“Bacon stays crisp because half of it never enters the sauce.”
Published by MommyCooking.org · Published September 30, 2026
A tray of this feeds eight and reheats well, which is most of why it exists. The sauce is a plain milk-and-broth bechamel rather than a can of condensed soup, so it tastes like something rather than like salt, and the whole thing goes together while the oven comes up to temperature.
The pasta is what fails here, and it fails by drinking. Penne boiled to package time then baked for twenty more minutes turns into something closer to porridge. Pull it three minutes early, and make the sauce looser than looks right before it goes in the dish, because it will tighten considerably in the heat.
🥓 The promise: A tray that feeds eight, reheats without turning to paste, and gets its creaminess from a real bechamel rather than a can.
🥓 Everything you need, all in one look🧂 Ingredient notes & easy swaps
Sharp cheddar is doing the flavoring; mild leaves the sauce tasting only of dairy. Grate it from a block, because the anti-caking starch on pre-shredded cheese makes a grainy sauce. Whole milk holds the roux together where skim thins it badly. Rotini or shells work as well as penne, and the dill and chives should be dried here rather than fresh.
Undercooked pasta absorbs sauce in the oven without becoming soft, while blanched broccoli finishes at the same pace.
Half the bacon never touches the sauce, which is the only reason any of it is still crisp by the time the dish reaches the table.
🍳 What you actually need (equipment)
A large pot for the pasta, a wide saucepan for the bacon and the sauce, a whisk, a slotted spoon, a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and an instant-read thermometer.
Heat the oven to 400°F (205°C) and boil 12 oz (340 g) penne 3 minutes short of the package time, dropping 4 cups (360 g) small broccoli florets in for the final 90 seconds. Reserve ½ cup (120 ml) pasta water, then drain.
Boil pasta and broccoli
Cook 4 slices (113 g) chopped bacon in a wide saucepan over medium heat until the pieces curl and turn brittle at the edges. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, reserve half for the topping, and leave 1 tablespoon of fat behind.
Crisp the chopped bacon
Add 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, whisk in ¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour for 1 minute, then pour in 2 cups (480 ml) warm whole milk and 1½ cups (360 ml) warm low-sodium chicken broth in stages. Simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Build the roux and sauce
Stir in 1 teaspoon (1 g) dried dill, 1 teaspoon (1 g) dried chives, ½ teaspoon (1 g) garlic powder, 1 teaspoon (6 g) kosher salt, ½ teaspoon (1 g) black pepper, and 1 cup of the 2 cups (226 g) sharp cheddar until melted and smooth.
Season and melt in cheddar
Fold the penne, broccoli, 3 cups (420 g) diced cooked chicken, and half the bacon into the sauce. Splash in the reserved pasta water until the mixture looks slightly looser than you want it, since the pasta keeps drinking.
Fold and loosen the mixture
Transfer it to a 9-by-13-inch dish without packing it down, scatter the remaining cheddar over the top, and bake 18 to 22 minutes until the center reaches 165°F (74°C). Rest 10 minutes, then strew the reserved crisp bacon over the surface.
Bake, rest, and top
✅ How to know it's done
Pasta is tender without splitting, the broccoli stays green, and a creamy sauce clings around each scoop. A brown top over a cool middle wants foil and a few more minutes; this dish is finished at 165°F (74°C), not at a color.
💡 Practical tips (and what not to do)
Warm the milk and broth. Cold dairy poured onto a hot roux sets into lumps a whisk never fully smooths.
Hold back half the bacon. Whatever is folded into sauce goes soft, so the reserved half is the only crunch on the plate.
Spoon it in loosely. Pressing the mixture flat drives out the air the sauce needs to bubble up and brown.
Keep the pasta water. A splash loosens the sauce without watering down its flavor the way plain milk would.
Give it ten minutes out of the oven. Cut it straight away and the sauce runs to the corners instead of clinging to the pasta.
Budget: poach and shred two chicken breasts rather than buying cooked meat, and add two more cups of florets. Lighter: halve the cheese in the sauce, use low-fat milk, and double the broccoli so vegetable outweighs pasta. Kids: bake a ramekin of plain sauced pasta with no green in it at all. Extra flavor: whisk a teaspoon of Dijon and a grating of nutmeg into the sauce before the cheddar melts in.
💛✨ Flavor boost
Crush the dried dill and chives between your palms as they go into the warm sauce. Rubbing the leaves breaks them open, and the ranch note then reads through the cheddar instead of hiding under it.
🥔 What Goes Well With It
Romaine and red onion in a sharp vinaigrette, which a sauce this rich needs beside it.
Quick-pickled cucumbers, to cut through the bacon fat.
Steamed sugar snap peas with nothing on them, plain against a very rich tray.
📦 Storage & Freezer Notes
Press parchment onto the surface before the lid goes on and it keeps four days; the exposed top dries out first.
Reheat one serving at a time, covered, in a 350°F (175°C) oven with a splash of milk stirred through, until the middle reads 165°F (74°C) after about twenty minutes.
Assemble and freeze it unbaked for three months, thaw it overnight, and give it fifteen minutes beyond the times in the method.
Render the bacon and build the sauce a day ahead, but boil the penne only once the oven is hot, since cooled pasta drinks the sauce before it ever gets there.
Scoop from the corner so every portion includes browned cheese, creamy pasta, and crisp bacon.
🧒 Serving Ideas for Kids
Spoon a child's serving from the middle, where the sauce stays loose rather than browned and chewy.
Chop the florets to thumbnail size so green arrives in every forkful instead of one large piece.
Let the reserved bacon be added at the table by whoever is eating it.
❓ Quick answers
Can the tray sit in the fridge overnight?
Yes. Stop before the pasta water goes in, keep that splash and the crisp bacon separate, and stir the water through just before baking. A dish that starts cold wants about ten extra minutes.
Why did my cheese sauce turn grainy and oily?
Almost always pre-shredded cheese, or a sauce that kept boiling once it was in. Take the pan off the heat, add the cheddar in two handfuls, and stir only until it goes smooth — a block you grate yourself melts where bagged shreds seize.
Can I use frozen broccoli?
Yes, but keep it out of the pasta pot. Thaw it, press the water out in a clean towel, and fold it in with everything else, or the extra moisture thins your sauce to a puddle.
Is there a substitute for the flour-based sauce?
Cream cheese thinned with hot broth is the usual shortcut and it will not break. The trade-off is a heavier, tangier result that tastes noticeably richer per serving than a milk-based one.
🥗 Nutrition, roughly: about 610 calories per serving. Estimates only; brands, cuts and portion sizes change the numbers.
Published by MommyCooking.org. This AI-assisted recipe passed automated checks for page consistency and required image files. The publisher confirms this recipe was tested before publication. The food images are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs of a cooking session. Cooking temperatures should be checked with a food thermometer; nutrition figures are estimates. How we make recipes · Report a problem with this recipe
