Creamy Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
This creamy skillet macaroni and cheese is the best mac and cheese ever! Made in 30 minutes with simple ingredients (no processed cheese!).
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m in disbelief of how creamy and cheesy this is-even as leftovers!! Because it is so yummy and fast, I can not justify buying Kraft anymore. Thank you!!! -Cheri
Why This Mac and Cheese is the Best
With hundreds of 5-star reviews, this creamy skillet macaroni and cheese is a tried-and-true keeper of a recipe. It is one of my family’s favorite (easy!) dinners ever.
- No processed cheese. This might be the biggest selling point of this mac and cheese. So many of you have been skeptical that you can get a mac and cheese recipe to turn out this creamy and this luxurious without Velveeta. Just read through the comments to see how many people have been won over by this recipe!
- Just one skillet. The pasta cooks right in the skillet with the other ingredients, which means minimal dishes and super easy cleanup.
- 25 minutes or less. This mac and cheese can be yours FAST, which makes it perfect for when the mac and cheese craving hits.
- No baking required. The macaroni and cheese is ultra-saucy and creamy without an extra trip through the oven to dry it out.
Seriously, this is likely to be the best macaroni and cheese you’ll ever have. And it is so quick and easy!
Key Ingredients Notes
The ingredients are very straightforward, however, there are a few important notes that will ensure this recipe turns out perfectly every time.
- Water: The elbow macaroni cooks in the skillet in both water and evaporated milk. Stir in additional hot water to adjust the consistency (a great way to revive leftovers!).
- Evaporated milk: The evaporated milk adds an extra dimension of creaminess to the pasta as it cooks. I highly recommend using evaporated milk in the can. Some readers have reported using 2% or whole milk in place of the evaporated milk with good results.
- Elbow macaroni: Use dry elbow macaroni as the pasta cooks in the skillet. The recipe calls for 12 ounces elbow macaroni which is about 3 cups.
- Cornstarch: A small amount of cornstarch is stirred in at the end of cooking. This helps thicken the cream sauce without making it gloopy and heavy.
- Dry mustard: Mustard helps cut through the richness of the mac and cheese.
- Hot sauce: The hot sauce doesn’t add heat or spiciness, so don’t leave it out. It gives a tasty depth of flavor that is really important for the cheesy mac.
- Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses: This might be the most important note of all! I cannot overstate how important it is to use block cheese and grate it yourself for this recipe. Freshly grated cheese will melt infinitely better and more creamy than using preshredded cheese (which is coated with a powdery substance to keep it from clumping but also prevents it from melting well).
- Butter: A small amount of butter is stirred into the macaroni at the end. This ensures a silky, luxurious finish to the mac and cheese.
Important Notes
- Serve Immediately. This skillet macaroni and cheese is best served right away, so keep that in mind when figuring out the timing of when to make it and serve it.
- How to Reheat or Adjust Consistency. While this is best served right away, leftovers can be reheated. Drizzle a bit of water over the macaroni and cheese before reheating or heat a few tablespoons of water to boil and stir into the reheated macaroni and cheese. I also add a little bit more cheese to freshen up the leftovers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The creamiest and tastiest mac and cheese recipe out there. I will NEVER make any other type again. Thanks Mel! -Karen
I posted this recipe nearly 20 years ago with a picture of my young son digging into this mac. Now, my kids are old enough that they make it for themselves! If you’ve been looking for one of the easiest and best mac and cheese recipes out there, you’ve found it!
Creamy Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups water
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 12 ounces (about 3 cups) elbow macaroni
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
- 6 ounces cheddar cheese, freshly shredded (1 1/2 cups)
- 6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, freshly shredded (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a 12-inch skillet, add the water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, elbow macaroni, and salt, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir often so the macaroni doesn't stick.
- Simmer until the macaroni is tender 9 to 10 minutes. There will still be liquid on the bottom of the skillet.
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk, cornstarch, mustard and hot sauce together. Stir into the skillet.
- Simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
- Off the heat, stir in the cheeses, one handful at a time. Stir in the butter until melted (return the skillet to low heat, if needed). Season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from The Best Skillet Recipes
Recipe originally posted March 2009; updated August 2026 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Made this for dinner last night and my teenager son’s comment was “Oh good, you made the good mac and cheese.” Haha! Its always a winner with my crew. Not sure why I even bother with other recipes. Major major bonus is that you only dirty one pot. Love it!
So happy you and your family love this one!
Love this recipe! Have made it many, many times. Very, very good and creamy! I am making it to take to a potluck dinner…do you think it will do well if, after making it in the skillet, I transfer it to a crockpot on low to keep warm for a few hours?
Hi Darlene, I have had the best luck serving this recipe right away. I don’t think it fares quite as well being held to serve later. However, if you want to try it, it could be helped along by increasing the sauce and cheese ingredients just a bit so it goes into the slow cooker “saucy” and doesn’t dry out.
Follow up! I did end up making this recipe to bring as a side dish to a (Canadian!) Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked it all up, and I added pieces of steamed cauliflower and mixed it all together. I did add a bit more liquid to help it start out creamier, as you suggested. I put in it a crockpot on low. Yes, it did start to dry a wee bit, but I added in some chicken stock a few minutes before serving, stirred it all up, and it turned out perfect! It was probably in the crockpot on low for about 2 hours (plus a hour of travel time where it wasn’t plugged in). All in all, very successful as a travelling side dish.
