Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Its just about a requirement that all Americans love macaroni and cheese in some form and at some time in their lives, I’m no different. Growing up, my mother made a creamy homemade mac and cheese with a sauce that was smooth as silk and permeated every particle of perfectly cooked macaroni. It was my brother’s favorite so she usually made it every Sunday.
As a teen, we all became well acquainted with the boxed stuff, thrilling over the marvel and convenience of the powdery sauce which combined with milk to deliver the ideal after school snack for three busy young people on the go.
After I had my own kids, however, I quickly learned why my mother seldom ate Mac and Cheese. My kids loved it so much that I got burned out just from stirring those countless pots of pasta.
Then a few years ago I realized something – I missed my mac and cheese. I needed to reacquaint myself with it. While my mother’s mac and cheese is to die for, I longed for a stringy, cheesy, casseroley, version in my adult years. Something as far from the boxed stuff as I could get without introducing things my children would consider “weird”. Voila, Baked Macaroni and Cheese was born.
Those of you who subscribe to my email newsletter will receive an added bonus at the end of this week because I am also sending you my mother’s macaroni and cheese recipe as well as this one in my weekly recipe email!
. Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups uncooked macaroni
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- Pepper to taste (I use about a teaspoon)
- 4 Tablespoons margarine
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Cook pasta until tender, drain. Mix all dry ingredients together, set aside. Spray oven safe bowl or dish with cooking spray. Place half of macaroni inside. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture over top and top with half of the margarine, sliced into small slices. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups cheese over. Repeat. Pour milk over all. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for thirty five minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional ten minutes. Serve hot.
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy lives to read Southern Plate! I want to especially thank you for all of your comments and emails! I am usually a little behind on responding (so I can keep getting more recipes up and posted!) but I read every single one of them and always respond as soon as I can. You are all such incredibly wonderful people and I appreciate all of the extraordinary kindness you have and continue to show me!
Gratefully,
Christy
Related posts:
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Oct 29 2008. Filed under Side Dishes.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! This was my 1st time making baked macaroni and cheese and this will be the only recipe I ever use!! Man oh man this is good!! Thank you so much!!!
HOT DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! Your right dis is the best recipy ever my mout is watarin just tinking about it
I have to watch my fat intake due to high cholesterol, so I tried this recipe at Christmas using skim milk, fat free cheddar cheese, and light vegetable oil spread. I know there are a lot of traditionalists out there who think comfort foods like this are ruined if you don’t use high fat ingredients, but I’m telling you this turned out beautifully and tasted great! My extended family (who are typically skeptical of anything “healthy”) loved it and happily took home left-overs. My son who was not a mac & cheese lover (either from the box or from scratch) ate it up like crazy and complained that I sent too much of it home with the relatives! He’s asked for this multiple times since, and I’m making it for him tonight, so he’s eagerly awaiting dinner! By the way, I also froze some of the left-overs at Christmas in individual servings as an experiment, and they thawed and reheated just fine in the microwave. Definitely a keeper recipe at my house!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have tried for years to find a good make ahead recipe for mac and cheese and this was perfect!!! I used corkscrew pasta(which was really fabulous) and doubled the recipe into a large disposable pan. I finished the recipe all but the addition of the milk. Placed plastic wrap over the pan and refrigerated it until the next afternoon. Took it out of the fridge heated my milk almost to a boil and poured it overtop the mixture and added about 10-15 extra minutes to you cook time. It was AWESOME and so great to be able to make ahead of time!!!
Well I’ll be darned. I’ve never heard of, nor made, a baked mac & cheese recipe that didn’t require me to make a bechamel sauce first, then add cheese and the macaroni.
You bet I’ll be trying this one!
Just tried this today–and it was really good. I love homemade macaroni and cheese, but do not like making the white sauce–so I rarely make it. I know white sauce is not hard, but for some reason I dread it. I cooked it in a round Pyrex casserole, but next time I will make it in a flatter rectangular casserole/baking dish, so the yummy sauce coats the macaroni better. I did mix it up when it was done to get the drier part down in the sauce. I will be making this again!
