Baked Mac and Cheese
Macaroni and cheese doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming. With this foolproof recipe, you can make a cheesy, creamy homemade baked mac and cheese everyone will love!
A HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE RECIPE
I think I have a Mac and cheese recipe for everyone on this site. Whether you want to make it in the crock pot, instant pot, air fryer, stove top or even if you don’t want to cook the elbow pasta first! If you’ve never made Mac and cheese before, it can seem a bit intimidating but I’ll show you how to do it step by step and you’ll see just how easy it is!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
For our recipe, we bake mac and cheese uncovered. However, if you find it getting too dark for your liking, go ahead and cover it up with some aluminum foil.
I think the difference with this recipe is that I use whole milk and heavy cream. This adds richness and creaminess. But if you don’t have heavy cream then just use all milk. You can use 2% milk if necessary as well (but trust me on the whole milk and heavy cream combo!)
It’s important to pick cheeses that are good at melting. There are several other options to consider, such as Gouda, Muenster, Monterey Jack, various types of Cheddar, and Fontina. Alternatively, you could stick with all Cheddar cheese to maintain a more traditional flavor.tina. Or just all cheddar cheese to keep it more traditional.
Of course you can! If you aren’t familiar with the different kinds of cheeses out there, you may think gruyere sounds a bit fancy and super expensive, right? But I promise you, it is not. It is a very light and creamy cheese that goes so well with cheddar. However, you can certainly use all cheddar cheese or substitute it with another cheese like mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese. Consider using a pepper jack cheese if you like a kick of spice.
You have complete control over the seasonings. I personally added a touch of garlic powder and onion powder. I did not find that these were overwhelming in flavor at all. But if you prefer less seasoning in your mac and cheese, you can simply stick with salt and pepper.
It’s your mac and cheese so you can use as little or as much as you want. Please feel free to cut down on the amounts if you don’t like it really cheesy.
Yes. As long as you wrap it well to protect against freezer burn, you can store it in the freezer up to 3 months. A lot of times, if I am only feeding a small amount of people, I will split up the mac and cheese into two smaller baking pans. Before baking, I will freeze one for later and bake off the other one for that night.
Keep your mac and cheese in an airtight container or covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. Additionally, you can freeze leftovers for up to 3 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- elbow pasta – you can use any similar size pasta like shells.
- salted butter – I promise it’s not too much salt between the salted butter and additional salt added. Pasta tends to really soak up the salt so you end up needing a bit more than you think.
- salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder – I don’t think this seasoning is overwhelming and it doesn’t drown out the other flavors. However, you can just use salt and pepper if you like.
- whole milk – Whole milk is best for a super creamy mac and cheese but 2% will work here as well. I definitely do not recommend skim milk. I haven’t tried this with milk substitutes, only cows milk.
- heavy cream – this is going to really add to the creaminess. You could even use half and half if you have that.
- shredded sharp cheddar cheese and shredded Gruyere cheese – I think you’ll be surprised how well this combination works together. But don’t worry, you can just use all cheddar cheese if that is what you prefer.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED MAC AND CHEESE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Cook the noodles per the directions on the back of the box. Drain well and run cold water over the noodles to stop them from cooking. Let them drain until ready to use below. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk it in; cook for 1 minute while whisking.
Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, whisk it in, and cook for an additional 1 minute while whisking. Very slowly, while whisking constantly, stream in the milk; no lumps will form if you do it slowly. Again, slowly add the heavy cream while whisking. Bring mixture to a simmer and simmer until it starts to thicken about 3 minutes.
Take off the heat, add 2 ½ cups of the cheddar cheese and 2 ½ cups of the gruyere cheese a little at a time, whisking until it melts into the sauce before adding more.
Add the cooked noodles back to the large pot they were cooked in. Pour the sauce into the pot and mix so the noodles are coated in the sauce.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered for 40-50 minutes until bubbly, and the cheese is lightly browned. Note: if you notice the cheese on top is get more brown than you would like, cover the pan with aluminum foil until finished. If you do not like your mac and cheese browned at all on top, just bake it fully covered the entire time.
Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Baked Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound macaroni noodles
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 3 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided use
- 3 ½ cups shredded Gruyere cheese, divided use
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook the noodles per the directions on the back of the box. Drain well and run cold water over the noodles to stop them from cooking. Let them drain until ready to use below.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk it in; cook for 1 minute while whisking.
- Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, whisk it in, and cook for an additional 1 minute while whisking.
- Very slowly, while whisking constantly, stream in the milk; no lumps will form if you do it slowly. Then slowly add the heavy cream while whisking (same as you did the milk).
- Bring mixture to a simmer and simmer until it starts to thicken about 3 minutes.
- Take off the heat, add 2 ½ cups of the cheddar cheese and 2 ½ cups of the gruyere cheese a little at a time, whisking until it melts into the sauce before adding more.
- Add the cooked noodles back to the large pot they were cooked in.
- Pour the sauce into the pot and mix so the noodles are coated in the sauce.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 40-50 minutes until bubbly, and the cheese is lightly browned. Note: if you notice the cheese on top is get more brown than you would like, cover the pan with aluminum foil until finished. If you do not like your mac and cheese browned at all on top, just bake it fully covered the entire time.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- Use as much or as little cheese as you like.
- If you would like it extra browned top, you can broil during the last few minutes of cooking. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn! It happens fast!
- I would not make this ahead of time and allow it to sit in the fridge overnight before baking. Normally with a sauce that is made with heavy cream, it tends to separate. However, heating up leftovers is perfectly fine. Or if you make it with all milk, that would be fine as well.
- Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, freeze for up to 3 months.
- Seasonings are up to you. I added just a tad bit of garlic powder and onion powder but you can just use salt and pepper if you don’t like much seasoning in your mac and cheese.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Brandie, I am utilizing two of your recipes for Easter. This one (Dayum! Gruyere is expensive) and your Southern Baked beans. I usually make soul food for Easter. I got a spiral ham that I am making an apricot, pineapple and Dijon glaze for, collard and turnip greens and cornbread in muffin form. We are going to be eating good in the hood this Sunday! Thought i’d share with you. Happy Easter to you and yours, Brandie!
Love hearing that Donna! Thanks so very much! Hope you had a beautiful Easter!
Fun Recipe to create! I boil my noodles with a cup of vegetable broth and a half cup milk in the water. It takes a bit longer to cook the noodles but they turn out creamer. 🙂 Thank you Brandi!!!
Great recipe, easy to follow and tasted delicious even when I used Jack cheese instead of Gruyere. My Family has requested I make this for our family gatherings. Country Cook has become my go to for most of my recipes now.
Absolutely delicious! I have also made your Crock Pot Mac and Cheese and we all love that one too! Thanks so much for the recipe!