Baked Macaroni & Cheese
It's your favorite childhood comfort food, creamy and delicious.
I tend to make Kraft mac n cheese for dinner on occasions, when the kids just want a quick meal and aren't that hungry. Turns out I didn't have any mac n cheese in the kitchen, so that's how this little baby was born. I figured it wouldn't be that difficult to create my own recipe, and I wasn't wrong.
I luckily had elbow macaroni in the cupboard, but if you have other types of pasta lying around, feel free to substitute. I often use pasta interchangeably when recipes call for a specific type, and I have other types available. Whatever you have on hand will work fine with this recipe.
It's really all about the cheese sauce. I used cheddar cheese, but if you prefer other types of cheese, feel free to use what you like. Or combine a couple different types together. The next time I make this I want to do just that, maybe gruyere and cheddar, or monterey jack and cheddar. I adore cheddar, and it's a good base to start with. I also like grating the cheese using a fine grater. It melts faster this way.
If you're really adventurous, add some spinach to the cheese sauce too. I was going to do this, but the kids aren't always into spinach. This recipe is very versatile for adding other veggies or meat too. Kiehlbasa, chicken, or hot dogs could work well.
In the future I will be looking into ways of making this dish more paleo/keto-friendly, using almond milk and coconut cream. So stay tuned!
Ingredients
- 2 cups elbow macaroni
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 cups chedar cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 cups panko bread crumbs (regular bread crumbs also work)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and set aside.
- Cook the macaroni according to instructions. When done, drain and put into the casserole dish.
- Now it's time to make the cheese mix. Melt the butter on medium-low heat in a large frying pan and add the flour to it, stirring till combined. This makes a nice roux to start with. Add in the milk and heavy cream, stirring to combine all the ingredients into a thick sauce. Add the shredded cheese, parmesan, spices, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir everything together till the cheese is melted through and the sauce is thick.
- Pour the cheese mix into the casserole dish and stir until all the macaroni is coated with the sauce.
- Add panko bread crumbs on top of the macaroni, making sure the top is evenly covered. You can use normal bread crumbs, but it will take more to cover than the panko. Adjust the amount of bread crumbs to your liking. I love a nice crispy top so I tend to add lots of bread crumbs.
- Bake this in the oven for 30 minutes. It will be hot, so you might want to let it cool once it's done.
- Enjoy!