Baked Mac and Cheese
Everyone’s favorite classic mac and cheese! Super simple, super easy and super quick. You’ll never want the boxed stuff ever again!
Greetings from Chicago!
We did it. We finally moved to the Midwest after 20 years of living in California.
It almost feels a bit surreal as we cope with the 22 degree weather. I mean, it was 65 degrees when we left LA!
But honestly, it feels like home. Except home is filled with 17 unopened boxes filled with my kitchen stuff.
So I need to unpack as fast as possible so I can never leave my Chicago house and instead, nest inside with my new electric blanket and the coziest homemade mac and cheese ever.
This is your classic mac and cheese – there are no surprises here and there’s no fuss at all. It’s simple, it’s quick, and it’s completely made from scratch.
It’s perfectly cheesy without being too gummy, and the crunchy tops are just to die for before you get into that creamy heaven underneath.
You can of course choose to bake these in individual ramekins to avoid any kind of sharing or you can dump the entire mixture into a 2-qt baking dish.
Either works. It’s just that sharing can be a bit difficult on this one.
Baked Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbow pasta
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk
- 12 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, about 3 cups, divided
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Whisk in flour, paprika and onion powder until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in evaporated milk until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in 2 cups cheddar cheese and Parmesan. Stir in pasta; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Divide pasta mixture into 5 (10-ounce) or 6 (8-ounce) ramekins or ovenproof bowls.* Place onto a baking sheet; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese.
- Place into oven and bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with chives, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Absolutely rave reviews. Perfect!!
Is this pasta measurement dry? Im assuming, correct?
Always requested for family gatherings
My grandkids love it
I double recipe and bake in 9×12
I have made this exactly as written many times and it always turns out great. My family loves it!
I love this recipe!
What is the best way to warm the leftover individual servings ?
This has to be one of my all time favorite recipe. It really takes me to my childhood. Thanks for sharing this.
Made this for dinner and it was SO good!! So creamy and flavorful, my entire family loved it so much. Can’t wait to make it again!
Hi Chungah, Thanks for this recipe, I really love this dish! However, I find it yummier when it’s kept a little longer in the oven to develop more caramelization and browning on top. Of course, I always keep an eye on it to not burn it completely. Other than that, your recipe is perfect!
Looks yummy. I love those little Staub ramekins! I never knew those existed.
This recipe was a hit! Everyone liked it. I made one dairy free batch (using plain oat milk) and the other batch was regular. Both batches were absolutely delicious!
Very delicious! Super easy to pull together and the sauce is so creamy and yummy! Please note that evaporated milk is absolutely NOT the same thing as condensed milk. This mistake was made in my house the first try and it was awful. Totally our fault, but if I can save someone the mistake it is worth mentioning. Second time trying the recipe we followed exactly with correct ingredients and it was delicious! We will definitely make again!
For this baked Mac and cheese recipe, you mention to eat immediately. Is it possible to prepare it but not put it in the oven and rather freeze it or leave it in the fridge to be baked later when we are ready to eat it? I am preparing meals for my 88 y.o. father who is undergoing radiotherapy treatments and I am looking for recipes that I can prepare in advance. Thanks so much for your great recipes. They are a life saver these days.
I have found that with most Mac and cheese. If you let it set a little before baking you will need to add extra sauce. And if it’s going to be baked and reheated I would also add extra sauce before baking. If reheated in the microwave it will loosen from how tight it was in the fridge when warm. If it didn’t loosen enough add a touch of milk.
So creamy! And those little ramekins are the best.
This is just perfect, I tried this and everyone loved it, thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
This is amazing. I don’t have onion powder so just used paprika, so didn’t have chives do used green onions. My sauce was too thick before milk so had to add more milk but it tastes abso delicious nevertheless. Thank you
I tried it on Christmas and followed your steps. It turned out so well. Everyone in my family loved it.
This was delicious, and super easy. Some people commented that there was too much cheese for the pasta. However, I thought that it was perfect, especially after it has been baked. The next time I make it, I am going to do a panko/parmesan crumb crust. )(the ingredients for the panko crust can be found in the “Mac and Cheese Cups” recipe on this website). By the way, I would recommend saving yourself the hassle of using a skillet to make the cheese sauce. Simply cook the pasta, dump it in a strainer, and then whip up the sauce in the pot, which takes a couple minutes. Once the sauce is done, dump the pasta into the pot, stir it up, and then pour into your casserole or ramekins. That’s it! Then you have one less thing to clean!
