Baked Macaroni and Cheese - homemade recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make baked mac and cheese moist again? ›

Pour about a tablespoon of milk per cup of mac and cheese into the dish and mix well. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until it's heated through.

Pro Tip: Don't use pre-shredded cheese. Many store-bought shredded cheese brands coat their cheese with an anti-caking agent than can make sauces grainy and less creamy. While it requires a bit of an arm workout, grating your own yields the best texture.

We'll need to make a roux (pronounced “roo”) to make the cheese sauce. It's a mixture of equal parts flour and butter (equal in weight, not volume). The roux will help thicken our milk and make our sauce creamy.

What Is the Best Cheese for Mac and Cheese? Sharp cheddar is the overwhelming popular choice, but for extra-creamy results, we think medium cheddar is even better. Other delicious options include Gruyère, smoked Gouda, and Monterey Jack.

But the secret to baked mac and cheese is this crispy top, which hides a creamy, soft bottom. That extra layer of cheese helps hold in the moisture when it bakes in the oven. Just be sure not to bake it too long so the macaroni doesn't dry out! Bake just until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I'll spare you any more science-y talk, but the main culprits in curdled or split mac and cheese are too much heat and what kind of cheese you use. When you toss a bunch of cheese all at once into a béchamel mixture (milk-cream-roux) that's too hot (I like to keep the temp between 140 and 180°F) the sauce will split.

It is better to use heavy cream for Mac and Cheese instead of milk, or better yet, use evaporated milk which has the thickness of heavy cream without all of the fat! Furthermore, it is more stable than heavy cream so your Macaroni and Cheese is less likely to curdle or separate.

Butter and flour: The combination of butter and flour thickens our creamy cheese sauce. You'll cook them together on the stove and then add the milk. The mixture thickens, and you can add your cheese. Easy!

2% milk– You want to use a higher fat milk when making mac and cheese. 2% or higher is preferred.

Do you have to cover mac and cheese when baking? ›

It's not necessary to cover mac and cheese while baking it in the oven. Keeping the dish uncovered produces a crustier top that differentiates the baked dish from stovetop mac and cheese recipes that simply stir together cheese sauce with pasta. This extra crunchiness gives it more of a casserole taste.

Gordon Ramsay's mac and cheese is a simplified recipe. Just boil pasta in milk and then, add butter, cheese, salt, and pepper to it. Merge all the elements and Gordon Ramsay's mac and cheese will be ready in no time.

He also wasn't necessarily the one cooking it. The person who truly invented the mac and cheese we know was Jefferson's chef – more importantly, his enslaved chef – James Hemings.

As far as shapes go, lumache, elbow, and cavatappi are the best pastas to make macaroni and cheese with.

Add 1 tablespoon of milk per cup of mac and cheese and mix to incorprate as much as possible. *If you'd like to add more creaminess and flavor, substitute half-and-half or cream. 3. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through.

You can thicken cheese sauce further by adding more flour or even using a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch or flour with a cup of water. The cold water will create a slurry. Stir the slurry into the cheese sauce over medium heat, and let the sauce boil and thicken.

For storage in the fridge, place the leftovers in glass or silicone containers that fully seal. Otherwise, tightly wrap the container in aluminum foil or plastic wrap. To freeze mac and cheese, transfer it to a freezer-safe container with a lid that fully seals to present freezer burn.

Overcooked noodles will become mushy and could turn the finished dish into an all-around gluey mess. Since mac and cheese requires cooked noodles to be either added to hot cheese sauce until combined or put in a hot oven until golden brown, cutting the time they spend in boiling water is a must.