Baked Macaroni and Cheese

If you are looking for an amazing recipe that is super easy to make this Baked Macaroni and Cheese will hit the spot! This is easy to prepare in advance, and its a great dish to bring to parties! And like most pasta dishes, this tastes even better heated up the next day. You can never have to much of this delicious Baked Mac and Cheese!!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword baked mac and cheese, fried mac and cheese, homemade mac and cheese, macaroni and cheese

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings

Calories 502kcal

Author Lauren

Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk set out to warm up
pinch Salt
pinch ground black pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 lb. Cheddar cheese
6 slices American Cheese
1/2 cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumb

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. At the same time put on a pot of water to boil.
Pour 2 cups of milk into a liquid measuring cup and set aside.
Cut or shred the block of cheese and set aside. At this point your water should be boiling, so add your elbow noodles in and cook them for 8-10 minutes. You want to cook them until just before they are al dente.
In a large sauce pan over medium heat add 2 tablespoons of butter. Once the butter is melted add in 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk until combined. It will be a bit chunky looking and that is ok.
Then add your milk to your saucepan a little at a time whisking each time until smooth until all the milk is added.
Bring everything in the saucepan to a boil, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper, give it a quick whisk and then turn the heat down to low.
Let the sauce cool slightly, about 2-3 minutes. The elbow noodles should be done cooking now, so drain them and put them back into your large pot.
Put the pot on the stove on low heat, remove the white sauce from the stove and pour it into the boodles.
Add your cheese and stir until all the cheese is mostly melted and remove from the heat.
Spray a large baking dish with non stick spray and pour your mac and cheese into a large baking dish.
Cover the top with slices of American cheese. Cut 2 tablespoons of butter into sliced. Put the slices of butter anywhere the cheese doesn't cover. This will help the crust cook evenly.
Sprinkle the Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs on top of the American cheese. Feel free to add more breadcrumbs if you want a crunchier crust..
Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. You want the crust to be lightly browned.

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