I think the mac and cheese turned out better than the other recipes I tried. But I think next time I’ll leave the paprika and onion powder out of the mix. I feel like they don’t go in mac and cheese. But, you live and you learn. Good overall.
If I make the sauce and cook the pasta ahead of time, would it work to have it cook together in a crockpot instead of bake in the oven? I’ve made this dozens of times in the oven but want to make it for a party where I won’t have an oven. 🙂
Yes! My family has tried this recipe crockpot style and it was DELICIOUS! Just no crunchy top like in the oven.
It looked amazing in the pot on the stove. Nice and creamy than when I took out of the oven it was not creamy at all and rather chunky. Help please. PS I used the evaporated milk.
I LOVE WHAT YOU PREPARE BUT I DONT GET IT RIGHT
Oh, my goodness! This is a fabulous dish!!!! I love my own recipe, but this is amazing!!!! Thank You!!!!
(‘Cause I do like some heat, I added some chopped jalapeños jalapeños to my serving!) Yum!!!!
My family loves it!
I usually don’t care for homemade mac and cheese but i thought I’d give this a try. I actually cut the recipe in half as there is just the two of us. It fit in three ramekins. It was very good.
It tasted good but the sauce was curdled. What did I do wrong?
If the sauce curdled, your heat while on stove top most likely wasn’t high enough.
I thought if the sauce curdled it was because the heat on the stove was too high.
Best mac and cheese recipe I have ever tried, hands down. I used an extra mature cheddar and fusilli (didn’t have macaroni) and I added some english mustard powder. The mustard gives the cheese a strong kick. Absolutely delicious, thanks for sharing!
Maybe I’m missing something here but isn’t there something wrong with the cheddar cheese measurements in the recipe? The ingredients say “ 12 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, about 3 cups”. One cup is 8oz so doesn’t 3 cups mean 24oz? Which is it – 12oz (meaning 1.5 cups) or 3 cups (meaning 24oz)? This is very confusing when two different units of measurement are in the directions
For semi-hard cheeses like cheddar, 1 cup is equivalent to 4 ounces.
Ounces (abbreviated oz.) is confusing because the same term is used for units of measurements by both weight and volume, and 8 oz. of cheese (which is measured by weight when you purchase it) will not be the same amount as 8 oz. of cheese after it is grated measured by volume, i.e., cups. Generally, once cheese is grated, it is measured by volume. So measurements of volume and weight are not interchangeable. Hope this helps.
I haven’t tried it yet, I am going to. Do I use cold or warm milk?
This is truly amazing. I have never used evaporated milk in mac and cheese before, but I now will use nothing else!
This is such a tasty recipe, and easy to make for the hungry.
Delicious, made it just as the recipe and it was delicious!!!
I have to say, I have made a lot of Mac and cheese recipes over the years. My recipe is pretty dang good! However, this recipe is so simple and so GOOD! Try it out – I add one more cup of cheese on top and add chopped jalapeños to the mix. Try it!!
This recipe is delicious! My whole family loved it, will definitely make it again.
Made this-it’s exactly the recipe I was looking for-perfect, thanks!
I don’t care for Mac and Cheese, didn’t grow up on it. BUT…OMG! This is so good! I mean seriously, think about it sitting in my fridge yummy good! Even reheated ( with a little smidge of milk added ) it’s amazing.
I almost never leave reviews on recipes. But this one is incredible! I didn’t have the ramekins so I put all in one dish. I thought it was amazing. I ended up putting just a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs on top the second time, and it was great!
Great recipe! Made it tonight with my daughter. It’s easy to read and follow.
I made this just as the recipe is written and it turned out great! After reading some reviews saying that it made too much cheese sauce, I was a little nervous of that – but the extra cheese sauce soaked into the noodles within a few minutes. I prepped this the morning of our NYE party and then once it had cooled I added the shredded cheese topping and then just popped it into the oven for 30 minutes at the party so that we could enjoy it fresh out of the oven.
I made a Gluten and dairy free version of your recipe using oat milk and gluten free all purpose flour and it was wonderful! So tasty ❤ (I sauteed onions, garlic and added a little bacon too!)
