Baked Mac and Cheese

The perfect mac and cheese casserole! Rich and cheesy on the inside, crunchy homemade breadcrumbs on the outside. 

Posting this recipe is so overdue I’m almost mad at myself. This is my go-to in the depths of winter, and I’ve been making this for as long as I can remember. Every time I make it and I take the first bite (directly out of the baking dish, of course) I go “UHMYGUHRDIT’SSOGUHD” <– me with a mouthful of hot cheesy pasta

If I had to pick one food to eat for the rest of my life, I would probably have to say mac and cheese. You may also know it by its aliases “macaroni and cheese” or “mac ‘n cheese”. You could feed it to me in pretty much any form and I’d be happy as a… person eating mac and cheese. 

I know, you’re probably surprised that I would pick a sweet. My other top choice is ice cream, but then I start thinking about all the different kinds of ice cream and I get overwhelmed because there’s too many choices and I get fomo over choosing the wrong one. What if I choose chocolate and miss out on fruit flavors? What if I pick something loaded with chocolate covered ice cream cones and someday I decide I don’t like those? What if I’m not allowed to put cherries and whipped cream on top and I get bored without them? These are serious concerns, people.

Anyway, back to the cheese. ALL THE CHEESE. You can’t use just one kind of cheese – it doesn’t have enough depth. I’m an enormous fan of a combination of cheddar and asiago. Asiago is a serious weakness of mine. You’re going to end up with a thick, rich cheese sauce that coats the macaroni to perfection. 

See? Gorgeous cheesy goodness. 

I’m going to share a little food blogger secret: It’s really hard to get a good cheese-pull shot when it’s -25°F outside and your kitchen refuses to get above 58°F. I half considered just taking the shot inside the oven itself, but then you’d have to deal with… well, the inside of an oven and how gross that is.

But for me, that’s not enough. I love having a slight crunch along with it, so homemade breadcrumbs are a must. But we’re not going to chop up pieces of bread, coat them all with butter and then bake them in the oven or brown them on the stovetop. That’s too much work. Just toast them like you would for breakfast and put them in a food processor with a little melted butter and pulse. That’s it! It’s the easiest way to make breadcrumbs when you’re putting them on a dish that’s going to be baked.

But don’t do that if you’re just looking to make a stash of homemade breadcrumbs. All you’ll have is tiny mushy pieces of bread that will grow mold. I’m 99% sure you don’t want that.

While my personal preference is a combination of cheddar and Asiago, you could use another kind of melting cheese like Gruyere, Provolone or Monterey Jack.

If you’re like me and can’t get enough mac and cheese, here are some more fabulous ideas:

• Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese from Whitney Bond
• Poblano-Chorizo Mac and Cheese from Hunger|Thirst|Play
• One Pot Mac and Cheese from Recipe Tin Eats
• Loaded Mac and Cheese from Lemon Tree Dwelling
• Buffalo Crock Pot Mac and Cheese from Whitney Bond
• Instant Pot Mac and Cheese from Platings and Pairings
• Fried Mac and Cheese Balls from Damn Delicious
• Butternut Squash Pancetta Mac and Cheese from Foodal
• Lobster Bisque Mac and Cheese from Sugar Love Spices