightly browned.
Variations
- You can add a couple small pinches of ground cinnamon, clove and nutmeg into the milk and pumpkin puree, if you want a ‘pumpkin spice’ flavor added to the mac and cheese.
- As we mentioned earlier, almost any shaped pasta will work for this dish. Fusilli is our favorite because of how well the spirals hold onto the sauce.
- We love the combination of pumpkin and thyme, but you can swap the thyme out for some minced sage, which is also delicious. Thinly sliced chives also work as a great alternative in this recipe!
We love this super creamy and cozy recipe for pumpkin mac and cheese. It’s also so simple to make too, which makes it a perfect weeknight meal or a quick and easy side dish to add to a larger meal.
More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes You Will Love
More Delicious Mac and Cheese Recipes You Will Love
Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 12 ounces fusilli pasta can substitute other shaped pasta
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons minced thyme
- 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 ounces shredded gouda
- 1/2 cup toasted panko
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Stir together milk and pumpkin puree.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil add a generous amount of salt (2½ – 3 tablespoons) and then the pasta. Boil pasta for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and set aside.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and whisk together. Allow mixture to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in thyme.
- Whisk pumpkin-milk mixture into flour mixture and continue to whisk until fully incorporated. Allow mixture to simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from heat and stir cheese into the béchamel sauce, in small handfuls, and stir until cheese just melts before adding more cheese.
- Reduce heat to low and gently stir pasta into the sauce, ½ cup at a time until all of the pasta has been added and is fully coasted in sauce. Adjust seasonings.
- Serve Pumpkin Mac and Cheese into bowls and top with fresh thyme and toasted panko.
NOTES
- Freeze Ahead: While we think this dish is better when made fresh, you can freeze this dish for up to 3 months, in an airtight container. We recommend keeping the pasta and cheese sauce separate when freezing.
When ready to use, add frozen pasta to boiling water for 1 minute or until it has thawed and just heated through. Drain and set aside. Slightly thaw cheese sauce and pour into a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons milk. Once cheese sauce is simmering, whisk cornstarch slurring into sauce and continue to simmer until thickened. Season with salt and pepper and stir pasta into sauce.
- To Make Toasted Panko: Pour panko into a small skillet and place over medium-low heat. Cook panko until lightly toasted, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning and evenly toast.
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Can this recipe be made a day in advance and re-heated?
Unfortunately it really doesn’t hold very well…UNLESS you bake it!
If I were to bake this a day in advance for a group of 15, how would you recommend I go about doing so? How long should I bake for?
I would recommend setting everything into a baking dish and covering it with foil the night before and baking it in the morning at 375F for about 20-25 minutes uncovered.
Perfect, thanks!!
I should have read this post earlier. Actually I took last week some photos where I tried to get this kind of mood.
I could stare at your beautiful photos all day–but I think I NEED to get in the kitchen and make this pasta–YUM!
I love mini pasta, but my picky boyfriend hates it… of course, he hates pumpkin too… this sounds like the perfect ‘me’ meal!
Wow, made this today for my family! It was so delicious!! I had two bowls! lol! thanks for sharing this, it made me feel like I was eating Fall, like it tasted like Fall! :D
What a great twist on Mac and Cheese! This dish is perfect for this time of year-need to try it.
This looks unbelievably creamy, and I love that you don’t have to bake it – gets me eating sooner!
Fall is arrived, to be sure, and how right you are to embrace it rather than fight it.
Last night we did board games and martinis with friends seated by the fire. A milk braised pork shoulder, smashed potatoes, kale gratin, and roasted beets accompanied us.
The only thing missing was a pumpkin Mac and Cheese!!
This looks scrumptious! I’ll need to try this. Looks like amazing comfort food. I like the incorporation of Gouda too.
It’s really a good snacks for me!Love your bolg!
Is there some sort of clever trick in tossing the cheese in lemon juice? I’m fascinated!
The acidity in lemon juice prevents the cheese [sauce] from becoming too stringy…you could also sprinkle a small amount of white wine over the cheese instead of lemon juice. Enjoy!
Love the cheeses you used- you can’t go wrong with extra sharp cheddar and smoked gouda, and I bet they went amazingly well with the pumpkin, nutmeg, and thyme. Definitely want to make this!
Those are some of my favorite cheese varieties! I was wondering how this mac and cheese would still taste cheesy with the pumpkin puree in it, but with those flavors I get it.
If that isn’t fall on a plate, I don’t know what is…
Yum, this looks great. I’ve been kicking around an idea for pumpkin mac n cheese too ;)
Amazing combination! I adore the additional of thyme. I bet it tastes as good as it sounds!
pumpkin, noodles and cheese = delightful!
Gorgeous mac ‘n cheese! I love how light and bright and cheery (and cheesy!) it looks!
I wonder if I could wear this as a robe.
Bwahahahaha! *serious note* I am very willing to try the robe experiment and report back.
This sounds so freaking delicious! Love the thyme in there!
I love that you used mini fusilli! Plus, the sharp & extra sharp cheddars sound sooo good :)
I’ve been looking for a good Pumpkin Mac n’ Cheese recipe and this one sounds amazing! I will be trying it out for a Potluck tomorrow evening. Will give feedback :)
I love butternut squash AND mac-n-cheese, so this is PERFECT. LOVE IT!
This looks awesome. And I love that there’s gouda up in here.
first morning of super cold! woke up to Ginger in gloves, scarf & hat. this sounds delicious, smoked goooouda