Hi Brittany! What kind of dairy free cheese did you use? I’ve been looking, but haven’t found a good one.
This looks sooo good! Love the crunchy top. Homemade is always so much better. Especially when it comes to mac & cheese.
Thanks for the recipe!
I love this recipe! Served it for Thanksgiving and will serve it again tomorrow for our New Year’s Eve party. This time as a BBQ side.
Question; Has anyone prepped this a day ahead? If so, should I prep today, bake tomorrow? Or bake today and reheat 45min before serving?
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. Now I want to make it for Christmas but I want to try making it in muffin tins. Has anyone tried this?
This recipe is DELICIOUS!! Only problem was that the cheese to pasta ratio was way off, I just added a whole pound of noodles and it was fixed!
My kids loved this! Although I used a whole pound of pasta and the cheese sauce was still ample!!
I made this and my boyfriend raved to his family that I cook with “soul” and I “stuck my foot in it”. Needless to say this recipe is so simple and absolutely delish.
Does 1/2 lb of elbow macaroni mean 8oz? It just didn’t look like very much. If that is the case, a 16 oz box would feed around 12? Thanks for your time! Excited to make my first homemade Mac n cheese
It says it serves 5-6, so yes, doubling the recipe should work out perfect.
Very delicious! I’m so glad I chose your way with the canned milk. It came out very tasteful. My grandson age eight loved it so much. Thanks for sharing.
Super tasty! I doubled the recipe and ended up with WAY too much cheese sauce. I’d recommend only increasing cheese sauce ingredients by half, rather than doubling. At least I have extra cheese sauce for something else. Lol.
Recipe is awesome!! I did smoked paprika instead. Little less then half a tsp. Gave it a nice slight smokey taste. I also decided against the chives. Turned out great. My boyfriend loved it and he’s soooo picky. I added slightly more parm and cheddar too. Also topped it with some Italian Panko bread crumbs.
I made this last week. I followed the recipe to a T…. I’m going to attempt it again for Thanksgiving…..
I cant wait to make this! Has anyone done it with a panko bread crumb on top?
gonna try that exact thing tonight
Wow. this recipe will manifest the best mac & cheese you have ever tasted. It’s even better than your grandma’s.
you dont know my grandma
My grandson is correct. My mac & cheese is superior.
Looks so yummy! Have you tried making any portion of this in advance?
Has anybody tried mild cheddar instead of sharp cheddar?
We
Don’t generally like sharp cheese in this house
I have used mild and it turned out just as good. Go for it.
it was delicious
I just made the recipe last night for my sister and of course for me, and wow the mac & cheese recipe is amazing!! I had never used evaporated milk in a mac & cheese recipe before. The result is not only amazing, it’s delightful, thanks!!!! This recipe serves 5-6 yet, I am having 9 guest over for dinner, can you tell me, should I simply double the ingredients from 1/2 lb of elbow to 1 lb elbow,
from 3 tablespoons unsalted butter to 6 tablespoons butter, etc etc……..Replacing 2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk to add 4 (12 oz) evaporated milk? Any advice, or directions would be deeply appreciated.
I need instructions for 8-12 people please asap.
Hi Macy,
You can absolutely double everything (I did too!). You’ll need to heat the sauce longer for it to get thick. And maybe heat a bit longer in the oven. But you shouldn’t have any problems.
Damn Delicious has been the greatest teacher of all! I’m learning & loving everything new from you and it’s important for you to know just how thankful I am to have found Damn Delicious’ site!!! Fast question about the mac & cheese. If I melt the butter, whisk in flour, then complete each step leading up to gradually whisk in evaporated milk…….remove from heat, stir in both cheese—then didn’t prepare it for baking, rather at this point, cooled sauce down totally, placing sauce into a very airtight storage container, put into the fridge over-night, with next day removing sauce from fridge, bring to room temp, heat sauce in pot stove top, once heated add sauce to pasta, place entire mixture into a 2-qt baking dish to bake, would this idea work well or destroy the integrity of the recipe?
I cold smoked, with hickory, blocks of cheddar parmesan and Romano cheese last week to make this recipe as smoked Mac n cheese! Gonna make it tomorrow for Thanksgiving , will post my results
Very good!
