Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Baked macaroni and cheese doesn’t have to be complicated with layers of ingredients to be the soul-warming food you crave. This homemade baked macaroni and cheese is my most favorite and has pleased crowds, small families, kids and picky eaters alike–give it a try and you’ll see why.
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Key Takeaways
- Stir constantly so the sauce doesn’t split and keep the heat down low.
- Use strong flavored cheeses like Swiss and sharp cheddar grated from a block and never bagged pre-shredded.
- Make sure to taste the sauce before baking and adjust with more salt or a dash of red wine vinegar to your preference.
- You can make this mac and cheese up to three days in advance and bake it later.
- It will get dry and mushy in a slow cooker. I don’t recommend one.
- Prep and bake later: Just let it cool down, put some plastic wrap right against the surface of the mac and cheese (to keep it from forming a skin) and stick it in the fridge. When ready to bake, cook until the edges are bubbling and the center is warm.
- To freeze: Can’t freeze it.
Other tips:
- Never stop stirring your milk once it hits the pan. If your skillet is too hot or you walk away and for a minute you could scorch the white sauce and it will curdle. It doesn’t really hurt the taste, but it will look sort of clumpy. Some readers have called it “grainy”. It only takes 5 minutes. Just hang out and stir until that sauce is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.
- Use good cheese in your baked macaroni and cheese. That means avoiding bagged, pre-shredded cheeses because they contain cellulose (an anti-caking agent) that can cause your cheese not to melt as it should.
- Try to choose a melting cheese and a flavor cheese for the best flavor and texture in your baked macaroni and cheese. Sharp cheddar and Swiss are my favorites but you can go as bold as you want!
- Taste as you go. Taste your cheese sauce before you add your pasta. Is it bland? That can be because of the cheese you used or even the kind of salt you seasoned with. If it doesn’t have enough flavor, add a pinch more salt, stir it in and taste it again until it suits you.
- Feel free to add more pasta if you want to. Some people say that this recipe doesn’t have enough noodles in it, but I’ve never had that problem. And yes, you should cook your pasta before adding it to the cheese sauce.
Try a dash of vinegar for more zing
Because of the fat in the dairy, mac and cheese often needs some acid to bring the flavors to life. I love adding 1-2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar to the sauce before stirring in the pasta. Avoid strong vinegars like apple cider or white distilled.
To measure the pasta: Please follow the volume instructions and measure your pasta dry in a measuring cup meant for dry items (not a liquid one). Small pastas like ditalini or little wagon wheels can go up to about 2 cups and be fine in the recipe, and large ones like bow tie or cellentani can as well. If you will stick to elbow pasta until you get the hang of things you’ll be better off.
To double, triple or quadruple: Simply multiply the recipe below (look for the 1x, 2x or 3x on the right side of the recipe to double or triple the ingredients). Then place it in a 9×13. The bake time should be close to the same. Just bake until the center is hot and the edges bubble.
Other macaroni and cheese recipes you’ll want to devour:
- Lobster mac and cheese
- Spicy baked macaroni and cheese
- Creamy ham and sage macaroni and cheese
- Three cheese stovetop ultra creamy mac and cheese
- The best baked macaroni and cheese with tomatoes
- Truly easy microwave easy mac and cheese
- Super Creamy gluten free mac and cheese
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni shells or cavatappi
- 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups milk not skim
- 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
- 2 cups shredded cheese I like 1 cup each of sharp cheddar and Swiss
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil; add a generous sprinkling of salt the pasta.
- While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a skillet or pot large enough to hold the pasta when it’s done.
- Add the flour and stir over medium heat until the mixture is lightly browned; 1-2 minutes.
- Add the milk and whisk to remove any lumps and add the salt and pepper.
- Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and starts to bubble. About 6 minutes.
- Stir in the cheese and whisk until smooth and melted. Turn off the heat.
- When the pasta is almost done but still firm, drain it and add to the sauce.
- Stir the pasta into the sauce and bake in a greased 2 quart dish (or an 8×8 pan works pretty well) 20-25 minutes until browned and bubbly. You can also skip baking it if you want it super creamy and just put it under the broiler to brown the top (keep an eye on it) and then serve.
Just made this recipe for my wife’s birthday!
Made it lactose free, as we both need that.
Only LF milk for sale was 1.5% so I mixed 900mL LF milk with 100mL LF cream (36% milk fat). This brought it up to around 5% fat for extra creaminess.
Turned out amazing! Love this recipe!
Cheers 🙂
That sounds wonderful Adam! It’s so nice to have recipes that can be customized like this one can. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it. –Rachel
I made this tonight put some parm in with the cheddar and topped it off with seasoned taco meat … wonderful
That sounds delicious! I’m so glad you liked it! –Rachel
I made this for Friendsgiving this year, and it was amazing! I doubled the recipe, and made two separate 9×9 pans… One topped with crushed white cheddar cheez-its and the other topped with sharp cheddar. Both were great, but I prefer the cheese topping for reheatability. I also used half extra sharp white cheddar and half ricotta cheese for the sauce, so it required a pinch more salt than you called for. Still, your instructions and proceedures worked like a charm!
Ah yes–ricotta needs a lot more salt. I’m glad you were able to take that bull by the horns and season it appropriately Clayton! Your adjustments sound so delicious! –Rachel
I made this recipe for the first time for my grandkids, it’s was a success. They ask me to make it again. Definitely keeping the recipe. Thank you.
I’m so glad to hear that Susie! It’s certainly a winner with lots of families. –Rachel
Delicious classic mac & cheese!
I made this for Thanksgiving – added cooked crumbled bacon and Parmesan breadcrumbs to the top and everyone went crazy! It’s the perfect recipe…thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi Rachel, I made your Mac n cheese recipe for the first time, and it came out beautifully! I made a couple of additions; 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese and buttered bread crumbs on top. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Perfectly creamy and not too dry as some others I’ve made. I will make this again! Thanks again
Well congratulations to you Cindy for a job well done. Your adjustments sound just great and I am so glad you enjoyed it. –Rachel
I’ve been meaning to leave a comment since I found this recipe and made it for the first time last year. This is the BEST mac n cheese recipe ever! I personally absolutely love it, but after making it the first time for a bbq gathering and my guests raving about it, it has become my go-to dish! Not only have I had constant requests for the recipe, anytime I have a gathering I host or one I attend, I am always asked to bring my mac n cheese.
I added one minor ingredient. I top the mac n cheese with panko breadcrumbs. I sautee them with butter on the stop top first then top it on the mac n cheese and heat in the over for about ten minutes.
Christina, thank you so much for taking the time to come over and let me know! I’m so glad the mac and cheese is a success for you! Isn’t it great when you can see other people enjoy something you’ve made? I’m so glad for you. I hope you will enjoy it for many years to come! –Rachel
If you were talking through your video, I couldn’t understand you through all that loud music! Why do you need or want music to cover your voice? Why bother talking in them at all, if that was the case? You can’t really see what you are doing from the angle you use, so you really need to drop the music and just talk.
Hi Emma, thanks for your comments but I want to clarify for you. These short videos that you find in my posts aren’t meant to have my voice. They are called trailers and they give you the essentials–the visual steps only for a quick learn-and-go. If you’ll notice below that video is a huge sentence that says “Watch the full video on YouTube” and if you’ll click on that, you can see the whole thing, minus the music and get all the talking you’d like to have. I’m sorry you’re frustrated, but head on over to YouTube and you’ll see it all there. –Rachel
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a HIT!! Definitely going to save this one as a holiday dish.