Thank you so much for adding a follow up, Darlene – SO HELPFUL. I’m glad it worked out well! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
So easy and so good! Love the convenience of cooking it all in one skillet. It has become a favorite!
I have made this twice now, and there isn’t leftovers. My 17 year old says its the best “real” mac and cheese I’ve made.
For our Halloween dinner this week, I needed a homemade Mac and Cheese recipe to go inside our “Mac O’Lantern” bell peppers. I’m always wary of homemade Mac and Cheese recipes, since they usually don’t taste that good to me, but Mel’s is SO GOOD!!
(Maybe because I finally listened and shredded my own cheese instead of using pre-shredded, haha. It was so creamy!!)
I already am planning on getting more evaporated milk to have on hand in the pantry so we can make this for lunches, instead of the boxed kind!
What a great idea to include this in stuffed peppers. YUM!
FANTASTIC mac and cheese! I am not typically a mac and cheese person but this was delicious. I had some mozzarella and parmesan cheese that I needed to use up so I used that instead of the monterey jack. I still used the cheddar with the mozzarella and parmesan. I also didn’t have any hot sauce so I used some cayenne pepper and paprika instead. I added a little bit of Creole seasoning too. We paired the mac and cheese with Mel’s Meatloaf, which is amazing in-and-of-itself. They were a great combo. We will definitely be adding this recipe (and the meatloaf) to our dinner rotations!
Truthfully, I LOATHE any baked mac and cheese. I find the baking step totally unnecessary and always leads to dried out, gross mac.
now THIS? This skillet mac and cheese? YES. creamy, oozy, gooey, cheesy goodness. and quick. and easy. and with regular everyday “I have it in my pantry or fridge” ingredients.
Yes, it’s mac and cheese. There are healthier options. BUT… if you’re gonna do mac and cheese… with no preservatives or icky additions… this is the way to go!!! LOVE IT SO MUCH. and so does my kids. This recipe and your quick alfredo are on CONSTANT repeat in my house!
I didn’t want to turn on the oven for my usual mac & cheese and was too scared to try an instant pot version (tragic experience, not your recipe) so gave this a try.
It worked well, your recipes never fail me.
My pasta was done in 6 min, i used mild gouda and sharp cheddar, added a dash of smoked paprika and garlic powder and FORGOT the butter which no one seemed to notice.
I see this is from 2009, that little boy with the buzz cut would now be a fully grown man!
Love this recipe! I make half the recipe for myself and sometimes one other person. I like to add 1-2 ounces extra cheese, not quite as creamy but I prefer it richer and cheesier.
The creamy mac and cheese was delicious and easy to make. Thank you!
Delicious and easy.
I’ve seen comments about which type of cheddar to use but can’t find it specifically stated in the recipe. Do you suggest mild, medium or sharp cheddar?
Hi Jennifer, I use medium or sharp cheddar.
My kids love this. I tried making the pressure cooker version, which is really very much the same and this still wins hand s down. Thank you so much
I made this several times at written, then adapted it for the instant pot. It turns out great every time! I found my family and I prefer to use havarti (from Aldi) instead of monterey jack, and pair that with the sharp cheddar. It’s extra creamy that way. For the instant pot—Add 3 cups water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, macaroni, and salt to Instant Pot. Cook at high pressure 4 mins, then quick release pressure. Whisk the remaining evaporated milk, cornstarch, mustard and hot sauce then stir into the pot, stir until thickened. Add cheeses and butter. So easy and hands-off! Thank you for one of our go-to recipes!
How is 12 ounces 3 cups? Isn’t 3 cups 24 ounces?
The 12 ounces is the weight of the noodles not the volume so even though 1 cup has a volume of 8 ounces, the weight will differ based on the ingredient.
Thanks! So its 1 1/2 cup of shredded cheese?
It calls for 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar and 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack.
Does this recipe need 3 cups of uncooked elbows of 12 oz. What do you mean about weight? Is the 3 cups when it is cooked?
The recipe calls for 12 ounces dry elbow macaroni, which measures out to be 3 cups.
Hi Mel-I want to double this recipe for a potluck at work. Would you make any adjustments to the amount of water and evaporated milk that the noodles boil in at the first step? Should the water and milk be doubled as well, or maybe not quite as much?
I would double all the ingredients – good luck!
I am a fourth grade girl, and I make this recipe a lot! I really love it, and my family does too! But instead of hot sauce, we usually use red pepper because we have little ones and they are not fans of spicy things. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Way to go, Laura! So proud of you!
It really is the best. And so easy!
Why the cornstarch?
The cornstarch makes the cheese thick and creamy 🙂
I made this last night and the texture wasn’t grainy but it wasn’t creamy either. It was a lot of stretchy cheese between noodles. Is that how it’s supposed to end up? People keep commenting on the creaminess and I’m not sure how to get that. I added more milk and butter but couldn’t really reduce the stringy factor. I used a Colby-jack mix and evap milk.
I’ve made this twice. The first time, I used sharp cheddar, added extra cheese and extra ground mustard. I erroneously thought since I use sharp cheddar in a casserole I should do the same here. Sharp cheddar is not as creamy and too sharp for stovetop mac n cheese. The second time, when I FOLLOWED the recipe, it was glorious!!
I need to take my own advice and follow a recipe as written the first time; especially after reading the thought process Mel used and how hard she worked on it.
Do you think this could be baked?
I haven’t tried it, but maybe? I worry it might dry out a little, though.