A classic and easy Baked Mac and Cheese Recipe! This recipe is dangerously easy to make and is topped off with a buttery, crisp toasted panko topping! If you have a cast iron or oven-safe pan handy, you can even bake it in the same pan that you use to make the sauce!
Baked Mac and Cheese
Today I’m sharing one of my favorite comfort foods — baked mac and cheese!
I hope you don’t mind all the savory recipes I’ve been sharing recently. With Easter right around the corner I’ve been refreshing some of my favorite side dishes like my broccoli salad, deviled eggs, and now this baked mac and cheese. Don’t worry, after today my calendar is full of sugar 😉
Until then, let’s talk more about this classic comfort food. Homemade Mac & Cheese is a simple staple that everyone should have a go-to recipe for. This one is mine. It’s cheesy, creamy, and uncomplicated. Everything a good mac & cheese should be.
What Do I Need to Make Baked Mac & Cheese?
Mac and cheese is simple to make and doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. Here’s what you need:
- Macaroni Noodles — though let’s be real you can use 8 oz of pretty much any shape of pasta!
- CHEESE — All caps for obvious reasons. Your cheese selection can make or break your baked mac and cheese. Shredding your own is preferred, more on that a bit further down the post.
- Whole Milk
- Butter
- Flour — for making your roux. Don’t worry, it’s so easy! I hate to even mention that this baked mac and cheese starts with a roux because so many people are intimidated (I even have an easy mac and cheese that requires no flour and no roux because of this). All we’re doing is whisking together melted butter and flour, honestly.
- Spices — salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion power, and ground mustard. A little goes a long way for flavor.
How to Make Baked Mac and Cheese
Alright, that roux I mentioned? It’s simple, just look at steps 1-5 below. Start by melting your butter and then add flour. Use a whisk to stir in the flour until the mixture is smooth and no lumps remain.
When you add your milk the mixture may separate a bit. This is fine, everything will come back together once the milk warms up a bit. Add your spices and bring everything to a bubble and cook (stirring continuously so nothing burns) until the mixture is thickened.
It’s very important that your mixture thickens before you continue. The mixture should be creamy and should coat the back of a spoon (see step 5 below). If it’s not thickened, your baked mac and cheese will be too liquidy and runny. We want creamy decadence, not a runny mess.
Finally add your cheese and stir until melted (steps 6-7 below). Then in go your prepared macaroni noodles. Finally top everything off with some toasted panko and bake!
Speaking of That Toasted Panko Topping…
My baked macaroni and cheese is incredibly cheesy and creamy, but what really sets it over the top is the buttery panko topping. I love the crisp, crunchy texture of panko (and 100% prefer it to using breadcrumbs). Panko gives the smooth and creamy mac and cheese that extra something that makes it irresistible.
Before adding it to the top of your (not yet) baked mac and cheese, you’ll add it to a small pan along with some butter and olive oil and then stir it frequently until it becomes lightly golden/toasted.
It’s such an easy extra step and it adds everything to this baked mac and cheese!
What cheese should I use for my baked mac and cheese:
I use a mix of sharp cheddar and white cheddar as well as mozzarella for this recipe, but you can substitute your favorite cheese for the cheddar (I recommend leaving the mozzarella alone, it helps make things creamy and amazing, but you do you). Colby, Monterey Jack, and Gruyere are all great options!
Another word of caution, most cheeses that you buy pre-shredded are tossed with cellulose powder before they are packaged. This keeps the shreds from clinging to each other so that you don’t have a big glob of sticky cheese. Unfortunately, this cellulose powder can keep things from melting properly when you go to use that cheese in this recipe. If you opt to use pre-shredded, you run the risk of things not melting properly and your mac and cheese not turning out.
Honestly, more than once I’ve made this using pre-shredded cheese with great results, it’s just risky and results can’t be guaranteed. I’m currently having a moment with Tillamook brand cheese, which is the best pre-shredded cheese I’ve ever tasted and is not tossed with cellulose. It’s pricier but worth it (and no, they’re not paying me to say this!). Even Zach loves it and he’s usually the first to try and talk me back over to generic.
Do you cover baked mac and cheese in the oven?
For this recipe there is no need to!
I made a brief video (see it on my YouTube channel or below the recipe) so you can see exactly how I made this baked mac and cheese. Enjoy!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
Baked Mac and Cheese
Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO at the bottom of the recipe!
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry macaroni noodles (230g)
- 4 Tablespoons butter (55g)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (31g)
- 3 cups whole milk (710ml)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese¹ (226g)
- 1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (170g)
Panko Topping
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup seasoned panko crumbs (60g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
- Begin cooking your pasta according to package instructions. Do not over-cook, in fact, for best results cook one minute less than indicated time. Once finished, drain, drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and toss to coat so the noodles don't stick together while sitting.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a 10" cast iron pan² over medium heat. Once it has melted, add flour and whisk until smooth and no lumps remain..
- Add milk and spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground mustard), stir well and bring to a boil. You may notice that the milk and butter will separate -- continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the milk is heated and they combine
- Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat, bring to a simmer, and stir frequently until mixture is thickened.
