Baked Mac and Cheese
Creamy, cheesy baked macaroni with a sharp cheddar and Gruyère sauce, a little mustard and smoked paprika, under a crunchy buttered cracker topping.
- Everyday Classics
- Oven
- Veggie
- Side
- 60 min total
- Serves 10
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 10. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
Mac
- 1 lb elbow macaroni
Cheese sauce
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, shredded from a block, divided
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese, or Monterey Jack
Topping
- 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
Steps
Step 1: Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13 baking dish.
Step 2: Boil the macaroni in well-salted water 2 minutes less than the package says. Drain and set aside.
Step 3: In the same pot, melt the butter over medium. Whisk in the flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes, without browning.
Step 4: Slowly whisk in the warm milk and evaporated milk. Cook, whisking, 5 to 7 minutes until the sauce thickly coats a spoon.
Step 5: Whisk in the mustard, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Turn off the heat. Stir in 2 cups cheddar and all the Gruyère a handful at a time until smooth.
Step 6: Stir the macaroni into the sauce. It should look a little too saucy; the pasta soaks some up in the oven. Pour into the dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup cheddar.
Step 7: Toss the crushed crackers with the melted butter and scatter over the top.
Step 8: Bake 25 to 30 minutes until bubbling at the edges and golden on top. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
Swaps
- Cheese: Smoked Gouda, pepper jack or fontina in place of the Gruyère.
- Topping: Panko tossed with butter and Parmesan.
- Add-ins: Crumbled bacon, diced ham or roasted jalapeños.
Tips
- Evaporated milk helps keep the sauce smooth and creamy, even after baking and reheating.
- Make ahead: assemble without the topping and refrigerate up to 1 day. Add topping and bake 10 minutes longer.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Baked mac and cheese is the holiday side that gets guarded like a treasure. There’s always one person who takes a scoop the size of their head, and honestly? Respect.
The sauce starts as a béchamel, which is just butter, flour and milk cooked together into a creamy base. Melting cheese into that base keeps it smooth instead of greasy, because the flour holds everything together. Evaporated milk is the secret for a sauce that stays creamy instead of breaking, and a bit of mustard powder sharpens the cheese flavor without making it taste like mustard.
Make the mixture extra saucy before it goes in the oven. Pasta keeps drinking liquid as it bakes, and if it starts out just right, it comes out dry. Finish with buttery crushed Ritz and you get creamy inside and crunchy on top. The corners go first.
HAM out.
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