The Easiest Baked Macaroni & Cheese
"There may be lots of recipes out there for macaroni and cheese, but this is the first one I ever found that you don't have to cook the macaroni before you bake it. It is also really simple to put together - all in the casserole dish you are baking it in! I got this from a newsletter of an organization. I take this to potlucks all the time and I always come home with none of it left. It's a dish I'm constantly handing out the recipe for; be sure not to use cheese that has been frozen and thawed because it will ruin the consistency of the dish. You can also cut down on the butter if you would like to lose some of the fat. This is not a real creamy cheesy type of macaroni and cheese, which can sometimes be a little too rich for our tastes. I've made those, but my family prefers this kind over any other."
photo by jason.alcant
- Ready In:
- 1hr 10mins
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 2 1⁄2 - 3 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 cups milk
directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt butter in microwave.
- Pour macaroni in 2-3 quart casserole dish. Pour butter over macaroni. Stir well to coat.
- Add salt and pepper. Stir well.
- Add cheese. Sometimes I may use a mixture of monterey, colby and cheddar, depending on what I have at the time. Mix well.
- Add milk. Do not stir.
- Bake uncovered in oven for 60 minutes. I do think this tastes best when it is still hot from the oven.
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Reviews
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Very easy so a great recipe to fall back on when one's too tired to feel like making much effort! I used only 2 tablespoons of butter which I melted in a small pan so that I could panfry some minced garlic and onion in it before pouring the contents of the pan onto the macaroni. Apologies to any to whom this seems like a horrifically sacrilegious act, but I cannot remember having eaten macaroni and cheese since I was a child - and I really wanted some garlic in mine! Apart from that aberration, I followed the recipe exactly except for probably using more like 21/2 cups of tasty cheese and low-fat milk. Very tasty simple fare. A recipe I'll certainly make again when the occasion demands minimal effort. Made for Everyday is a Holiday! -
This mac & cheese is so simple and SO GOOD!!! Couldn't believe how great it was!! It took me about 5 minutes to prepare (and that's counting shredding the cheese!!! ;) ) - used low-fat mozzarella and low-fat milk. Put it in the oven for an hour and voila - perfect mac & cheese! Thanks Lainey! :) -
This recipe is great. Everyone loved it AND it's very easy to make. I used whole wheat macaroni and as I was a bit shy of 2 cups of cheddar I topped up with grated mozzarella -
My family loved this macaroni and cheese! I used a mixture of sharp and colby cheeses and a little extra pepper and it tasted yummy. I was a bit skeptical about not cooking the macaroni beforehand, but it turned out perfect. I'm going to make this mac and cheese all the time.
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This was very quickly assembled! I used slightly more than 2 1/2 cups of macaroni (I wanted to finish what was left in a box) and used a combination of colby and cheddar cheeses (to use them up too!). I was skeptical about the milk being absorbed but it was all absorbed! I'll admit that the texture wasn't very creamy but, in my opinion, it sure beats that stuff in the blue box! Thank you for posting this recipe!
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Tweaks
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Unfortunately I was disappointed with this recipe, and I agree with some of the reviews that this just didn't work. I followed the recipe exactly, only using margarine instead of butter - not sure if that had anything to do with it or not, but it didn't turn out well. It was extremely greasy - I had to ladle about a cup of grease out before serving, and the cheese curdled and went lumpy - it didn't make a sauce. I only ate it because I was really hungry, and although the actual flavour wasn't too bad, the texture was really awful. I'm just glad I didn't make it for guests. Although it was easy to make, the results were poor so my advice would be to skip this one and look for another recipe.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
CookingONTheSide
Carnegie, Pennsylvania
I want to thank all of you who review the recipes I post - good or bad. It's always good to get feedback and helpful tips and I really appreciate them all! I try to send a note when someone reviews one of my recipes, but I don't always get the chance. Please know that I really enjoy reading the reviews. I also love all the photos everyone posts, too! Thanks so much. Happy Cooking!
