This creamy baked mac and cheese has 4 cheeses and a delicious toasted breadcrumb topping — it’ll be a star side dish at your next family gathering.
Looking for more Thanksgiving side dishes? Here you go:
Here’s everything you need for this 4 cheese mac and cheese:
Macaroni: I use elbow macaroni.
Cheeses: I’m using a combination of extra sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, montery jack, and mozzarella — all freshly shredded. *Please don’t buy the pre-shredded cheeses for this. Freshly shredded melts beautifully into the sauce here.
Milk: Warmed.
Butter: Unsalted.
Flour: For the roux — helps to ensure the cheese sauce thickens and allows the cheese to melt nicely.
Spices: Garlic powder, paprika, ground mustard, onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper
Panko breadcrumbs: For the topping. We’ll toast it beforehand so that we don’t overbake the mac and cheese trying to develop color.
Here’s how to make this dish:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
I like to start be shredding all of my cheese and setting it aside.
In the meantime, cook your pasta about 2 minutes shy of al dente (it’ll continue cooking in the oven). When done, run under cold water, pop 1 tbs of unsalted butter into it, mix around and set aside to cool completely.
I toast the panko before baking because I found that when I added it as is, I would over bake my mac and cheese trying to get the topping to brown. So to fix this, I began toasting the breadcrumbs to get the color I want first.
Add the 2 tbs of butter and your panko to a skillet and toast until browned. Make sure to stir often so that it doesn’t burn. Set aside.
To a cast iron skillet set of medium-low heat, add the butter. Once melted, add the flour and whisk until it forms a paste (this is your roux).
Now, lower the heat slightly and begin SLOWLY adding your milk while whisking. I like to had some melt, whisk until fully incorporated, and then add more milk. I continue this until all of the milk is added and there are no lump.
Next, add the spices and whisk to combine. Turn the heat up slightly and let cook for about 8 minutes, whisking to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn or stick to the pan.
You’ll know the sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and you can make a clean line with your finger, like this:
Now remove the sauce from the heat. Slowly begin added the cheese a little bit at a time, stirring as you go.
Now pour the cheese sauce into the pot with the cooled macaroni. Stir to combine (just one or 2 stirs), then pour that BACK into the cast iron.
*Note: If you’re not baking in a cast iron, you can always just have the cooled macaroni already in a baking dish and just pour the cheese directly in there.
Now add the breadcrumb topping evenly over the mac and cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 18–20 minutes or until bubbling slightly on the sides (please don’t over bake or you’ll lose your sauce!!). Once done, remove and serve!
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