You’ll love this easy baked mac and cheese recipe! With the perfect ratio of milk to cheese to sauce, this macaroni and cheese is at the top of my favorites list!
Watch the Video
Our family loves mac and cheese. Mounds of cheese melted into a velvety, creamy sauce and tossed with pasta. Yes, please!
This baked macaroni and cheese is one of our favorites. Its perfect sauce-to-pasta ratio guarantees that it’s still creamy after being baked in the oven. For a stovetop recipe, see our creamy mac and cheese.
Key Ingredients
- Pasta: Use your favorite pasta for this recipe. I love choosing pasta with nooks and crannies, so they trap the cheese sauce. Consider macaroni, shells, and penne.
- Butter and flour: This makes our roux, which thickens the cheese sauce.
- Milk: Keeps our cheese sauce super creamy. I use whole milk or reduced-fat milk.
- Mustard and spices: A combination of Dijon mustard, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt makes this macaroni and cheese extra delicious.
- Cheese: I use white cheddar and parmesan or pecorino cheese. The cheddar melts into the sauce nicely, and the parmesan adds a salty, cheesy kick. Feel free to use other cheese in this recipe, but I do recommend grating the cheese yourself (it melts so much better than pre-shredded cheese).
How to Make Baked Mac and Cheese
Making my favorite baked mac and cheese recipe is simple! You’ll start by cooking your pasta. Follow the package directions, but undercook your pasta by a minute or two. This way, the pasta won’t overcook and turn mushy when baking in the oven.
We’ll need to make a roux (pronounced “roo”) to make the cheese sauce. It’s a mixture of equal parts flour and butter (equal in weight, not volume). The roux will help thicken our milk and make our sauce creamy.
I melt my butter in a large pot and then whisk in the flour. It will thicken but don’t worry. Once you add the milk, it will thin out. Speaking of the milk, we want to add it warm. Julia Child says warm milk prevents a lumpy sauce, and she’s right! Plus, it speeds up the time it takes to thicken.
Stir in the spices and cheese when your milk looks thick and saucy. I add my cheese slowly so it easily melts into the sauce. Then, when all the cheese has been added and you’ve checked for seasoning, stir in your slightly undercooked pasta.
My baked mac and cheese recipe below makes enough to fill a large (3-quart) baking dish. I slide everything into the dish and bake it in a 375°F oven for about 30 minutes.
Storing and Make Ahead Baked Mac and Cheese
Leftover baked mac and cheese lasts up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight container. You can also freeze it. Cool it completely, divide it between freezer-safe containers, and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating in the oven or microwave. Once reheated, the sauce may be slightly less creamy, and the pasta might be softer.
For make ahead mac and cheese, prepare the mac and cheese, but don’t bake it. Let the dish cool to room temperature, double wrap with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. When you’re ready to bake it, let the dish stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, remove the plastic wrap, and then bake according to the recipe directions below.
What to Serve with Mac and Cheese
I love serving mac and cheese with vegetables. Roasted broccoli, broccolini, or roasted cauliflower are classic, but we also love these garlic green beans.
You can also serve macaroni and cheese with meatballs or meatloaf. Try our Italian meatballs or this recipe for juicy meatballs! Here is my favorite meatloaf recipe and our popular turkey meatloaf.
Easy Baked Mac and Cheese
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Our favorite baked mac and cheese recipe calls for a few smart steps to guarantee the macaroni and cheese is ultra creamy and flavorful. While many cheeses can work in this recipe, the two cheeses we go back to again and again are white cheddar and pecorino-Romano cheese. The cheddar melts down to be creamy, and the pecorino adds a sharp salty bite to the sauce. We hand grate the cheese for the creamiest sauce.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 pound (450g) dried pasta like elbow macaroni, shells or penne
5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (65g) all-purpose flour
5 cups (1180ml) milk, warmed, whole or 2% reduced fat preferred
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 pound (450g) white cheddar cheese, shredded (4 heaping cups), plus more if baking (about 1/2 cup)
5 ounces (140g) parmesan or pecorino cheese, shredded (1 ½ cups)
Directions
- Make Macaroni and Cheese
1Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.
2Grate the cheese, separate about 1/2 cup for the topping, and then set the cheese aside.
3Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta, then follow package directions, but cook 2 minutes less than the recommended cook time. Drain then rinse pasta with cold water and set aside.
4Add the milk to a large microwave-safe measuring jug and microwave until warm, 1 to 3 minutes. Or add the milk to a large saucepan over medium heat.
5While the milk warms, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
6When the butter begins to bubble, add the flour. Cook, constantly whisking, until light brown (the butter smells fragrant and nutty), 2 to 3 minutes.