Do you know Destiny Armstrong ?
I love food. Macaroni and cheese is my favorite food! I wish I could have it every day. I actually grew up in a house that was very lacking in mac and cheese- my older brother didn’t like it, so my parents never made it. Boxed mac and cheese was the first thing I cooked on my own (other than toast and frozen waffles) as an 8 year old. Now that I’m all grown up, I’ve honestly made more macaroni and cheese recipes than anything else. I’ve happened upon a couple of really fantastic ones, but am always willing to try another! I actually can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try this recipe, and I also can’t believe that I’ve messed it up both times. The first time, I had everything ready to go when I realized I didn’t have milk. Oops! Then I decided to try it again this afternoon. I accidentally left out the margarine. Oops again! Our cockatiels’ first egg hatched this afternoon, so I was pretty excited and my mind was on the baby bird instead of cooking! Regardless, the mac and cheese was good without the margarine
I like the juxtaposition of the ultra cheesy top (and middle) with the more subtly cheesy but kinda creamy bottom. Great layers! Thanks for the recipe, Christy- next time I’ll have to try your mother’s!
My family has always made macaroni and cheese “pie”, with milk and eggs that make a custard type filling. And we always use sharp cheese and put pats of butter on the top tp help with browning. This is a “have to have dish” at family dinners and covered dish suppers in my part of the south. I have seen as many as 10 of these at family reunions, all a little different.
Does anyone know how many servings this makes? Is it enough to fill a 9″x13″ pan? (Or should I double the recipe?) I need to serve 8 people for a for a southern-themed party. This looks awesome…..and EASY! Thank you for the recipe.
Hey Mary!
I’d double it fir a 9×13. Hope you enjoy your party!!! Sounds like a blast!
Gratefully
Christy
Hi Christy,
I am going to take this mac and cheese to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow!
On a post today from CMB it states that eggs are included in this recipe.
I did not see that listed on the ingredients. Should I add eggs or not?
I never have used eggs in my mac and cheese.
This recipe sounds so much like my grandma’s and I am looking forward to trying it.
Preparing ahead and baking in the morning. Holding the milk until morn!
Does it need to be stirred before it’s baked?
Christy!!!
and oh man this recipe of yours works!!!!!
you rock & yay!! Just found this recipe and same as others above – I’m always looking for a recipe for the perfect baked mac n chz – I too for some reason dread the bechamel/white sauce (unless it’s some version of stuffed manicotti
Doin the happy dance – thank u ma’am again for all you do for Southern cooks (and their families)!!!
I absolutely love this recipe and so does everyone else who tries it. I have never made mac and cheese so much as i have since finding this recipe. So much simpler than making a white sauce, and I know that is not hard at all. I make it with a pepper jack cheese as we love the variety of it. Always have to double it because it goes so quickly and love to have a bit of left overs. This is a wonderful side dish and definately something to take to potluck. People won’t believe the recipe when you tell them. I have yet to find a recipe from you Christy that isn’t a keeper. Thanks bunches and can’t wait to get my cookbook.
hey there marcie my name is marcey to with a ey instead of ie i lve this stuff um um um sure is good
ttys bye bye now
Hey, Christi! I’m fairly new to your site and have been quite tickled to find recipes very similar to ones my momma made (and now I do, too). This is close to hers. She didn’t use any flour, used cubed sharp cheddar cheese, and canned (evaporated) milk. Her other secret was boiling the macaroni until it was very soft. Man, we ate a lot of this as a kid and LOVED it. Goes real well with pinto beans (which we called brown beans – I was an adult before I ever hear dof pinto beans). Thanks for the memories, and the great food!
This Mac-n-cheese was delicious. I’ve always made a béchamel sauce….but this was so simple. Only problem was the grease that separated from the cheese and pooled at the bottom of the dish. Any suggestions on how to avoid that?
Thanks for sharing your amazing recipes.
