Crisp on top, oozing with sauce and with perfectly cooked pasta, my Super Simple Macaroni Cheese is totally delicious, ready in just 20 minute and so simple to make – perfect for those busy days when you just want something easy!
Macaroni cheese is one of my all-time favourites – serious comfort food. We have it pretty much on a weekly basis, and I’ve spent a good many years perfecting it. I always used to get super frustrated because the cheese sauce would soak into the macaroni, meaning it was too dry and the pasta was overcooked. But after the best part of twenty years fiddling with it (it’s one of my oldest recipes) I think I finally have it nailed.
For me the key is getting the cheese sauce just right – not too thick, then making sure you under cook the macaroni so it doesn’t get overcooked when you put it in the oven and finally, putting it all in a really hot oven for just a short amount of time to crisp up the top without overcooking the macaroni or the sauce.
I like to serve this with a simple side salad dressed with my favourite Honey Mustard Dressing. My kids like to eat this with baked beans!
My favourite wine match for macaroni cheese is a crisp unoaked Chardonnay, but if you prefer red, a soft, fruity Merlot from Chile or France would work well here too.
More macaroni cheese recipes…
Love macaroni cheese as much as I do? Then you might like to try these other macaroni cheese recipes:
- Spanish Style Macaroni Cheese with Chorizo and Manchego
- Three Cheese Macaroni Cheese
- Leek and Bacon Macaroni Cheese
- Butternut Squash Macaroni Cheese
Super Simple Macaroni Cheese
Ingredients
- 300 g macaroni not the quick cook stuff, which really doesn’t work in this recipe
- 30 g butter
- 25 g flour
- 500 ml milk
- 1 tsp mustard or to taste
- 200 g mature cheddar or to taste, grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220C / 200C Fan / Gas Mark 7.
- Cook the macaroni until it’s a bit less done than normal – a couple of minutes less than you would usually do. The brand I use takes 10 minutes normally, so I give it 8 minutes for macaroni cheese.
- While the macaroni is cooking, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a medium sized pan on a low heat. When the butter is foaming, add the flour and stir until it’s mixed in. Then keep cooking for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. It takes guts to do this. It looks like something is going to go wrong but it doesn’t!
- Very gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Make sure each bit of milk is incorporated before adding the next bit. If you do this slowly on a very low heat, you should end up with a perfectly smooth cheese sauce with no lumps and no need to whisk. However, if it does go wrong for some reason, you can always use a whisk to beat out the lumps.
- When all the milk is incorporated, add the mustard, salt and pepper. (N.B. I use slightly salted butter, so I don’t add any extra salt here.) Then add half the cheese, stir to combine and turn off.
- When the pasta is done, drain it, retaining a little bit of the cooking water.
- Tip the pasta and a couple of tablespoonfuls of the cooking water into the cheese sauce and stir.
- Pour the macaroni cheese into a shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. The top should be brown but the bottom should still be saucy and the macaroni should be perfectly cooked.
Notes
I like to serve this with a simple side salad. My kids like to eat this with baked beans!
Love Macaroni Cheese? Why not try some of my other versions?
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Linkies
I am linking this up to Brilliant Blog Posts, Cook Blog Share, Meat Free Mondays and Recipe of the Week.
Wow! I love super easy meals like this one. Thank you for sharing, Eb!
Thanks Jhuls! Super easy is what I do best 😀 Eb x
My kids would be happy to eat this every day! Looks so creamy and delicious! #CookBlogShare
Thanks Monika – macaroni cheese is such fab comfort food, isn’t it? Good to know your kids would enjoy this 😀 Eb x
This has been a favourite of mine for years as my Mum makes it but I have not had it in eons.
I used your recipe using 50g cheddar, 100g stilton and 100g of mozzarella and I added a bit of onion granules to the sauce.
Bloody fantastic Eb! Thanks.
Served with cajun chicken strips and garlic bread on wet and windy nights here in Plymouth England-
I have made it three times this week now and on my last serving even my fussy Son (Home for the weekend) commented on how tasty it was 🙂
Thanks you so much for this lovely message! So pleased you like it 🙂 and I LOVE your adaptations!! I’m going to have to try your version now!! Eb 🙂
First time in have made macaroni cheese in my life
It came out really well
Thankyou
Hi Robert, thanks so much for this lovely comment! I am delighted it turned out so well for you Eb 🙂
First time making macaroni cheese and it was bloody lovely. I topped it with Italian meatballs in tomato & basil sauce, crispy onions and cheese. It was so good. Thanks will make again.
Thanks for this lovely comment, Kira. So pleased you liked it… and I love the sound of your adaptations! Eb x
Loved it!!! my daughter loves mac and cheese at nursery so thought i would try and make it…went down well…thanks so much.
Thanks for this lovely comment, Betty. I am delighted you and your daughter enjoyed it so much! Eb 🙂
Absolutely lovely. Me and the kids enjoyed very much. I added some crispy bacon in and it melted in my mouth. I`ll definitely have this again
Yay! I am so happy to hear that, Marc. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know – means a lot!! Eb 🙂
My 6 and 9 year olds have declared this the best macaroni cheese ever, and mac n cheese is one of their tried and tested favourites! A lot of pre cooking followed by a short spell in the hot oven is key I think, what a great tip. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for this lovely comment – I am delighted to hear that you all enjoyed it so much! Being called ‘the best macaroni cheese’ by a 6 and 9 year old is high praise indeed (I know this because I have kids of similar ages and they are without doubt my harshest critics!!) Eb 🙂
Really tasty. I have done mac cheese a few times, but this time was the best. The crunchy croutons and the consistency was great. The only thing I added was a bit if nutmeg as I think it goes well with cheese and a clove of garlic finely chopped in the butter.
My son, who is an aficionado of mac cheese said it was the best he has ever tasted!
Yay – I am so happy to hear this! Thanks for letting me know 😀 I love the sound of your adaptations! Eb 🙂
Hi, can this be made ahead or will it dry out? Thanks!
It can be, but it won’t be as nice as if you make it fresh. I sometimes reheat leftovers for my lunch the next day and it’s OK – but the pasta is a little on the soft side and the sauce has all been absorbed… the flavour is still good though! Eb 🙂
Lovely
Just made this turned out great
Thanks
Yay! I am so happy to hear that 😀 Thanks for letting me know! Eb 🙂
First time maker of macroni cheese and it came out very tasty – the mustard certainly added to the flavour although I’m not normally a fan. The pasta had stuck together somewhat so maybe wil rinse with boiling water nexr time. Aso struggled with roux possibly I was just being impatient..
Thanks, Bruce – I’m so happy you liked this – I agree about the mustard, it doesn’t really taste of mustard, but it really brings out the flavour of the cheese. Sorry to hear your pasta stuck together. I find the best remedy to this is to cook the pasta in a large pot with plenty of water and stir it occasionally. Then tip the pasta straight into the sauce as soon as you’ve drained it. It the pasta is cooked before the sauce, tip it back into the pasta cooking pot and stir through a very small amount of oil. This should stop the pasta sticking together while you finish off the sauce. A roux can be a little tricky the first time, but it’s much easier the more you practice! Eb 🙂