7While whisking, slowly pour the warm milk into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to cook, constantly whisking until the sauce bubbles and thickens.
8Remove the pan from the heat and stir in mustard, nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne. Stir in the cheese, a handful at a time, until it melts into the sauce.
9Taste the sauce for seasoning, then adjust with additional spices or salt (we usually start with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and go from there).
- Bake Macaroni and Cheese
1If the drained and rinsed pasta will fit into the pan, add it to the cheese sauce. If it will not, add both the pasta and sauce to a separate large bowl and stir well.
2Pour the mac and cheese into the prepared baking dish. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of cheese.
3Bake, uncovered, until bubbling, about 30 minutes. To brown the cheese on top, turn the oven to broil and broil for 3 to 5 minutes until the top has blistered and lightly browned. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We calculated using 2% milk and 10 servings.
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Best Mac and cheese ever!! Can I use coconut milk or other non-dairy milk for my lactose intolerant guests?
Hi Melissa, Glad you enjoy it! Yes, you can use non-dairy milk, but I have never tried plant-based cheese in this recipe.
I think this is the best mac n cheese I’ve ever made! I used gluten free pasta & flour & it turned out perfectly.
I used the same quantity of cheese but went with sharp cheddar, smoked Gouda, and Colby jack. I also added Cajun, garlic, onion powder and doubled the cayenne & black pepper. Super easy & turned out AMAZING
Was planning on making this for Christmas dinner as a side with our prime rib. Do you know if I could add Panko on top? I don’t want to take away from your masterpiece recipe here, I jus tlove a crispness in each bite. Please let me know. Thanks
Hi there, Yes, you can add panko to the top. I like mixing breadcrumbs with a little melted butter or oil and then adding them so they turn golden brown.
Another AMAZING recipe from my newest FAVORITE recipe site!! After many attempts over the years at making a baked mac & cheese dish, I found THE ONE recipe I will come back to over and over again! With the excellent detailed instruction and video, my mac & cheese came out creamy (not dry like so often in my past attempts) with a beautiful golden crunch on top. The only thing I did different was mix in 12 slices of cooked chopped bacon and topped with parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and seasoned panko (including their tip to broil for a minute at the end). It was a stunning looking dish, tasty and enjoyed by all at our family Thanksgiving gathering today. Even my husband who loves mac & cheese, but VERY particular about how it comes out says this is a keeper. Thank you so very much for this terrific recipe and your details that made it a hit!!
It would be awesome if you’d add the feature to your recipe where you can change the number of servings and it recalculates the quantity of each ingredient.
Hi Melanie, Thanks for sharing your request. This is something we have looked into, but in many cases, the “auto” calculations to increase servings messes up some ingredients, which can cause bad results. We will keep looking into options, but for now, we have disabled this type of feature.
Hello, I only have chedder cheese and mexican blend can I use that ?
Yep!
Excited to try your receipe..
Does the recipe run risk of getting dry if you cook it all the way, freeze it, then reheat it in the oven? Should I make a little extra sauce to make up that difference or is that not necessary?
Thank you!
Hi Jenna, I don’t think you will have any problems with the macaroni drying out. This recipe has a generous amount of sauce.
This was the creamiest Mac ever!! It was perfect, added more salt & some Season all as I make Mac n Cheese all the time, (usually go back and forth with Laila Ali’s recipe or my grandmother’s) but wanted a creamy one like the one I tasted at a catered event. My family ate it up. This was amazing!! I added it to my recipes. Thanks for sharing.
When you make this ahead, do you cook it in oven or do you only prepare it and chill until you’re ready to cook it?
Hi Sabrina, You can do either!
Wonderful! Needed a recipe that used an abundance of milk on its last legs. Added a little bacon and chopped jalapeños- everyone thought I’d cooked a special meal rather than a recipe of necessity. Thanks!!!
Love your style of cooking, simple and delicious.
This saved the day. Thank You.
This was insanely good. Dangerous stuff!! It was great with our thanksgiving dinner 🙂
Oh my goodness! This was delicious, delicious, delicious 😋. The only thing I changed, I use Tllamook extra sharp cheddar cheese and because I thought this was a rich dinner, I did not cook a protein, but cooked some bacon and crumbled it up on top after it was baked. My neighbor who doesn’t like Mac and cheese loved this. I served it with your delicious garlic and lemon green beans. These 2 are going into my recipe book.
Can this recipe be cooked in a crockpot? If so do I use same ingredients and measurements? Trying to save oven space for Thanksgiving dinner.
Hi Julie, I’d make the sauce on the stovetop and then transfer the cooked pasta and sauce to the crockpot to keep warm.
I was hoping this would have a breadcrumb topping. Will try it anyway!