Mains · American
Baked Mac and Cheese
A creamy, mustard-spiked cheddar sauce baked under a buttery panko crust.
- Hands-on
- 30 min
- Hands-off
- 35 min
- Total
- 1 h 5 min
- Makes
- 6 servings (6 to 8)
- Serves
- 6
About 1 hour 5 minutes. You stay at the stove for about 30 minutes (pasta, sauce, assembly), then it bakes for 30 minutes and rests for 5. The oven heats while you make the sauce, so preheating isn't added on top.
Oven 180 °C · 160 °C fan (350 °F)
Pan 2 L (2-quart) casserole dish (US: 2-quart casserole dish)
- easy
- comfort-food
- kid-friendly
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? Only this batch size (one 2-quart dish) is given. A bigger or deeper dish takes longer to heat through, so check that the center reaches 71°C (160°F). Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: large pot · colander · medium saucepan · whisk · small bowl and ladle · frying pan (for the topping) · grater · 2-quart (about 2 L) baking dish · oven mitts
Contains: milk · wheat · egg
Method
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4, 350°F).
Cook the pasta
Cook the 227 g (1/2 lb) macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain it.
Ready when: Al dente: tender when you bite a piece, with a little firmness left in the very center. It cooks a bit more in the oven.
Make the roux
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the 42 g (3 tbsp) butter. Whisk in the 3 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp mustard powder and keep whisking for about 5 minutes.
Ready when: A smooth, bubbling paste with no lumps.
Otto tried this firstOtto stops whisking to check his phone and the roux clumps. Keep whisking the whole time.Add the milk and simmer
Whisk in the 710 ml (3 cups) milk a little at a time until smooth, then add the 1/2 cup onion, the bay leaf and 1/2 tsp paprika. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, then lift out the bay leaf.
Ready when: Gently bubbling and thickened to about the consistency of heavy cream.
Temper in the egg
Beat the egg in a small bowl. Whisk a small ladle of the hot sauce into the egg, then stir the egg mixture back into the pan.
Ready when: The sauce stays smooth, with no scrambled flecks of egg. (Adding the hot sauce to the egg first warms it gently so it doesn't scramble.)
Add the cheese
Stir in 255 g (9 oz, about three-quarters) of the cheddar, then season with 1 tsp kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Ready when: The cheese has fully melted into a smooth sauce.
Assemble
Fold the drained macaroni into the sauce and pour it into the 2-quart dish. Scatter the remaining 85 g (3 oz) cheddar over the top.
Make the topping
Melt the 42 g (3 tbsp) butter in a frying pan, add the 1 cup panko and toss until every crumb is coated. Spread it over the macaroni.
Ready when: The butter has just melted and the crumbs look evenly moistened, not yet browned.
Bake
Bake for 30 minutes.
Ready when: The crumb topping is golden and the sauce bubbles at the edges. The sauce contains egg, so the center should reach at least 71°C (160°F), the food-safety minimum for egg dishes.
Rest, then serve
Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Swaps
- Instead of half of the cheddar: Monterey Jack, the same weight Cheddar brings the flavor and Monterey Jack melts very smoothly, so a half-and-half mix gives a creamier sauce.
- Instead of panko topping: fresh bread crumbs: pulse 3 slices of white sandwich bread with 2 tbsp cold butter until coarse Fresh bread makes better crumbs than stale.
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Storage
- Cool leftovers and refrigerate them within 1 to 2 hours. Eat them within 48 hours, or freeze them as soon as possible.
- Reheat
- Reheat until steaming hot all the way through (74°C / 165°F), and only once.
If something goes wrong
- Lumpy sauce
Whisk the roux constantly and add the milk gradually, whisking until smooth before adding more. - Grainy or gritty sauce
Shred your own cheese from a block: pre-shredded cheese has coatings that can hurt the texture. - Runny, soggy result
Don't overcook the pasta at the start. Fully soft pasta can't absorb the sauce and gives a loose, runny dish.
Good to know
- Serve with hot sauce or a pinch of celery salt on the side.
Safety
- Draining a big pot of pasta sends up a lot of steam. Pour away from yourself, and kids should leave draining to an adult.
- The cheese sauce gets very hot and sticks to skin. Stir with a long whisk, and keep small hands away from the pan.
- The sauce contains raw egg until it bakes, so don't taste it before baking and wash your hands after cracking the egg.
- Many cheddars are made with animal rennet, so check the label if you cook for vegetarians.