Great traditional creamy comfort-food mac & cheese. However, I would recommend reducing or eliminating the paprika in the sauce. It seems to overpower the sauce and gives it an odd/unexpected flavor. I eliminated it in a second batch and it was delicious!
I am about to make this mac and cheese however I notice the cheese goes from 12oz (1cup and a half )to 3 cups and I got 16oz thinking that would be plenty
Full of flavour and really yummy! I used smoked paprika and topped off with a little crispy bacon before adding cheddar cheese.
Hello,
It’s getting to that time of the year to break out the pepto
bismol and tums. I am glad to have found this as I will
be cooking for thanksgiving and Christmas and want
to make a easy but hearty meal!
So good!Me and my kids are it with some bacon in the sauce! Delicious
I have used this exact recipe, and it came out AMAZING!
Mac n cheese is a staple in our home. I made it and my boys enjoyed it although there was a ‘curdling’ consistency to the sauce mix. It was like I added ricotta or mashed cottage cheese when I didn’t. Maybe the flour wasn’t cooked enough with the butter mix? It was my first time making a homemade version but I will try again!
Same thing happened to mine. Did you figure out why that happened?
I’m not a moderator, but I have two guesses.
1. Did you buy pre- shredded cheese instead of shedding your own? The cellulose powder in those prevent them from melting well. Always shred your own.
2. Are you sure the four/ butter/ milk thickened before adding the cheese? Depending on your heat setting, this may take longer than the listed time.
Sheri
Definitely pre-shredded cheese if you used it. Also, I only buy a premium brand block of cheddar cheese. The cheaper store brands can cause this curdling. Never had it happen when I shredded my own block of Tillamook cheese.
I dint have condensed milk so I used half and half and it was delish!!
I replaced the milk with water and a little olive oil and it was delicious for the baked Mac and cheese
Hol’ up
No milk in the mac? How does that even work….
I did same no milk. Olive oil and white wine and water with the cheeses and herbs etc (I only had brie and mozzerella though), a small amount of powder thickener instead of milk or flour. No one knew the difference, so delicious.
LOL
I’ve been looking for the perfect from scratch mac and cheese recipe for a long time. I’ve tried lots of them, but they were always either too cheesy/greasy or to liquid or too dry. I’m so happy to have come across this. It’s simply THE best! None of the previous recipes used evaporated milk and that’s what gives it the perfect amount of creaminess. I’m so happy the search for the best mac and cheese has come to an end, thank you very much!
I just prepped this, substituting cream for the evap milk since I did not have that.
Was really greasy. So would half and half be a better way?
I soaked up some of the grease, it was better once stirred in with the pasta, and I added some creama which seemed to help with creaminess. We will see how it tastes.
Jutta, evaporated milk can be substituted with a combination of whole milk and half-and-half, but not heavy cream.
Just made this for a simple Saturday nite dinner, so tasty. I followed the recipe exactly but also added panko on top of the cheese!! Soooo tasty!
This is BY FAR my favorite recipe for baked mac n chz! The evaporated milk and spices make a HUGE difference in the flavor and texture. And I love the minimal butter and flour requirements. I used pepper jack and horseradish cheeses on top of the cheddar and parm. Magnificent! Thanks for the recipe!
We’re so glad you enjoyed this, Tina! Thanks for sharing with us!
This turned out fantastic. The noodles were soft, not mushy, and not broken down. The sauce had the right amount of saltiness and tang from the cheddar. My family enjoyed this a lot. It was so easy. No more boxed stuff for us!
No more boxed stuff ever! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Can you use milk instead?
Yes, but the consistency may vary quite a bit with this substitution.
Sooo delicious! I made it in a 2.75 qt casserole because I only have two small ramekins and that’s the closest size of casserole dish I have and it came out wonderfully 🙂
We’re so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing, Hannah!
Holy cow. The onion powder makes a huge difference. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but used corkscrew pasta because it’s what I had on hand. The flavor is just incredible! I made it in a big batch instead of ramekins and it was perfect. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Hi. I haven’t made but need to make mac & cheese for 30 adults as a side dish with bbq. Would you be able to tell me how many batches I need to make or what your recipe serves? Thanks,
This recipe yields about 5-6 servings so I would multiply accordingly. Hope that helps, Brenda!
