Southern baked mac and cheese
Layers of macaroni and sharp cheddar set in a rich egg custard and baked until golden on top and creamy in the middle, the holiday-table classic.
- 70 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 8
- About $1.59 a serving
- 730 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 8 servings.
- ¼ cup butter, plus a little for the dish
- 4 cups cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 cups Colby Jack cheese
- 1 lb elbow macaroni
- 2 large eggs
- 1 can evaporated milk, 12 oz
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp ground mustard
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, plus ½ tsp
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp paprika
Each serving has about 730 calories, 34 g protein, 51 g carbs and 43 g fat, and costs about $1.59 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No cheddar cheese? Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican blend cheese works.
- No elbow macaroni? Penne works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, and over high heat.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
the cheddar, it with the colby jack in a bowl, and set 1½ cups aside for the top.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Grate the block yourself. Bagged cheese is coated so it won’t clump, and it melts grainy.Cook the macaroni 2 minutes less than the package says, then and return it to the pot. Stir in the butter until it .
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
High heatTimer: 6 min
In a bowl, the eggs, evaporated milk, milk, sour cream, mustard, garlic powder, pepper and ½ teaspoon salt until smooth.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Spread half the macaroni in the dish and scatter half the remaining cheese over it. Repeat with the rest of the macaroni and cheese.
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the top, then scatter the reserved cheese and the paprika over everything.
Dolly’s tip: It looks too runny. It sets into a creamy custard as it bakes.uncovered 35 to 40 minutes, until and the middle only jiggles slightly when you nudge the dish.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 37 min 30 sec
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Let it 10 minutes so it firms up into creamy squares.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 10 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Baked ziti
65 min
Cheese stuffed shells
70 min
Sheet pan lasagna
50 min
Spaghetti frittata (frittata di pasta)
40 min
High-protein dinners ›Vegetarian dinners ›What to make with eggs and cheddar ›What to make with pasta and cheddar ›