Mac Cheese Recipes

THE BEST HOMEMADE BAKED MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a large 3 qt or 4 qt baking dish and set aside.Combine shredded cheeses in a large bowl and set aside.
• Cook the pasta one minute shy of al dente according to the package instructions. Remove from heat, drain, and place in a large bowl.
• Drizzle pasta with olive oil and stir to coat pasta. Set aside to cool while preparing cheese sauce.
• Melt butter in a deep saucepan, dutch oven, or stock pot.
• Whisk in flour over medium heat and continue whisking for about 1 minute until bubbly and golden.
• Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream until nice and smooth. Continue whisking until you see bubbles on the surface and then continue cooking and whisking for another 2 minutes. Whisk in salt and pepper.
• Add two cups of shredded cheese and whisk until smooth. Add another two cups of shredded cheese and continue whisking until creamy and smooth. Sauce should be nice and thick.
• Stir in the cooled pasta until combined and pasta is fully coated with the cheese sauce.
• Pour half of the mac and cheese into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese and then the remaining mac and cheese.
• In a small bowl, combine panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese, melted butter and paprika. Sprinkle over the top and bake until bubbly and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
• In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
• Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

MACARONI & CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook the macaroni until very firm. The macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg.
• In a large pot, melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Don't let it burn. Pour in the milk, add the mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes until very thick. Reduce the heat to low.
• Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into the beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the egg. Whisk together till smooth.
• Pour the egg mixture into the sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth. Add in the cheese and stir to melt. Add the salt, seasoned salt and pepper. Taste the sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT. Pour in the drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine. Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake at 350˚ for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bubbly and golden on top.

CREAMY HOMEMADE BAKED MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 3 qt baking dish (9x13"). Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package directs for al dente. Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil to keep from sticking.
• While water is coming up to a boil, shred cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles. Approximately 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for the inner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 1 minute, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.
• Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened to a very thick consistency. It should almost be the consistency of a semi thinned out condensed soup.
• Remove from the heat and stir in spices and 1 1/2 cups of the cheeses, stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and stir until completely melted and smooth.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheeses, then top that with the remaining pasta mixture.
• Sprinkle the top with the last 1 1/2 cups of cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until cheesy is bubbly and lightly golden brown.

MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, boil pasta to al dente according to package instructions. Drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.
• While pasta is cooking, in a large saucepan (4 quart) or medium pot melt butter over medium heat then add flour, cook 1 minute whisking constantly.
• While whisking slowly pour in milk, add in mustard and garlic powder. Increase heat slightly, then bring mixture to a gentle simmer whisking constantly.
• Reduce heat to low add in cream cheese and whisk until melted.
• Remove saucepan from heat add in the shredded cheeses half at a time, and whisk to melt, while returning to warm heat as needed to melt fully.
• Season sauce with salt to taste.
• Toss pasta with cheese sauce, thin with pasta water a splash at a time as needed. Serve immediately.

BEST-EVER MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare pasta according to package directions for al dente.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium. Add next 6 ingredients; cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add flour, and cook, stirring, until golden, 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cream. Bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, whisking, until slightly thickened, 5 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat; stir in 3/4 cup each of shredded Cheddar cheeses until melted. (Reserve remaining 1/4 cup each of shredded cheeses.) Stir in pasta and diced cheeses; pour into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.
• Bake on a rimmed baking sheet in preheated oven until bubbly and golden, 30 minutes. Remove from oven; increase oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle with reserved shredded cheeses; broil 6 inches from heat until cheeses are melted and golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from oven; cool slightly on a wire rack, about 15 minutes.