BACON AND PEA MACARONI & CHEESE

You won’t believe that this creamy and cheesy macaroni and cheese has been lightened!

Mac and cheese. With bacon. Everything is better with bacon.

To balance all the bacon goodness, I lightened it up by changing a few ingredients. To start, I used Silk’s Unsweetened Almond Milk. It has only 30 calories per cup, with no added sugar. And it contains 50% more calcium than regular milk. You won’t be able to tell the difference between this and dairy milk.

The sour cream was replaced with a bit of Greek yogurt, and the result was creamy and rich. With the addition of peas, you’ve got your daily serving of vegetables!

This is my favorite mac and cheese. This mac and cheese is rich and creamy but lightened so that you can have two servings instead of one!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces of elbow pasta
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Four slices of bacon diced
• 1 cup Silk Unsweetened Original Almondmilk
• Two cloves garlic, minced
• Fresh thyme leaves chopped to 1 tablespoon
• 1/4 cup grated gruyere
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Toaste: Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• Optional: 1 tablespoon of hot sauce

Instructions

• Cook pasta in a large pot with salted boiling water according to the package directions. Add peas to the pasta at the last minute. Drain well.
• Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 6-8 minutes until it is crispy and brown. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels.
• Combine almond milk, garlic, and thyme in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil. Add cheese a handful at a time and stir until smooth. This should take about 1-2 mins. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix pasta, peas, and bacon. Add Greek yogurt and hot pepper sauce. Add additional almond milk until the desired consistency has been reached.
• Serve immediately