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.
This is a variation of béchamel or white sauce. I teach all my culinary arts students this sauce almost from day one. There are so many different ways it can be used. It is important to cook the flour in the butter for a couple minutes to eliminate any starchiness. Also, stir and heat the milk slowly.
I haven’t tried it in the oven, but I certainly am, now! The problem with boxed mac and cheese is that I observe teens sometimes liking it better because their taste buds are really getting skewed from all the boxes and preservatives that are so prevalent now. I also use this cheese sauce with home made hamburger helper. We do a taste comparison between boxed and homemade, and they really have a hard time with the color as the homemade is not full of orange dye!!!
You are exactly right Lori! If people really knew what they were eating. I’m all for the real thing whenever possible!! I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I have it in the oven right now, can’t wait to try it out! I tasted the sauce and it was delicious. I put a cracker crust on top of mine because i love the crispiness. 🙂
Can I use evaporated milk? Am planning to make Sunday for 5-7 year old football team ?
Kids love this and I know your crew will too. I would really recommend sticking with regular milk –condensed is thicker and it will make it more difficult to make 1) enough sauce and 2) the right consistency of sauce. I really don’t recommend a lot of substitutions on this recipe, but if you want to try it, feel free to give it a go and let me know how it turns out. –Thanks, Rachel
can this be cooked in a crock pot??? Thanks
Hi KC–that’s a question I’ve had a few times before and I always say no, I don’t recommend it. You’re at a real risk for overcooking the noodles and you won’t get that crispy top you do in the oven. It’s just not the same.
I made this today and it turned out sooooo good. Very easy to make. Thanks!
I’m so glad Toya! You are very welcome.
I’ve made this recipe TWICE now, and am in the process of making it a third time, so I thought I should at least leave a comment and a rate. I just LOVE it! It tastes delicious and I know I’ll be passing it on to my own children someday. It’s awesome! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Sam if I had a happy dance emoticon here I’d use it! That’s so great and I’m glad you love it. That’s what it’s all about here–making recipes you can LOVE and use and pass down. I’m so glad you enjoy it. –Rachel
Hi I came across this recipe on Pinterest and I’m curious about the nutrition. Is that information for the whole dish or per serving?? I’m not here to start a debate about health or anything I’m just wanting to make extra sure because my husband and son are both diabetic 🙂 I’m thinking 105g of carbs for macaroni seems like a lot unless it’s an extra large serving. Help please?
Hey Victoria,
I think I had this question come up once before and yes–that is the nutritional count for the ENTIRE recipe. Gosh that’s scary isn’t it?! The nurse in me knows that a “serving” should be 1/2 cup of the finished dish and I’d estimate (roughly) that there are 6-7 servings in the finished dish. So take the 105 carbs and divide by 6 and we’d get 17.5 carbs per serving. Again, it’s a rough estimate but that’s going to put you a lot closer to your real carb count than 105! I hope that helps. 🙂 –Rachel
Really love this recipe! I’ve been making it for a few months now as written and while trying different cheese and spice combinations and honestly they all come out great. Thank you!!
That is so great Lindsay! I love that you love it. 🙂 You are so welcome.
Found it, pinned it, and what can I say? This is AWESOME! The first mac and cheese recipe I’ve ever made that came out great. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Wendy I am so glad to hear that! The first one, huh? Well I hope you will come back and try lots of other recipes here. I try to stick to that theme by giving you recipes that I KNOW work and taste great. Thank you so much for letting me know!–Rachel
its not really 1780 calories and 121 grams of fat per serving? I assume it’s for the entire dish?
Oh goodness Rebecca–I’d think not! What nutritional calculator are you using? The entire recipe probably has that–but keep in mind this is a dish for at least 4-6 people. And if you calculated for whole milk, real butter, and full fat cheese you probably are going to see those numbers be very high. I have a lot of readers who are very happy making this with 1% milk (some have even used soy or rice milk) and low fat cheese. Those are all options for lowering the fat and calories but made as it’s intended, it’s sure not a dieter’s ideal meal.