Tried this one today after losing my old recipe which was time intensive. This one fit the bill perfectly! I wanted something that would take up little stove/oven space for Thanksgiving since we will all be cooking in the same house this year.
It is so easy and so good!
My husband wants me to add some Velveta to make it a little creamier, but I’m not sure that I want to do that since it is already good as it is.
I was searching for a baked Mac & Cheese recipe that would be as close to my “mamaw’s” as possible. I just about gave up; and then I found yours. Thank you! I plan to make it for my parents tonight — I am sure they are going to love it.
Hi, THE INGREDIENTS DOES INCLUDE EGGS……………………………………….
Eating it right now, very delicious! I would probably cut down on the butter but otherwise great! I added a few sprinkles of onion and garlic powder to the dry mix..and also a little bit of salt to the boiling water for the macaroni pasta. I love it, it’s very simple! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I made this dish last week and it was really good. I will definitely make it again. There are only 2 ppl in my home so I may cut it in half!
Thanks Christy
The third try was definitely the charm with this recipe! It’s so simple but I managed to screw it up twice before- once by not adding the milk and once by not adding the butter. Oops. When made with ALL of the ingredients, this mac and cheese is really quite good
I’m a college student and in the throes of finals this week (tests, projects, papers, etc) so I made this tonight to feed us for the next couple of evenings. I love mac and cheese and it’s nice to have something to look forward to since finals week is horrible.
[...] Photo Credit: Southern Plate [...]
This is a keeper! I made it to take to a BBQ and it was all gone. I changed it a little. I doubled the recipe; added 1/4 tsp garlic powder, pinch of cayenne pepper, pinch of ground mustard, 1 cup of evaporated milk, and 1 cup of regular milk. I also used 5 3/4 cups mexican blend cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It was so easy to make and it was divine!
I believe I could write an Ode to Good Macaroni and Cheese after trying this recipe! I’ve tried “fancy” ones with the bechamel sauce and of course my Momma’s standard using Velveeta and “canned milk”, but this will be my ‘go to’ from now on. However, I too had the grease pooling problem, especially with the leftovers. I actually blotted quite a bit off with a paper towel when I had it this morning for breakfast. Yes, breakfast
Maybe I will try it with a little less butter next time, if that doesn’t help I shall continue to blot!! Thanks for a wonderful recipe =]
I am so glad you liked it Debbie. I see absolutely nothing wrong with Mac and Cheese for breakfast!!
Christy just tried this recipe yesterday. It was my grandson’s birthday and I was thinking this you just be great with hot dogs. Well I doubled the recipe and it went over very well. Just had a little bit left for lunch today. Thank You so much for this great recipe and so easy to make.
I am so glad you enjoyed it Colette!!
Hey Christy, I’ve been looking for a really good easy / cheesy recipe to make and I think I’ve found it here on your site. I took this Baked recipe made it exactly like you described..sampled it..loved it..thought hmm..this would be awesome with just a little bit of Velveeta..so I cut about a 2 inch section off of a large velveeta loaf and cut into cubes…put on top..popped in microwave for just a bit … stirred and now it’s PERFECT! Thanks so much for sharing so much! I love your site and what you do! Keep up the great work! Libby
WOW!! Thanks so much for posting this recipe! I made this today and it’s my first time making mac ‘n’ cheese. I doubled the recipe and there’s enough to fill a long foil lasagna pan. It turned out wonderfully! It’s so cheesy and delicious. Received lots of compliments. Again, thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to make this again!
wow my stomach! i love this ! never tried making baked mac and cheese this way. thanks a bunch.
I have been looking for this recipe!!! Thank you!!!!!
no egg?
no egg??
No ma’am, but if you wanna add an egg you could always play with the recipe and make it your own
Gratefully,
Christy
I’m sorry but I am mixed up. I don’t see eggs in the recipe, but after a reader
ask about the eggs, you say you do add eggs. If so, how many & when do you
add them.
Sorry Christy, I didn’t read all the way to the bottom.
[...] Saylor The baked mac and cheese, chicken and rice in the slow cooker, banana bread, banana pudding, and old timey butter roll [...]
