Classic Macaroni and Cheese
This classic macaroni and cheese recipe is a great no-fail, creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese recipe without all of the processed junk!
I’ve been on an all-out search for a no-fail, creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese recipe. I heart deeply this skillet version but I’ve yearned for a bread crumb-topped golden, creamy version.
Here’s the problem, of the millions (ok, slight exaggeration) I’ve tried, I can’t get over the texture issues. Instead of creamy, I get grainy. I can’t do grainy, clumpy mac and cheese.
Enter this recipe. From the brand spanking new Cook’s Illustrated cookbook (giveaway closed, sorry!), this classic macaroni and cheese was my last ditch effort to love homemade macaroni and cheese (sans velveeta to help out the creaminess). And you know what? It worked!
We loved this. Absolutely loved this! And my husband, who gives me the rundown on the mac and cheese recipes I’ve tried, astoundingly replied after tasting, “Mel, this is the creamiest, best version yet!”
I feel so relieved to finally have a classic macaroni and cheese recipe in my repertoire to love and share. Really, it is wonderfully delicious. I had to finally get over the fact that with a homemade cheese sauce, I’ll never get the 100% completely creamy taste that comes with processed cheese, but this comes close. Very, very close. And I’m sticking with it.
What To Serve With This:
Cheesy Basil Stuffed Chicken Breasts or Crispy Oven Baked Chicken
Steamed vegetable (or this Cheesy Cauliflower Bake if you want to continue the cheese theme)
Fresh fruit
Classic Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
Bread Crumb Topping:
- 6 slices white or wheat hearty sandwich bread, torn into rough pieces
- 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 6 pieces
Pasta and Cheese:
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons powdered mustard
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- 5 cups milk, lowfat, skim or whole
- 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- For the bread crumbs, pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs and butter are well combined and crumbs are fine. Set aside.
- For the pasta and cheese, bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender, about 1 minute past the al dente stage. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.
- Adjust a rack in the oven to middle or lower-middle position and preheat the broiler.
- In now-empty Dutch oven or pot, heat butter over medium heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes.
- Off heat, whisk in cheeses, a handful at a time, and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Watch carefully so the crumbs don’t burn! Cool about 5 minutes. Serve.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from the new Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook
104 Comments on “Classic Macaroni and Cheese”
This is one of my go-tos to take to families with a new baby and young children! It’s easy to make, and there’s no struggle getting littles to eat it (key for an exhausted new mama). Pair it with a bagged salad and some brownies and it’s the perfect comfort meal!
Mel,
Please help! I want to bring this mac and cheese to my son’s football team dinner on Friday. We are feeding about 25 hungry boys and 5-6 coaches. How many batches do you think I’ll need? And can I make this ahead the night before and then reheat the next evening? We are also serving BBQ pork sandwiches with it, so it will be a side dish. My son loves your skillet mac and cheese, but I feel like this is similar with less prep day of.
Your recipes are amazing! Been a faithful follower since 2015!
Hi Suzanne! For a group that size (of who I assume will be big eaters), I’d probably do 5 batches for a side dish. Unfortunately, it doesn’t reheat super well – it’s much better served “fresh” right after it has been baked, so I’d recommend that if possible!
Hi Mel!
Can you cook the pasta the night before making it?
Thank you!
I haven’t tried that, but I believe you could!
I made this tonight and it was so delicious! I loved the flavor difference it made to use two types of cheese, and the addition of cayenne pepper gave it a nice, subtle kick. Next time, I will probably start making the sauce in a separate pan while the pasta cooks, just to speed up the overall process. My kids don’t like breadcrumbs on their mac and cheese, so we skipped that part. Thanks for another wonderful recipe, Mel!
If we are using salted butter, do we lower the amount of salt in the recipe? Or is it best to go with unsalted butter?
I always use salted butter in my recipes, so it should be fine.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can make it and refrigerate it and bake it later (I would only refrigerate for up to a day).
Can this be frozen?
I haven’t tried freezing, but I think others have with good results.
Great!
Does this recipe double well? I have a large group of people coming over.
Thank you,
Stacie
Hi Stacie – yes it does. You’ll want to divide into two pans.
This was AMAZING. Creamy with no velveeta
Ok this is SO GOOD. Made it last night for company (I know, not smart to try a new recipe on company, but I trust your recipes so I took a chance!) and everyone loved it. So creamy! I used 8 oz jack cheese, then the rest was a mixture of pepper jack, Parmesan, and American Swiss for extra creaminess and yumminess. I’m allergic to cheddar (I know, weird allergy), so I was worried about the taste without cheddar, but it was not missed at all! Also, I didn’t have a broiler safe pan to use, so I just stirred the noodles into the sauce, then immediately poured it into the pan, and baked on convection at 400 for about ten minutes and it was nice and browned. SO yummy!!!
This turned out the creamiest homemade macaroni and cheese I’ve ever made! I agree that for me the key was the continually stir while pouring in the milk slowly and then also adding the cheese off the heat in teeny handfuls while continually stirring. Worked great.
I made this mac and cheese to go with your maple glazed ham. The whole extended family loved it! Thanks, Mel!
This was so perfect with our Christmas Eve ham dinner. Yummy! Easy to make and fabulous leftovers.
Could I make this and keep it on warm in the crockpot for several hours
I haven’t tried that, so I’m not sure – I think it might get a bit dry.
