Baked Macaroni and Cheese

[coltsfanchris]

I am looking for some tips and ideas for a really great baked macaroni and cheese. My grandma used to do one that was really simple with just cheddar, milk, flour, and pasta (obviously) and it was delish. I just can't seem to get it right. I've tried out several recipes with different cheeses, onion, bacon, etc. Just haven't found one I really love. Help!

 

[jennyema]

I just make a simple bechemel (white sauce) with equal parts butter and flour and milk and melt a lot of really good shredded cheese into it. I usually use a combination of cheeses -- cheddar, gruyere, gouda -- whatever I have on hand, usually.

If you are going to bake it, I find that you will want your sauce to be thin. And you want a lot of it, as the pasta will suck it in.

 

[Selkie]

I recently made one for a pot luck Christmas Party.

In addition to a basic Mac 'n Cheese recipe, I added:

1 Can of cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can of Ceddar Cheese Soup
1/2 cup of tiny diced Red and Green Bell Peppers (for Christmas color, sprinkled on top)

I received many compliments on it and was asked by two people for the recipe, so I suppose it was good.

 

[Janet H]

What seems to be 'off' in your recipe? Is the flavor flat or is the texture off?

I also make a fairly straight forward mac and cheese with a white sauce and shredded cheddar (and sometimes other types or cheese). I usually add a little grated onion, a small amount of dried mustard and pinch of nutmeg and cayenne pepper as well.

 

[larry_stewart]

When I was younger, everyone in the house liked their mac & cheese differently, so it was always a process for my mom to make this for dinner. I liked the mac and cheese with sliced mushrooms added in and cheddar cheese. My brother and father liked mushrooms and tuna with cheddar. My mom with tuna and american cheese on top, and my sister with nothing added in, and american on top.

Now that I am in charge of the kitchen, I do the basic bechemel with white wine, cheddar , and any other left over cheeses and mushrooms. I then place it in a thin layer in a lasagna pan ( maybe an inch thick, then broil it for a few minutes with cheddar on top. I keep it thin because we fight for the crusty cheese on top, so i figured this gives more surface area for the crusty cheese. Sometimes if I feel like deep dishing it, ill put it in one of those onion soup crocks, put a bunch of cheese on top, then broil it like that .

 

[Wyogal]

A bechamel with some great cheese is always good, but ya know... I like to use that "cheese" in a box. you know what I mean.

 

[GrillingFool]

You will never make as good as GRANDMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it might be fun trying.

 

[Alix]

A bechamel with some great cheese is always good, but ya know... I like to use that "cheese" in a box. you know what I mean.

VELVEETA!!! Say it with me people! I love the stuff!

OK, I don't care how food snobby we pretend to be, we all use and like some down home stuff. (In my case, I like a LOT of it!)

Best mac and cheese is the one made with bechamel, then lots of velveeta melted in and a few shots of grated cheddar. MMMMMMMMM!

I know what I'm making for dinner tonight!

 

[jennyema]

VELVEETA!!! Say it with me people! I love the stuff!

OK, I don't care how food snobby we pretend to be, we all use and like some down home stuff. (In my case, I like a LOT of it!)

Best mac and cheese is the one made with bechamel, then lots of velveeta melted in and a few shots of grated cheddar. MMMMMMMMM!

I know what I'm making for dinner tonight!

I went 50 years without buying Velveeta, but now I do use some Velveeta when I make mac and cheese for kids. It melts really well and makes the sauce creamier. Almost plastic IMO if you use too much. So I still mostly use cheddar with a hunk of Velveeta added.

Velveeta is very bland, though. For kids that's usually a good thing.

When I make mac and cheese for adults, it's all about the cheese. I use very good, flavorful cheeses, which means no Velveeta.

 

[Alix]

I went 50 years without buying Velveeta, but now I do use some Velveeta when I make mac and cheese for kids. It melts really well and makes the sauce creamier. Almost plastic IMO if you use too much. So I still mostly use cheddar with a hunk of Velveeta added.

Having never eaten plastic I couldn't say.

I do know that velveeta is a pleaser in our house. Both with the kids and with the adults. Perhaps my palate is just not refined enough. LOL. I read somewhere that you lose tastebuds as you get older, thats why kids are often "pickier" they taste more nuance.

I only make mac and cheese for our family of 4, so I don't have to worry. Velveeta in my bechamel with about 1 cup of grated old cheddar. I don't put any bread crumbs on top of mine though.

 

[jennyema]

Alix

I started to use velveeta after I watched a mac and cheese throwdown on FoodTV.

Delilah's 7 Cheese Mac and Cheese Recipe : : Food Network


I don't use her recipe but I do usually use at least three kinds of cheese.

No eggs!!

 

[ChefJune]

I loved Velveeta when I was a little girl. and it does melt beautifully. However, I have a fairly high degree of lactose intolerance, and whey is a big precipitator of "problems." Since Velveeta has a large proportion of whey in it, I try to stay away from it as much as possible. which is to say that I never purchase it any more.

 

[Alix]

Alix

I started to use velveeta after I watched a mac and cheese throwdown on FoodTV.

Delilah's 7 Cheese Mac and Cheese Recipe : : Food Network


I don't use her recipe but I do usually use at least three kinds of cheese.

No eggs!!

YUMMY! Great link, thanks. Eggs? Ick.

 

[jet]

Mine's technically broiled, not baked, but I think it's close enough.
Macaroni and Cheese

 

[Janet H]

YUMMY! Great link, thanks. Eggs? Ick.

Yeah - that eggs thing is really different. I loved in North Carolina for a while and the old timers there make mac n cheese with essentially a custard with shredded cheese added. It's baked and hot and cheesy - just texturally challenging the first time you try it if you were raised on the bechemel based version. I learned to like it - in fact even love it. It's pasta, cheese, milk and eggs - how could it be bad really?

 

[luvs]

mine's a bechamel, cheeses (2 blocks, 2 kinds), mustard, worcestershire, pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, frank's, & pasta. baked, delicious.

i like cheese abound, & flavor abundance, & tender pasta, & a crust.

 

[luvs]

& dagnabbit if i didn't view alton brown throwing eggs into a pot of macaroni & cheese! i'm almost CERTAIN i added eggs after that, too, & my pasta was great!

 

[PattY1]

Large Batch Mac-n-Cheese

2 lbs macaroni just cooked
1 large box Velveeta
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cups of any other cheeses you need to eat up
1/2 stick BUTTER
1 loaf of country or firm white bread, cubed and dried slightly
about 2 sticks of butter melted
about 1 qt half and half

mix mac and cheeses in a large glass pan, dot with butter, pour in enough half and half to halfway fill the dish. Dip the bread cubs in butter, cover the top with the bread, bake in 350 oven for 1 hour.

 

[shannon in KS]

oooooh wow, great thread! I have been craving homemade mac and cheese for a week now, looks like some good stuff here!

 

[Mama]

I use a combination of cheeses including velveeta. Here's my recipe Baked Macaroni & Cheese