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.
I received a pre seasoned cast iron skillet for Christmas this year and i am happy to say this was the first recipe we wanted to try! It is in the oven now and my boyfriend is already saying how good it smells!
Natalie someone must love you to give you a pre seasoned skillet ;). Not everyone would be excited over a gift like that! I hope it tasted as good as you hoped. Happy New Year to you!
Add in some sautéed onion and a couple dashes of paprika to level it up!
I am making this for family christmas this weekend. Can I make this ahead and reheat or make the cheese sauce and everything in the morning and pop in the oven right before dinner?
Hey Jessica, I don’t recommend reheating it because it can change the texture, but you can certainly make it the morning of your event and cook it that evening. Try to set it out about 30 minutes before you want to bake it so it won’t take it a lot longer to get hot all the way through. Merry Christmas to you–I hope you enjoy it!
I made this recipe over the summer for a cookout with friends, and they have been BEGGING me to make it again ever since! They even DEMANDED that I bring it to our Christmas potluck! Thanks for creating such an awesome and tasty recipe!!
Well, whenever we can get people to beg and demand our food we’ve done well, haven’t we? I’m so glad everyone likes it Ann! Thank you for letting me know and you had better get cooking. 😉 Merry Christmas!
Good Morning Rachel. I have been checking out a lot of recipes online and had a question. In your above recipe the amount of pasta you use, is that cooked or dry since pasta doubles in size when cooked.
Thanks Rachel!
Hey Matthew, that’s a good question. The amount is for DRY pasta. Most recipes (of any type) will tell you the measurement amount for dry, so maybe that will help you out in the future too!
I made this for my family on Thanksgiving. At our house macaroni and cheese is one of the most important dishes. My family was completely impressed and in love with this recipe. I even took some to my sister, who was in the hospital, and all the nurses commented on how good everything smelled and looked.
Oho we passed the family test! Excellent news! I’m so glad you all liked it. I hope you find others you enjoy here as well. Happy Holidays!
I’m going to make this for my boyfriend tomorrow night, he is a little picky and this seems like something he will enjoy. Thanks for the recipe!
This was absolutely so delicious that I am going to make it again tonight after just making it last night! The only thing I did different was add just a very small amount of parmesan cheese to it and I also added Italian breadcrumbs the last ten minutes. This was a winner in the house!!
Oh Sandy! That is so great to hear! It sounds like you have really made it your own and that’s great. It’s truly one of those recipes that you can adjust in so many ways and it appeals to so many people! I hope you’ll come back for lots more great recipes! Happy Holidays!
I found this recipe this morning and made it today. It was a hit…and to boot, it was so simple to make. It tasted so good that my 17 yo son kept on munching. I doubled the recipe and it baked for about 60 min. It could be creamier but the flavor is awesome. I used a blend of sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, and fontina.
Will definitely use this recipe again!! Thank you very much for sharing.
I’m glad it worked for you Bob! I think Fontina is a great choice to add. If you want it to be creamier, you can always reduce the amount of pasta you add just a little and keep the amount of sauce the same (or just make more sauce) for a creamier texture. It will never be like a boxed mac and cheese no matter what though. I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
I’m hosting about 20 people at my thanksgiving dinner this year. I read that this yields about 4 to 6 adults, so I need this times 5. All I’m worried about is the tray I use to place it in the oven. Any suggestions or tips?
Thank you 🙂
Hey Veronica!
I actually probably would only triple this recipe for 20 and not make it 5 times larger just because there will be lots of other food there I’m sure and that’s a LOT of mac and cheese. As for the tray, if you are using an aluminum baking pan, those are very flimsy. I’d place that on a cookie sheet and then put that in the oven so you can pull it out without worry of collapsing OR you can divide the amount you make and bake two 9×13 pans–whatever works for you.
Thanks for getting back to me! It’s the end of our night and all turned out great! And yes I tripled the recipe 🙂 i had wanted x5 more so each individual could have a chance at it, but it turned out great and my guest loved it. They were scraping the pan for whatever bits they can get! Awesome recipe, I’m definitely keeping this one in my book. Thank you so much Rachel 🙂
Yay! That’s wonderful news Veronica. 🙂 I’m so glad it worked out well for you all and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Girl, I’m back and making it again this year ? had to search for how much you had recommended to make. Thanks again! ? happy holidays!!
Hahahaha! Veronica you’re welcome back anytime you want! Happy Thanksgiving to you too! –Rachel