Easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese
This baked macaroni and cheese recipe combines delicious sharp cheddar and cream cheese for a flavorful and creamy cheese sauce. Before serving, top with breadcrumbs and bake. Breadcrumbs add a wonderfully crisp texture on top of the soft cheesy pasta.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
In a large pot of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente, about 1-2 minutes less than the package cook time. Drain the cooked pasta, pour into a large bowl and stir in 2 Tablespoons of butter. Set pasta aside.
In a large saucepan or 12-inch oven-safe skillet, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour to form a thick paste. Cook and whisk the paste for 1 minute, then slowly whisk in the milk. Once all of the milk is added, continue to whisk. Bring to a simmer. Once simmering, whisk in the cheese until smooth. Whisk in the salt, ground mustard, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce (if using). Cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
Pour the sauce over the buttered pasta. Add the cream cheese and stir everything together until the pasta is completely coated and cream cheese is melted. Scoop pasta back into skillet or a greased 9×13-inch pan.
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Continue Reading at Sallysbakingaddiction →Chef's Notes
Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: To make ahead of time, simply prepare the dish through step 5. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days before continuing with step 6. You can also freeze the macaroni and cheese after step 5 for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6. Add about 5 minutes to bake time. You can also freeze the fully baked macaroni and cheese for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake at 400°F (204°C) for 40 minutes.
Special Tools (affiliate links): Large Pot or Dutch Oven | Skillet | Whisk | 9×13-inch Baking Pan
Milk: Whole milk is strongly recommended for richest tasting sauce. If needed, you can use a lower fat or nondairy milk. Keep in mind that the sauce won’t taste as rich and creamy.
Cheese: For best flavor, I recommend sharp cheddar. Buy a block or two and grate it yourself because it’s freshest that way. The pre-shredded bagged cheese typically has stabilizers and a drier texture. You can also use a mix of cheddar and another favorite cheese such as Gruyere, fontina, or gouda.
Breadcrumbs: I used seasoned Panko, which you can find in the breadcrumb aisle at the store. You can use plain. If you use plain, feel free to add a little dried parsley, grated parmesan cheese, and some garlic powder. This is just for extra flavor.
Adapted from Alton Brown
Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: To make ahead of time, simply prepare the dish through step 5. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days before continuing with step 6. You can also freeze the macaroni and cheese after step 5 for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6. Add about 5 minutes to bake time. You can also freeze the fully baked macaroni and cheese for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake at 400°F (204°C) for 40 minutes.
Special Tools (affiliate links): Large Pot or Dutch Oven | Skillet | Whisk | 9×13-inch Baking Pan
Milk: Whole milk is strongly recommended for richest tasting sauce. If needed, you can use a lower fat or nondairy milk. Keep in mind that the sauce won’t taste as rich and creamy.
Cheese: For best flavor, I recommend sharp cheddar. Buy a block or two and grate it yourself because it’s freshest that way. The pre-shredded bagged cheese typically has stabilizers and a drier texture. You can also use a mix of cheddar and another favorite cheese such as Gruyere, fontina, or gouda.
Breadcrumbs: I used seasoned Panko, which you can find in the breadcrumb aisle at the store. You can use plain. If you use plain, feel free to add a little dried parsley, grated parmesan cheese, and some garlic powder. This is just for extra flavor.
Adapted from Alton Brown
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Reviews from the Original Source
It was good but I think I would add maybe 4-5 cups of cheese instead of 3.5. Didn’t seem to be cheesy enough for my liking but I did also use store brand block cheese so maybe it was lower quality leading to lack of flavor ?
I’ve made this quite a few times and it’s always great! But these last two times, the cheese mixture was grainy, not sure what went wrong! Any ideas?
This was a good, easy recipe for Mac n’ Cheese. I made a bit extra sauce and wish I’d made even more so it was more creamy. I’ll definitely make it again, but make even more sauce and increase the spices, salt and pepper.
Just put this together and am going to bake it tonight. Will let ya know how it is but by the aroma of everything, i suspect it will be a hit! I froze half of it.
My skillet is 10"rather than 12", so I made this in a 9X13 glass dish. Although I followed the recipe as written, I also thought it was too dry. Great taste and full of flavor, but not creamy. Perhaps it was too spread out in the large dish? Next time I'll add another cup of milk /TBS of flour and butter so there is more sauce.
This was amazing! I made it largely as written, but subbed half the pasta for a head of cauliflower in desperate need of using. I roasted the cauliflower with olive oil and the listed spices while I prepped and cooked everything else (~25 min), then I stirred it into the sauce along with the pasta. It worked out great! The cauliflower was unobtrusive, and the illusion of health meant I happily went in for a second bowl!
So good. I left out the mustard powder and cream cheese since there wasn't any, though one can see how they would have made it even better.
it was really good ! i used mozzarella and cheddar.
Very good for my fist time making homemade Mac and cheese for a 7 year old that is a conissueuer! It was ma little grainy, any tips? I shredded my own sharp cheddar and gruyere.
Wow, made this yesterday and it is so very good. I have to admit when it came out of the oven in a 12"iron skillet, it looked enormous. I told my wife to invite ten cowboys to dinner because we had plenty.
It didnt take long to make a serious dent in the Mac and Cheese as we both had monstrous helpings. The flavors were great. Cant recommend this dish enough.
I really love this recipe!!
Hey there Sally! I absolutely loved your recipe. It was just heavenly and family just loves this. All the thanks and praise goes to you. Your deteiled step by step instructions and the pictures helped too. Again thank you Very Much.
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! It was super easy to whip up and tasted really good! It also was super easy to follow.
~Kathleen Nelson
Hi Sally. I made your Mac-n-Cheese for Thanksgiving dinner and it was a big hit with the kiddos. I think it tastes even better the next day! Thanks for a Kid-Winning Recipe!! This will surely be going on the table for Christmas dinner! Thanks again!
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