Mac and Cheese
intro
Velvety, rich baked mac and cheese with a crispy cheddar-panko top, the ultimate cozy, crowd-pleasing comfort food classic.
Ingredients
Steps
Cook the elbow pasta
Bring 2 liters of heavily salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add 225g dry elbow macaroni, stir once, and cook 2 minutes less than the package’s al dente instruction (approximately 6 minutes total). Drain thoroughly and set aside; do not rinse the pasta, as residual starch helps sauce cling.
Make the roux base
Melt 57g (4 tablespoons) of unsalted butter in a large oven-safe 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is fully melted and foaming subsides, whisk in 24g (3 tablespoons) all-purpose flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes until the mixture turns pale golden and gives off a faint nutty aroma.
Whisk the cheese sauce
Slowly stream 480ml (2 cups) of whole milk into the roux, whisking constantly over medium-low heat to prevent lumps. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, whisking occasionally, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, then stir in 283g (2.5 cups) of the shredded sharp cheddar until fully melted and smooth.
Combine pasta and sauce
Add the drained, slightly undercooked elbow macaroni to the finished cheese sauce, folding gently with a silicone spatula until every pasta piece is evenly coated in creamy sauce. Taste a small bite and add a pinch more salt if needed to bring out the cheese flavor.
Add crispy topping
In a small mixing bowl, combine the remaining 57g (0.5 cup) shredded sharp cheddar, 30g (1/2 cup) panko breadcrumbs, and 14g (1 tablespoon) melted unsalted butter, stirring until the crumbs are evenly moistened with butter. Sprinkle this mixture in a uniform, loose layer over the entire top of the sauced macaroni.
Bake and rest the dish
Place the skillet in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F), and bake for 15 minutes until the sauce is actively bubbling around the skillet edges and the top crumb layer is deep golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to set slightly.
Tips
2.Skip rinsing your cooked pasta: the starchy film left on drained noodles helps the cheese sauce adhere evenly, preventing sauce from sliding off pasta pieces.
3.Undercook pasta by 2 minutes before mixing with sauce, as it will continue to cook while baking in the oven; this prevents mushy, over-soft macaroni in the final dish.
OMG this baked mac and cheese is a GAME CHANGER for our weeknight family dinners! I’ve tried so many recipes that come out grainy or dry, but this was perfectly creamy even after baking, no weird gritty cheese texture at all. My three kids went back for seconds, and even my super picky husband asked when I’m making it again. Total cook time was exactly 35 minutes like it said, super easy even on a busy school night. 10/10, will be bringing this to our next neighborhood potluck for sure!
SO good. I was worried it would be too heavy since it’s a baked mac, but the creaminess is perfect without being cloying. I used a mix of sharp cheddar and Gruyère because that’s what I had in the fridge, and it turned out amazing. Only thing I’ll do differently next time is add a little extra black pepper, I love a bit more zing. Super easy to follow, even for someone who burns toast half the time lmao.
Great meal prep option! I made a big pan on Sunday, portioned it out into containers for the week, and it reheated like a dream in the microwave — no weird separated sauce, no rubbery noodles. I was skeptical that baked mac would hold up all week, but this totally does. Only reason it’s not a 5 is I wish there was a note about letting it rest 5 minutes before serving, it was a little runny right out of the oven but firmed up perfectly as it sat. Saved me so much money on takeout lunches this week, will be adding this to my regular rotation.
First time making mac and cheese from scratch instead of the neon orange box stuff, and wow I’m never going back. This was so easy, I didn’t even mess it up in my tiny janky dorm oven! My roommates all hovered around the kitchen while it was baking because the whole floor smelled like melted cheese, they all demanded a bite before I even got a serving. 100% worth the 35 minutes, way better than the powdered cheese garbage I’ve been eating since freshman year.
I swapped the regular elbow pasta for gluten-free brown rice pasta and it turned out perfectly! I was worried the sauce would be too thin or the pasta would get mushy, but following the cook time exactly meant the noodles were al dente and the sauce was still thick and creamy. My whole family (none of whom are gluten free) didn’t even notice a difference, they just ate it up.
Just pulled this out of the oven 20 minutes ago and had to hop on here to leave a review immediately — this is exactly the homestyle mac and cheese I grew up eating at my grandma’s Sunday dinners! It’s so rich and creamy, no weird artificial cheese aftertaste, just that perfect cozy nostalgic taste. It was so easy to throw together after getting home from work, I can already tell this is going to be a staple for our family all fall and winter, especially on game nights.