Mac & Cheese Crabmeat casserole
The Holiday Season is upon us and for many it means it’s time for some good old home cooking. Over the last two years I have done a lot of cooking around the holidays. Usually on Thanksgiving, I do most of the cooking as a way to honor my mother and to give her a rest. We both have grew tired of the traditional items like turkey and ham, so we decided to shake things up. We have a seafood feast instead! One of the traditional side dishes that we give a “seafood shake-up” to is macaroni and cheese. Check out the recipe below.
Ingredients
Kraft Home-style Macaroni & Cheese Dinner with Classic Cheddar Cheese, 12.6 oz (2 Boxes)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 lb crab meat (lump or claw)
Quarter cup diced onions
Quarter cup diced green pepper
Quarter cup green onions
½ teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
½ teaspoon red pepper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drain liquid from crabmeat. *Be sure and careful to remove any shell fragments*
Follow directions on Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese packages (Do not add bread crumbs or shredded cheese).
In a pan melt 1 tbsp butter or margarine. Sauté in pan diced onions, diced green pepper, green onions and garlic. Add crabmeat to pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes. In large bowl, combine all the ingredients including macaroni along with pepper, red pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and gently mix.
Layer half mixture into casserole dish (If using more than 1 dish fill both half way. See below).
Sprinkle ½ cup cheese over mixture.
Spoon remaining half of mixture into casserole dish.
Cooking:
Cover and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle remaining cheese and sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes uncovered.
Options:
Casserole Dishes that can be used are;
-Two, 1 -1/2 quart dishes (divide mixture evenly into each)
-One, 3 quart dish (9 x 13)
-One, 3 -1/2 quart Dutch oven
-Instead of 1 cup milk, you can use ½ cup milk and ½ cup heavy cream.
-If only using one package Macaroni & Cheese, use half measurement of ingredients.
-When adding cheese and breadcrumbs to finish, also sprinkle some bacon bits on top…aww snap!
I really can’t say, “serves 2 – 4”. It’s Thanksgiving so I might eat a quart on my own.
This is just too much damn work for some macaroni and cheese @Ocky. You don’t have any simpler recipes for us? Everybody ain’t a Top Chef like yourself. LOL
LMAO…what you think this is hard? Man please, I can cook this in my sleep. But Yo its Thanksgiving…you gotta put that extra love into the food.
All those ingredients make my head spin. LOL. Seems like it tastes great though or at least the picture makes it seem delicious. I get what you mean about the same old dishes us black people make for every holiday. I tried mixing it up myself. Last year we did a homemade barbecue/hash thanksgiving which was good and different. I used to cook a lot more but for some reason, I stopped and I really have forgotten how to make most dishes that I had down-packed. It’s not like riding a bicycle. LOL
BBQ is another great idea for thanksgiving. Just think, once you get a man you can start cooking again LOL.
Hey man, I’m trying on both fronts. It’s hard out here for a pimp. LOL
You gonna be successful on both fronts…believe that.
Leme find out u be cookin @ocky !!! I aint mad.
I never go home for thanksgiving, cus I always go home for Xmas. This year Im goin to a potluck at my Mexican friend’s house, and of course, my black ass is responsible for the mac n cheese! SMH @racial profiling, lol… But I think I might give this a try this year
N dont slap us singles in the face becus u got a man to cook for Ocky!!!
LOL…no I didnt mean it like that. LOL for real.
I was just talkin shit shawty..I know wasup
I’m so doing this! The weather has turned cool and mac-n-cheese and crab are always in season for some of us.
Right!…Im a coastal dude so I love seafood. Thinking about going fishing when I go home for Thanksgiving…in the damn cold. LOL