I personally love crushing fried onions over my mac and cheese. If you want a bread crumb topping, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a skillet and add about 1 cup of bread crumbs to toast until lightly golden before adding to your mac and cheese. Over boiling the pasta beyond el dente will result in a mushy mac and cheese after the final baking. You want some crunchy golden spots on the cheese topping, but over-baking the pasta will start to make the cheese sauce clumpy and less creamy. Some people like adding cream cheese – if you’d like to try that, just stick to one block and use 3 cups of shredded cheese for the remaining cheese.Īs always, I highly recommend tasting your recipe throughout the preparation process so you can correct over- or under-seasoning.Įrr on the side of under boiling and under baking the pasta. You can add pepperjack cheese for a bit of kick or even give this recipe a gourmet flair by using cheeses like fontina, gouda, Swiss, etc. I change it up based on whatever I have on hand, but sharp cheddar is always one of the cheeses. I also like using a blend of two or more cheeses to give our mac and cheese a bit more depth of flavor. (I also like adding a bit of mustard powder and chili powder, or even chopped jalapeños, but I got in trouble the last time I did that.) Experiment and make this recipe your own. Italian seasoning, cajun seasoning, seasoning salt, garlic powder, etc – my daughter would probably go crazy for a ranch mac and cheese.

I just use white pepper, salt and paprika to simply season this mac and cheese but you can incorporate any favorite seasoning blend to really play with the flavors.

I will warn you though – once you’ve served this decadent mac and cheese to your family, they may no longer accept any blue box shortcuts. Yes, it takes a little longer to prepare than that little blue box, but it’s well worth the extra baking time and cheese shredding. This baked mac and cheese recipe is comfort food perfection and incredibly easy to whip up. Maybe even two.Īnd there is nothing more disappointing than when a gorgeous mac and cheese turns out to be lacklustre in flavor, or the cheese sauce is too slippery to really coat the noodles.

I could give or take most pasta recipes, but a creamy baked mac and cheese with a thick cheese sauce and crunchy, golden baked cheese topping? I’m going in for a giant scoop, every time.

Southern baked mac and cheese with roux