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Im almost 50 years old and I have never been able to make Mac and Cheese. Here you come along with this super simple recipe worthy of an AWARD! THANK YOU
Amazing! Nothing like a good homemade mac and cheese, right? 🙂
Yummy! Yummy! This is the first baked mac and cheese I have made that we could actually eat! I made 4 side dish portions (for 2 people) and froze 3 of them. Can’t wait to have the others.
That’s so great, Paul! 🙂
My family loves this recipe! We are gluten free so I used GF flour and GF elbow pasta. So yummy!
We are so happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing, Karla!
Super cheesy and delicious. The only thing I added was nutritional yeast but it was really good. I doubled the recipe for the next day. So glad I did.
You can never go wrong with doubling the recipe, right? 🙂
Hi there! First thank you for all your great recipes. I’d like to make this a day in advance to help with my prep for a big BBQ I’m hosting. Any advice on how to make this the day before- should I do all steps and just save the baking step for the next day?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
When I make things like this ahead of time, I save the add the topping step for right before baking. I tried your recipe here today and did that by saving the extra cheese until ready to bake. It was very good. Next time I’m going to give the half and half a try instead of the evaporated milk to compare. This was a good base recipe to get away from the old Velveeta version though. Thanks!
It definitely is! And saving the toppings for later is key. 🙂
I made this today for New Year’s day to go along with my pulled pork. I made this exactly as specified, only I took the advice of other bloggers and used a whole box of noodles and used smoked paprika for a more smoked flavor. It turned our really good. I was expecting it to be more cheesy, considering most of the reviews stated it was plenty cheesy even using entire box of noodles. I did not see there being more sauce or too much sauce. It was just right for entire box of noodles. I also used an extra cup of cheese in the milk mix… So maybe that asorbed more of the extra sauce. Thank you for posting. This recipe taste really homemade!
Looks amazing! Just wondering when you substitute the evaporated milk is it with cooking cream or baking cream?
You can substitute half and half. While you won’t get the same slightly caramelized flavor that evaporated milk has, the creamy consistency of half and half mimics that of evaporated milk.
Mmmm! So damn delicious. I used extra sharp aged white cheddar, McCormick smoked paprika and one pound of the small elbow pasta instead. Also buy the real fresh parmesan in cold the section, may be little pricey but it’s worth. I’m definitely going to make this again and keep as a staple dish. This is a crowd pleaser
Hi Charmin, the recipe called for 1/2 elbow pasta, 2 cans (12 oz.) evaporated milk. When you used 1 full pound small elbow pasta did you need to increase the milk, or cheeses? Thank you!
Prepared this for our family Easter dinner and it was a smash hit!! Love the cream sauce! I improvised with milk and medium cheddar. I love how easy this is and how decadent and delicious it tasted! This ain’t your grandma’s Mac n cheese!
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback, Hydie! We love that your family enjoyed these. We hope you all had a great Easter weekend!
These look absolutely delicious! You have amazing food photography too :] Thank You So Much for this awesome sharing!
Thank you, Maria!
Such a great recipe. I love the presentation in those little baking pots. My way of making Mac and Cheese is very similar to yours. The only thing I do differently is that I add some breadcrumbs on top. Thanks for sharing such great content!
That sounds like a great addition!
What is the nutritional value? I’m looking for the caloric count. Thank you
Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
Mac n cheese is my daughter’s favorite! We’re always looking for new recipes. She never seems to think they’re cheesy enough. Making this next week for sure!
WELCOME TO CHICAGO!
@Grace – I found a 3 pack of the bowls, with kids, for $7 at Target
Help. I can’t get evaporated milk where I live. What can replace it.
Thank you for your early reply
Regards Judy
Hi Judy! You can try to substitute 1 1/2 cups of cream or half and half (or a combination of the two) for the evaporated milk. Hope that helps!
Can I use a cup of regular milk (8oz) to replace the one 12oz evaporated milk?
Thanks for sharing this recipe, could you share where you get those ovenproof bowls? Thank you!
Staub. 🙂
I believe this is delicious however, I used condensed milk by mistake. Don’t be me, the one request for my wife’s birthday dinner and..FAIL.
this was great i made this with elbow pasta but i only have rotini now will it work the same?