I tried Martha Stewart's one-pot mac and cheese. It took just 20 minutes to make and is now my go-to comfort meal.

19 hours ago 4

The author's finished bowl of Martha Stewart's "Cheater's Mac and Cheese."

I tried making Martha Stewart's six-ingredient mac and cheese.
The one-pot pasta recipe took just 20 minutes to make.
The dish turned out creamy and cheesy, and I loved the addition of broccoli to the mix.

Mac and cheese is one of my favorite quick comfort dishes to make when I'm feeling too lazy to cook.

So, when I learned that Martha Stewart had a way to make this classic recipe even quicker, I decided to give it a try. Stewart's "Cheater's Mac and Cheese" recipe includes just six ingredients and takes 20 minutes to prepare.

Here's how I made the one-pot meal.

I started by gathering and prepping the ingredients.

The ingredients to Martha Stewart's "Cheater's Mac and Cheese" portioned out on the author's countertop. The ingredients include uncooked pasta, cream cheese, unsalted butter, salt and pepper, broccoli, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The recipe calls for six ingredients: 1 ½ cups of fresh or frozen broccoli, 4 ounces of a 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.

Next, I cooked the pasta and broccoli.

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 10-12 minutes.

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

Then, it was time to make the cheese sauce.

The pot of melted cream cheese, butter, and pasta water with the author's whisk in frame.

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.

When the sauce was ready, I combined all my ingredients in the pot.

The pasta, broccoli, cheese, and sauce mixed together in the pot.

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.

This is now a go-to comfort recipe for me.

The author holding her bowl of mac and cheese.

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 also 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.