Three years ago, while living in California, I made this recipe for creamy baked mac & cheese for the first time. I made it for my mother when I returned to Texas. Her preferred macaroni and cheese is now this. She implores me to attend when I pay her a visit.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni
- 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 (8 ounce) package processed American cheese, cut into strips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
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- Then stir in milk, salt, mustard, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture boils and thickens.
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- Meanwhile, bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes; drain.
- Add Cheddar and American cheeses to milk mixture; stir until cheese melts.
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- Combine cheese sauce and macaroni in a 2-quart baking dish; mix well.
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- Bake in preheated oven until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
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Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 561 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 37 g |
| Cholesterol | 100 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 21 g |
| Sodium | 1194 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 33 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Creamy goodness! My family raved about this recipe. My family is not a fan of American cheese but this combination of cheeses was very good. I made no modifications. Yum.
Been using it for year. Quick reliable results that are very tasty
Very good. Add spices or hot sauce to taste. Loaf Velveeta can be used instead of cheese slices.
I have made macaroni and cheese for years in a slow cooker. Short on time, I was looking for a way to bake it and this recipe (the 5th one I looked at) was exactly what I was looking for! To be honest I skipped the mustard. I followed all the other directions and WOW! I give this recipe 5 stars because it looks, smells and tastes amazing! The texture is spot on, not soupy and not dry, and it took half the time of the slow cooker method I usually use! This is a new family favorite!
very cheesy! I added leftover ham and stirred well. So tasty!!
Great recipe, but I leave out the onions = sub a bit of onion & garlic powder in the cheese mix. Then at the end once it’s in the casserole dish, sprinkle additional cheddar cheese on top for the crunchy browned topping I love.
I made this with modifications; I boiled the pasta with the onion in the water which I removed once the pasta cooked. Neither I nor my family is a big fan of American cheese, so I used Fontina instead. Other than those two modifications I followed the recipe and everyone said they would eat it again. Works for me
my now 16 yr old son has had this as his birthday meal for the past 3 years with gammon (baked ham) , he gets offered lots of other different choices, i.e go to a restaurant of his choosing, take away food or other favourites but its this everytime 🙂 we used soya milk in ours.
The kids loved this recipe! Made it for a Christmas dinner side. I didn’t have any American cheese on hand, so we used Cheddar Jack along with the Sharp cheddar. Very creamy and cheesy! Added breadcrumbs on top for baking.
This is a very good base recipe which I was able to greatly enhance by doing the following: I doubled most of the ingredients and used 16 oz of large, ridged elbow macaroni, and prepared mustard in place of the dry. I doubled the amount of flour and butter, but I also added a tad bit more butter along with a small amount of finely chopped sweet red and green bell peppers, garlic, and onion powders, about
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This is my usual method of making mac and cheese. The only difference is that I don’t add onion. The dish comes out cheesy and creamy every time. Be sure to not over cook the pasta. We prefer it without the onion, but it is still good.
I make this every Thanksgiving for my family, and they all love it. They don’t love onion, though, so I just replace the actual onion with a sprinkling of onion powder. And it doesn’t need breadcrumbs.
Very good
Tasted amazing. The whole family loved it. I just didn’t put onion in it.
Delicious!!! My family ate all of it. I did add a bit of sharp cheddar from the block, I think it has a bit more cheesy flavor. Also, added a bread crumb topping. My family doesn’t think it’s authentic baked mac & cheese without a topping! This is the best recipe I’ve tried.
It is a good basic recipe but I cannot understand why it has so many 5 star ratings. It was Ok; maybe people are used to the box kind of mac and cheese? Try using your favorite cheese that melts (and does not string) and try using some(not all) heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2 . If you add the cracker/melted butter topping at the end(last 10 minutes) it will be a crowd pleaser. My husband likes me to put a layer of mac and cheese at the bottom of the dish, then add a thin layer of crumbled blue cheese and chopped up bacon and a light sprinkle of cayenne/red pepper. Add a top layer of mac and cheese and bake 15-20 minutes. Next layer on the cracker butter topping and cook around 10 more minutes. He loves it (I do not).
Other than swapping Gruyère for American I followed the recipe and the result was delicious. My family gobbled it up!
I make this often and everyone enjoys it. I omit the onion however and use white pepper to hide it from my young granddaughter. I also never bake it and use 12oz of elbows. There’s plenty of sauce.
I just put this into the oven so I can’t review it properly. The sauce tastes great. I doubled the pasta and added three smokies, cut in small pieces. I have also covered it as my hubby likes lots of sauce and I didn’t want it to dry out.
No onions! Add seasoned bread crumbs.