Do you foresee any issues with cutting the recipe in half? And also with use panko crumbs + melted butter for the topping? Your recipes are always the best! Thank you!
I think both cutting in half and using panko + butter would work great!
I quarter the recipe and it works just fine.
I made this tonight for dinner and it turned out perfectly! It was creamy, thick and cheesy. The breadcrumb topping was a nice finishing touch. The directions are specific and helped ensure the final product was made correct. I’ll definitely be making this again. Also, it makes a huge portion which is great for leftovers or a crowd.
Mel, do you think I could make this, freeze it, then heat it from frozen? Or would I thaw first? Do you think it would it re-heat well from frozen? Thanks so much!
That’s a good question – I haven’t tried freezing this but I know a very similar recipe is in the Cook’s Illustrated new cookbook and they freeze it, thaw it, and then bake it. Because I’m a rebel (read: lazy), I’d probably bake from frozen.
I’ve made this many, many, times and think it benefits greatly from a teaspoon of granulated garlic in the roux.
This has become my go-to recipe to take to families with a new baby. Usually together with the one hour breadsticks. Great to have something that the other kids in the family will eat too, and works for lunch or dinner!
Tonight my husband and I had this for dinner, and after a rough day I went with the theory that bacon makes everything better 🙂 I made a half recipe of the mac and cheese and stirred in a half pound of chopped bacon. It.was.amazing. And even better we had the parmesan breakstick knots to go with it!
Now we know the secret to yummy, creamy backed mac. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I have never used a recipe for Macaroni & Cheese. I just have always eyeballed the amounts. I think this sauce is too thin, and made way too much for one pound of pasta. I think next time I’ll try 3 cups of milk and 6 ounces of both cheeses. This is the FIRST time one of Mel’s recipes let me down. It’s edible, but the texture is wrong.
I love the Mel recipes. I also thought this recipe was too creamy for my taste.
I made this tonight and it was delicious and easy to make! I used half and half which seems to prevent the graininess and is less fattening than full cream. I will play around with milk and half and half to reduce the fat content. For the topping, instead of making fresh bread crumbs, I used panko instead and mixed some parmesan. Wonderful!
– I mean instead of the breadcrumb recipe you have posted up!
Hi! I want to try out this recipe for thanksgiving dinner. I was just wondering could I use Panko Breadcrumbs instead of the bread and butter?
Certainly worth a try!
I made this and it turned out very grainy :(. What did I do wrong ?
Naci – Classic baked macaroni and cheese like this recipe is never as creamy as stovetop (or other baked) versions that use processed or Velveeta cheeses; however, sometimes they can turn out more grainy if the sauce is overcooked or the cheese isn’t added gradually.
This looks so yummy! Going to try it this week but a little hesitant about the mustard. How strong is the mustard flavor? I’m wondering if my picky children will notice it?? Thanks so much!
Katie – I like the mustard flavor in this. I don’t think it is overpowering at all – just helps bring out the cheesiness.
Karen – I think it might get a little dry if prepped beforehand but I’ve never tried it myself. I’d suggest trying to make it as you need it (unless you read through the previous comments and someone else has tried it with good results).
Can I prepare this ahead of time, put in 9×13 and broil before serving?
Sarah – I’ve never tried it that way. The pasta may get a little dry making it ahead of time but honestly, anything is worth a try, in my mind (but if you are serving it to company, you might want to do a trial run making it ahead to make sure it works out). Good luck!
Love this recipe. Here’s one that is just so simple a kindergartener can make it: http://nofailrecipe.com/content/no-fail-mac-cheese.
I was wondering if I could make the sauce and cook the pasta, keep them separate in the fridge for a day, combine and then bake? I’m having company and I don’t want dirty pots to clean. Thank you!
Sarah
I wondered the same thing, Stacie. I am going to make it in an 8×8 pan (2 sets) instead of a larger pan, and freeze one. Hopefully it will work, we’ll see! I’ll let you know if it works or is a bust haha.
Michelle – that’s a good idea as long as a) your Dutch oven is oven proof (some are not believe it or not) and b) the macaroni and cheese isn’t piled too thick. The reason it works great to transfer to a rectangle baking dish is so that it evens out into a thinner layer. Anyway, it’s worth a try – and yes, I want to come!
Mel I’m making this for some of my friends tomorrow. Want to join. 😉
Do you think this could be baked right in the Dutch oven? It would save a pan.
Happy Holidays!
Do you know if you can make this ahead of time and then reheat it in the oven? I want to make it for a preschool fall feast but I can’t make it right beforehand.
Thanks!
Stacie – I’ve never tried it that way – I definitely think the optimal results would be to make and serve immediately but we ate leftovers of this the next day and they reheated well on low in the microwave. I’m not sure how the entire pan would reheat, though – if it would dry out portions of it while the rest warmed up. Good luck if you try it!
This is AMAZING! My super picky 2 1/2 year old WILL NOT eat mac and cheese from a box AT ALL! And he is chowing down as I type this! I did add some parm to the topping because my son loves parm cheese on everything. I will be making this again! Thanks!
Hi Mel, Your Classic Macaroni and Cheese recipe has been selected to be featured in a Recipe Guessing Game. Please share the following link with your friends and fans. To play, go here: http://knapkins.com/guess_games/154?source=blog Congrats again!! 🙂