I cant wait to try this recipe! How many servings do you normally get from this recipe.
The recipe was super easy and quick! Turned out well and tasted good, but came out quite greasy… I may recommend less butter or maybe more flour mixture? I actually drained the final product to get some of the butter out.
[...] My baked mac and cheese (which is the stringy kind yum!) can be found by clicking here. [...]
[...] whereas my other recipe is more of a stringy, cheesy mac and cheese. You can visit that tutorial by clicking here and then go with whichever one cranks your tractor. There is no such thing as a bad mac and cheese, [...]
I have another 20 minutes until my Baked Macaroni and Cheese is complete, I can’t wait to eat it all up! WhOOp WhOOp! BBQ chicken is on the grill and corn on the stove… Mmmm I can’t wait! Update on taste in a few. Thanks for this! <3
I hope you enjoyed it. everything sounds delicious!!
I have been making my grandmothers mac and cheese for years. The more I make it the less I like it because it includes boxed macoroni and the powder along with a few of her own touches. But must say I have never heard of using flour. I just bought the ingredients today, and am terribly afraid of how this will turn out. The pictures look so good that I really am excited.
Can anyone answer: Why flour?
I tried this mac and cheese eagerly! It looked just how I wanted mine, nice and cheesy…I followed the recipe and was very disappointed! It looked cheesy, but the cheese did not stick on the noodles like i expected, and it was GREASY!! I drained the grease but it was still oily! HELP!!!
I’ve been searching for a great baked macaroni and cheese recipe, and I’ve found a winner! It was so easy to follow. Can’t wait to make it again for Thanksgiving. Thank you so much!
This was a wonderful receipe. I was a little sceptical because of the flour but it turned out better than expected. I will be using this again. It helped my Thanksgiving to be a huge success.
[...] warm, cozy, and toasty? then the perfect meal to have is baked macaroni. According to a blog titled “Baked Macaroni” it’s un-american to not love macaroni, in any way shape or form. It seems to be a tradition in [...]
fantastic recipe..i visited my friends in the UK and made dis nice meal and they all loved it..had to make it one more time b4 i returned home. i changed nothin except i added a teaspoon of mustard powder..i luvd it
THIS RECIPE IS DELICIOUS!!! i I have made it on at least 5 occasions over the last month!! I use 4 cups of cheese, instead of 3!
[...] texture to the dish and as the saying goes,it makes all things good !So this is the Mac & Cheese Recipe i [...]
Delicious!!! Easy to make, even easier to eat! I will make this as my mac n cheese from now on. I used a little more sharp cheddar than the recipe calls for and it was perfect!
This will be my first time trying this recipe, Im excited and nervous will let everyon knows how it comes out, Im making my family ribs, green beans, mac and cheese, cornbread YUM YUM>>>>………….
I can’t wait to hear what you think!
[...] minutes to prepare with a total of 45 minutes of baking time. Good southern recipe I found at Southern Plate. Here’s how mine turned [...]
I have been searching high and low for a good baked macaroni recipe. As a matter of fact, I tried a different one last night and was very disappointed which left me searhing the web once again for a new recipe. It came out dry and tasteless. (I think the dryness was due to the eggs the other recipe called for.) Anyhow, this recipe hit the target for me and now my search is finally over. This recipe yeilds a very rich cheesy and creamy mac n cheese. It was super easy also. The only thing I did different for personal taste is used half and half instead of regular milk and I increased it to 1 1/2 cups because I melted about a cup of cubed velveeta in it before pouring it over the macaroni. Oh and I added a little cayenne and garlic powder to the dish. Just a little. Try this recipe.
I did everything you said and added chopped tomatoes, onions, Jalapenos, chopped and cooked beef kilbasa sausage and added bread crumbs to the top!
SUPPPEERR YYUMM.
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Sean!!!
I absolutely LOVED this and I don’t care much for mac and cheese! My daughter who is extremely picky loved it as well! I don’t think I will ever make that boxed stuff again!
I am so glad to hear you liked it Krista!!!!