This herby, lemony seafood mac and cheese is reminiscent of a luxurious lobster macaroni dish — except it’s made with spot prawns, “the lobster of Alaska.”
Try making this crowd-pleasing, comforting dish of spot prawn macaroni and cheese on a free evening when you’re feeding a crowd. Or, make it over a leisurely weekend to stock your fridge with delicious leftovers to enjoy over the next few days.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
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Macaroni: While macaroni is a classic shape for a dish like this, you can also substitute other small, shaped pastas like shells or ditali.
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Gluten-free options: To make this dish gluten-free, use a gluten-free pasta. Flour is used as an ingredient to thicken the cheese sauce. Replace this flour with a gluten-free alternative like tapioca flour, rice flour, or cassava flour. You will also need to omit the panko breadcrumbs or replace with a gluten-free alternative.
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Gruyere: Gruyere is relatively firm cheese with a nutty flavor that melts readily into cheese sauces. If you can’t find gruyere, you can replace this with an option like white cheddar, swiss, or havarti.
Can You Make This Recipe Dairy-Free?
Not exactly. There’s no good way to make this recipe for spot prawn macaroni and cheese a dairy-free dish. It requires butter, milk, and cheese, which give the recipe its melty qualities and indulgent flavor. Substituting dairy-free alternatives for these ingredients can significantly alter the flavor and texture of the finished dish.
A better approach to making a baked dairy-free macaroni and cheese recipe with spot prawns is to start with a recipe that’s written to be dairy-free, then add peeled, chopped spot prawns to the dish before baking it as directed. Alternatively, you can stir sauteed spot prawns into a stovetop dairy-free mac and cheese just before serving.