- Reduce heat to low and add cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Stir until cheeses are melted and mixture is smooth.
- Add cooked, drained pasta noodles and stir until well coated by the sauce.
- Set aside while you prepare your Panko topping.
Panko Topping
- Combine butter and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.
- Add panko and stir well until the butter and oil has been mostly absorbed. Continue to stir until panko is lightly toasted and turns a light-medium brown color
- Sprinkle toasted panko evenly over mac and cheese.
- Transfer to oven and bake uncovered on 350F (175C) for 15 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This Baked Mac & Cheese Recipe was originally published 01/12/2018. Post has been updated to include additional tips and improve user experience 04/19/2019.
Alyssa says
If i cook it the morning before a party (doing this Saturday) how should i heat it up so its still creamy and the panko isnt burnt?
Sam says
Hi Alyssa! It’s really best to just cook it right when you need to serve it. You can make it (without baking) and store it in the fridge then cook it when you need it. I would store the panko and the mac and cheese separately. It’s probably going to take almost as long to reheat it as it would to bake it the first time so baking it in the morning isn’t really worth the effort.
Tyler lennon says
I am new to cooking, so ofcourse I forgot something necessary. the milk. The thing was, it was ok without it, but better once I added some to the baked dish and stired it a bit. I won’t forget it again, but thought this should be noted. Thanks! Tyler
Jess B says
This recipe is the bomb!!! I LOVE it. I made it 5 times already since I found it and it’s a huge hit with either kids or adults 🙂 I actually double the recipe so we have leftovers for weeknight dinners and lunches. Thank you!!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Jess! 🙂
Janet Paton says
Just finished making this recipe, but haven’t baked or eaten it yet. My only comment so far is that this made enough sauce for a full 16oz package of pasta! I only used 8oz per the recipe, but wished I had boiled the whole box!
L'tanya says
Tried this recipe to serve to guests. They loved it. Shared leftover with a teen friend. She was so thrilled. Good seasonings for a good taste.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so happy that this recipe was such a crowd-pleaser, L’tanya! Thank you for trying it and for commenting. 🙂
Vanessa says
I think that bringing the roux and milk to a boil and then simmering for an unspecified time, waiting for it to thicken, causes the roux to burn. I’m going to try again and not bring the roux and milk mixture to such a high temperature. No problems with lumps if you use a whisk to make roux smooth first and then slowly add milk while whisking. Also, there is too much sauce to pasta ratio, and I normally like a lot of sauce!
I do have a question, though…why is cast iron always recommended for a roux?
Sam says
Hi Vanessa! It sounds like the heat was too high or the mixture was not stirred frequently enough if it burned, unfortunately. Cast iron is just my preference, I like how it heats. This could be made with a different pan.
Jen says
Hi Sam,
I don’t have any breadcrumbs/panko. Is there anything I can use as a substitute? Or should I just omit it?
Sam says
Hi Jen! You can just leave them out, maybe add a little extra cheese. It just adds a little bit of a different texture. 🙂
Kacee says
Hi, we followed the directions but on step 3 we added flour and it made balls of flour and butter. I think its switched with the next step. Flour and milk need to switch places or it doesn’t come out right. Once we figured this out by remaking step 3 with milk not flour and using flour not milk in the next step it was great! Just trying to help the next person in case they get confused like us. I’ll definitely make this again it was perfect!!!!! So happy, thank you!!!
Sugar Spun Run says
Thanks for trying my recipe, Kacee. The steps listed are correct. In step 3 you are making a roux. You melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in flour until smooth. When you make a flour and butter roux, it keeps the cheese from breaking when it is heated. I am happy to hear that it worked for you so well and this was not needed. Thanks for sharing. I am glad that you enjoyed it. 🙂
Chelsea says
I had the same results… the butter and flour ratio just made balls of “dough” basically. 4tbps of butter was not enough liquid for 1/4c of flour. 🙁
Sugar Spun Run says
I am really sorry that you had similar results, Chelsea! The flour and the butter are used to make a roux. If you do notice any lumps, you should be able to break them up with your whisk. This recipe has a video that walks you through my process and can be used as a reference. Again, I am sorry you had an issue. 🙁
Almeter Dixon says
I usually make my mac and cheese with condensed or evaporated milk. Can I use it in this recipe or is whole milk better?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Almeter! For the best results, I would recommend using whole milk. 🙂
Leah says
Can I make this in the early afternoon and set it in the fridge until I’m ready to bake for dinner?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Leah! Yes, that will be fine. I hope that your family enjoys it. 🙂
Hector says
Will regular Frenches Mustard work instead of ground?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Hector! I am sorry but that will not work as a substitute. You can omit the ground mustard and it will still come out delicious. 🙂
Mary Smith says
Made this tonight. I topped it with Pablo, dotted with butter and baked for 20 minutes. Best part? Makes enough for 6-8 so plenty of leftovers. Served with bourbon maple chicken wings. Next time would just make barbque wings.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Mary! Paired with your bourbon maple chicken wings sounds incredible! Thanks for commenting. 🙂