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.
made this as a side dish for Easter. Added garlic and onion powder, very delicious 😋
Over the years, I have tried a ton of recipes for homemade Mac and Cheese without a lot of success. This recipe is great. The pasta to cheese sauce ratio is perfect. The addition of red wine vinegar to the cheese sauce was a revelation. I did add smoked paprika and a dash of hot sauce, but otherwise followed the recipe. Thanks!
I agree on the vinegar Barbara! I’m so glad you liked it. –Rachel
Can you put in a crockpot to keep warm for a potluck?
You can if you want to Kim I just find that any mac and cheese in a slow cooker gets very mushy and soft and really thick as it sits. –Rachel
you doubled and tripled the recipe but u used the same size baking dish, an 8×8 pan
Hi Susan, if you mean in the recipe itself, the 2x 3x buttons only increase the ingredients and don’t alter any other parts. I do cover pan size in the body of the post. –Rachel
I was going to make this but the pasta seems like a very small amount. If you’re going by measuring cup, 1 3/4 is less than 25% of a box of pasta. Is that right? I found a similar recipe with same amount of cheese/milk/butter as yours but it required a whole box of pasta, so I used that instead. Am I wrong? Are you really only using 1 3/4 cup of pasta with this? According to the side of a pasta box, that’d be about 2 servings out of the box.
Hey Carla–are you thinking about this from an ounces perspective because that can be confusing. This recipe works by volume and not weight. A serving here is 1/2 cup of cooked pasta and we are measuring this dry then cooking it. So 1 3/4 or even 2 cups is 3 to 4 servings at least. It’s always a perfect amount of pasta as long as you are using a standard size elbow noodle. Large noodles like bow tie or full size penne usually needs 2 cups of dry pasta. Let me know if that helps.
This is a very good recipe! I like the taste of the two cheeses. My husband really liked it also.
This has been my family’s favorite for a while now! Good quality cheese is really key – I use aged cheddar and smoked Gouda and it’s always a hit!
I followed this recipe to a T and it was not good. I don’t know what I did wrong but it had zero cheese taste. Any and all tips welcomed.
Hey Jill–there are plenty of solutions! First it’s important to note that if you have been eating boxed or store bought mac and cheese, homemade can feel a little discouraging because your brain is waiting for the hit of additives and chemicals that are in the store bought kind. When those don’t come, the brain says “bland” but it’s just a trick. 🙂
If that’s not your case, then absolutely feel free to crank up your cheese choice. A lot of people make the mistake of using very mild cheeses like baby Swiss, Monterey Jack or Mozzarella which really have no flavor. Try a sharp or extra sharp cheddar next time and grated parmesan. That will give you a big hit of flavor! Also try adding a teaspoon or two of red wine vinegar and then taste your sauce and see if it needs more salt for your personal preference.
–Rachel
I was looking for a recipe that was very basic and easy. I needed one that only included real milk in the ingredients, because I did not have half/half or evaporated milk as all the other recipes required. Besides, I would rather not have canned products or products with sugar in my baked mac and cheese. I cooked in covered with aluminum, removed it after 20 minutes and added more cheese on top. Then baked it an additional 10 minutes. My daughter liked it and so did I except I added more pepper!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Cande. You can certainly add a lot of different flavors and ingredients to this recipe–and I don’t want sugar in mine either. –Rachel
Thank you for sharing your recipe. It’s my go-to for macaroni and cheese.