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The Best Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese


The Best Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese


Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Elbow pasta, dried

• 1 cup All purpose flour

• 1 tsp Black pepper

• 1/2 tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika

• 1 tbsp Salt


For Béchamel Sauce

• 1 cup Butter, unsalted

• 4 cups Cheddar cheese, grated medium sharp

• 2 cups Pepper Jack cheese, grated

• 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated

• 4 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

• 2 1/2 cups Whole milk


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease your baking dish (9x13" preferred). Set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add dried pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package directs for al dente. Drain retaining some of the water to avoid sticking

3. While water is coming up to a boil, grate cheeses and toss together to mix, then divide into three piles. Approximately 4 cups for the sauce, 2 cups for the inner layer, and 2 cups for the topping.

4. Melt butter in a large saucepan over MED heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Mixture will look like very wet sand. Cook for approximately 3 minutes, whisking often. Slowly pour in about 3 cups or so of the milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining milk/half and half, while whisking constantly, until combined and smooth.

5. Continue to heat over MED heat, whisking very often, until thickened with no raw flour taste.

6. Remove from the heat and stir in spices and 2 cups of the cheeses, stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 2 cups of cheese, and stir until completely melted and smooth.

7. In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with 2 cups of grated cheeses, then top that with the remaining pasta mixture.

8. Sprinkle the top with the last 2 cups of cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until cheesy is bubbly and lightly golden brown.


COOKING TIPS FOR BAKED MAC AND CHEESE:

• Boiling the pasta – cook the pasta until it is almost al dente. I like to boil my elbow pasta for between 4 and 5 minutes. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven, and you don’t want it to get mushy and lose its bite.

• Use room temp liquids – if you can… cold liquids generally take longer to thicken than warmer ones. I usually set my milk and half and half out while the water for the pasta is coming up to a boil.

• Cheeses – use your favorites! Our personal favorites are the cheddar and gruyere used in this recipe, but you can be very creative with the cheese selection here. Mozzarella, gouda, smoked gouda, swiss, monterey jack, pepper jack, colby.

• Shred your own – I know it’s a labor of love, and it’s SO tempting to use the pre-shredded cheese in the bags. But those bags of cheese contain a preservatives - a starchy substance that keeps the cheese from clumping. Unfortunately it also prohibits it from melting as well.

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4 Comments


Juan Gonzalez
Juan Gonzalez
Aug 22, 2022

Hello

Thank you for the great content.

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carolynamiller22
Aug 18, 2022

I'm so confused because I made this last year for 4th of July but I'm pretty sure this recipe made two 9x13 dishes. I know in the video you mentioned that you were doubling the recipe so is that the case? I'm about to make this on Sunday. I haven't made it in a while because nobody in my household likes mac and cheese but my other family members who I made this for twice always begs me

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watsongina398
Jul 08, 2022

What does the grated medium sharp mean?

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andreabailey1931
Jan 14, 2023
Replying to

On the package of the block of cheese it will say Medium Sharp. Then you are going to grate that yourself

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