Description
Creamy, gooey, and plain out right delicious.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb dried elbow macaroni (or gluten-free brown rice macaroni)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour)
- 4 ½ cups milk (or plain almond or oat milk)
- 4 + 1 ½ cups white cheddar cheese, shredded (I prefer to hand shred the cheese vs. using packaged)
- 1 ½ cups, shredded or cubed white American cheese
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp granulated garlic
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and cook the macaroni according to package directions. If you are making baked Mac and Cheese, cook the macaroni 2 minutes less than package instructions — you want the macaroni under-cooked, as it will continue cooking when baking.
- Drain cooked macaroni and rinse with cold water. Set aside while making the cheese sauce.
- Over medium heat, melt butter in a large heavy sauce pot. When melted and bubbly, whisk in the flour until a paste is formed. Cook 1 minute while whisking, then slowly add the milk to the pot. Continue whisking the mixture until it becomes thick and bubbly.
- Remove from heat and stir in 4 cups of the cheddar cheese, all of the American cheese, salt, pepper and garlic until well combined.
- Gently stir in the cooked macaroni. If not baking, return pot to the stove and gently warm the macaroni.
- If baking, pour the macaroni and cheese sauce mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until bubbly.
- Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar and buttered bread crumbs*. Bake, uncovered, for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the bread crumbs are lightly toasted and crunchy.
Notes
For bread crumb topping, cut regular or gluten free bread slices into ½ inch cubes, toss with 2-tablespoons melted butter and ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic.