Recipe: Perfect Baked Mac n Cheese

Baked Mac n Cheese. He BEST Homemade Mac and Cheese of your LIFE. Outrageously cheesy, ultra creamy, and topped with a crunchy Panko-Parmesan topping, this mac and cheese recipe is most definitely a keeper. I used three different cheese and a homemade cheese sauce to take this macaroni and cheese recipe.

Baked Mac n Cheese - This is the perfect Holiday side dish, Mac and Cheese. Actually this is a classic side dish that is good. Still the best Baked Mac and Cheese I've ever had, with a stunning white creamy cheese sauce and a buttery breadcrumb topping. You can have Baked Mac n Cheese using 10 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Baked Mac n Cheese

1. You need 1/4 cup of butter or margarine.
2. It's 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour.
3. Prepare 2 cup of warm milk. microwave 2 cups of milk for about a minute to a minute and a half.
4. It's 1/2 tsp of salt.
5. You need 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper.
6. It's 1/4 tsp of chili powder...... to taste. you can substitute with cayenne for more spice if you wish. The cover photo shown, I used chili powder.
7. Prepare 8 oz of cream cheese.
8. It's 10 oz of shredded sharp white cheddar (I use cracker barrel aged reserve).
9. You need 8 oz of elbow macaroni cooked drained.
10. You need 1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs.

This is THE Macaroni Cheese recipe that's wildly popular every Thanksgiving and Christmas! Made this mac n cheese bake per recipe and my family loved it. My wife and mother-in-law and oldest daughter thought it was great as is. My youngest and I, both charter members of BLAm (Bacon Lovers of America) will insist upon the smokey, cured goodness of pig candy being in the recipe next time.

Baked Mac n Cheese step by step

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Use a 3 qt pan to melt butter or margarine on medium low heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth and lump free. Slowly stir in warm milk whisking constantly. Let cook for about 5 minutes or until thickened..
2. Add salt, pepper and chili powder and cream cheese. Mix until cream cheese melts thoroughly. Remove from heat and immediately add shredded cheese (save some for the top). Mix well..
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, pour cheese mixture over cooked, drained macaroni. Mix until all pasta is coated and let it set in the bowl for 5 minutes or so. This helps give the pasta time to absorb some of the cheese sauce..
4. Spoon macaroni and cheese mixture into a greased 2 quart baking dish. Add some shredded cheese to the top and sprinkle with seasoned bread crumbs. For more crunch add more crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown..

Baked mac and cheese: If you have a little extra time, you can bake the macaroni and cheese to give it a golden crust. Uncover, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a few pats of butter if. If this baked mac and cheese happens to be fed to you by a friend who invites you over when you are sad beyond sadness, then It was everything wonderful that a baked mac and cheese should be - not overwhelmingly gooey, just the right balance of inner cheesiness with crispy baked-up edges and. It's perfectly cheesy without being too gummy, and the crunchy tops are just to die for before you get into that creamy heaven underneath. This is the first baked mac and cheese I have made that we could actually eat!