I Made Martha Stewart’s Quick and Easy Mac and Cheese Recipe

The recipe calls for six ingredients: 1 ½ cups of fresh or frozen broccoli, 4 ounces of short pasta (penne is recommended), 2 ½ ounces (⅓ cup) of cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, ½ ounce (⅓ cup) of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and salt. Black pepper is also optional, but I decided to use it.

I opted for frozen broccoli since I always keep florets in the freezer, and because it reduced my prep time.

The only minor obstacle I faced during the prep process was measuring the Parmigiano-Reggiano. I used my kitchen scale to weigh the ½ ounce (⅓ cup) of cheese, but when I added it to the measuring cup, it quickly overflowed despite the scale only reading 0.1 ounces.

I had to tightly pack the finely grated cheese into the cup to get the desired ½ ounce.

I started by boiling the penne pasta in salted water. The recipe said to boil the noodles two minutes short of al dente, so I let them cook for nine minutes rather than the box’s recommended 10 to 12 minutes.

When time was up, I scooped out 1 cup of pasta water to use later and added the frozen broccoli to the pot. I let the broccoli cook with the pasta for two minutes before draining the water and setting them aside.

From there, I simmered the butter, cream cheese, and ⅔ of the cup of pasta water in my empty pot.

The cream cheese didn’t initially break down in the pasta water, so I had to use a whisk to smooth out the sauce, which was a small inconvenience.

Then, I added the pasta, broccoli, and Parmigiano-Reggiano into the pot and stirred until the sauce completely coated the noodles.

The ½ ounce of cheese ended up being the right amount for the sauce, which was cheesy, but not overly salty, gritty, or stringy.

I didn’t even need to add the final ⅓ cup of pasta water because the sauce was already clinging well to the noodles, creating a creamy, silky coating.

I finished the dish with an extra sprinkle of freshly grated cheese and some black pepper, as recommended.

The final pasta had some tanginess from the cream cheese, but plenty of saltiness from the Parmigiano-Reggiano and some earthy notes from the broccoli.

I loved how quickly this recipe came together. I had a creamy, comforting pasta dish ready for lunch in a matter of minutes on a very busy workday.

Although Stewart’s recipe called for broccoli, it also said peas or cauliflower florets would be good alternatives. I think this recipe would taste good with lots of different vegetables, like asparagus and mushrooms, so I’m looking forward to experimenting in the future.

This story was originally published on April 3, 2025 and most recently updated on August 15, 2025.