Food & Cooking Recipes Quick & Easy Recipes Cheater's Mac and Cheese 4.6 (8) It's the best 20-minute dinner. Prep Time: 10 mins Total Time: 20 mins Servings: 2 Jump to recipe Need a fast, comforting dinner? Our quick mac and cheese is just the thing. It comes together in 20 minutes and uses just one pan because the pasta and broccoli are cooked in the same pot. Then you use that pot to make the easiest sauce with cream cheese, butter, Parmesan, and our secret ingredient, some reserved starchy pasta water. It's a meal that soothes as much as it satisfies and a recipe you'll turn to again and again. One carbo-licious bite of this dreamy dish and all your cares will melt away. Quick, Easy, and Delicious Pasta Recipes Ideal for Weeknight Dinners Credit: Con Poulos Switch up the broccoli: Feel free to swap in other vegetables, such as fresh or frozen cauliflower florets or peas, for the broccoli.Double the recipe: Our original feeds two but it's easy to scale up this recipe by x2 all the ingredients. The method stays the same. Directions Cook pasta: Cook pasta in a pot of generously salted boiling water 2 minutes less than per package instructions. Remove one cup pasta water and cook broccoli with pasta; drain: Reserve 1 cup pasta water and cover to keep warm. Add broccoli to pot; continue boiling until pasta is al dente and broccoli is bright green, 1 to 2 minutes more. Drain. Cook cream cheese, butter, and 2/3 cup pasta water in same pot: Return pot to medium heat; add cream cheese, butter, and 2/3 cup reserved pasta water. Cook, stirring, until mixture is smooth and simmering. Add pasta, broccoli, and Parmesan to sauce: Remove from heat; stir in pasta, broccoli, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Toss with more pasta water as needed until sauce clings to pasta. Serve with more Parmigiano and black pepper. 5 More Mac and Cheese Recipes to Try Test Kitchen's Favorite Stovetop Mac and Cheese Thomas's Creamy Macaroni and Cheese Classic Baked Mac and Cheese Mrs Kostyra's Baked Macaroni and Cheese Seafood Mac and Cheese