Be prepared to have your socks knocked off by this creamy mac and cheese recipe. Four cheeses including the creamiest cheese of all: cream cheese, plus sour cream and irresistible spicing make this macaroni and cheese recipe a family favorite!
For another twist on stovetop mac and cheese, try my grown-up goat cheese mac and cheese recipe.
And if you’re looking for a super creamy mac and cheese that stays creamy upon reheating (I worked on this one for a long time) try my shells and cheese recipe.
For ease of browsing, check out all of my pasta recipes in one place. Now let’s make this creamy mac and cheese.
Watch my creamy mac and cheese web story here.
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✔️Skill Level: Beginner
✔️Skills: Cooking pasta, making Mornay sauce, baking
✔️Type: Casserole
✔️Number of Ingredients: 19, some of which are optional
✔️Prep Time: 30 minutes
✔️Cook Time: 15 minutes
✔️Yield: 8 servings
Jump Straight to the Recipe
I found this Mac and cheese recipe is probably the best I ever made. My 8 year old grandson loved it and surprisingly my son and daughter in law liked it as well My husband also likes it. As I do too. Although I have to control how much I eat….I guess u have figured it out this recipe is a family delight……
Reader Dottie
Not Diet Food. Comfort Food.
Friends, if you’ve come here today looking for salads or even low-fat desserts, I suggest you keep on moving.
Today, I’m here to share with you pure comfort food. All the fats, all the carbs, all the creamy macaroni and cheese goodness you could ever want.
I’m not advocating for eating this way every day or even every week, but as an occasional indulgence, you really can’t do better than this recipe.
Hyperbole? I think not.
What Makes This the Best?
When I want macaroni and cheese, I want to taste the cheese.
I want it to be deeply flavorful and gooey and creamy and perfect.
Three types of “shredding cheese” plus cream cheese and sour cream all whisked into a luxurious white sauce equals one luscious, rich mornay sauce.
If this recipe is making you hungry and you make it, I have a favor to ask:
When you do make this recipe, it will help me and other readers if you:
✅Rate the recipes using the stars in the recipe card
✅Leave a review when prompted in the recipe card (If it’s a positive review, and I hope it is, I’ll use it in the post as social proof)
✅Leave a comment on the post
Thank you so much!
How To Make the Creamiest Cheese Sauce
Jenni Says: The sauce for macaroni and cheese that starts with a roux, dairy, and then shredded cheese is an Americanized version of the classic French sauce Mornay. Mornay is nothing more than a bechamel sauce with cheese added.
Aside from ensuring you have a nice creamy bechamel to start, the best way I have found to make my cheese sauce super creamy is to add cream cheese and sour cream to the mix.
Cream cheese doesn’t bring a ton of flavor, but it does bring a lovely, smooth decadence to your sauce.
And sour cream also adds a touch of tang that can balance out the rich sauce.
How to Make Creamy Mac & Cheese
This mac and cheese, which is a stovetop macaroni and cheese you can either eat straight from the pot or bake first, is not hard to make.
There is a pretty long ingredient list, but most are spices and cheeses, which you are welcome to simplify if you would like.
Ingredients
Here is what you’ll need to make this recipe.
I’ll give substitutes and simplifications where I can.
That’s a pretty long list. Let’s break it up into the components:
For the bechamel sauce:
- butter: You can use any fat here you prefer: oil, bacon fat, lard, shortening
- salt and pepper: “standard” seasoning for the American palate. The salt brings out all the flavor and the pepper gives a bit of a tingle on the back end
- spices: in this case, mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and turmeric. This combo makes a lovely, British-inspired flavor profile with the mustard pairing beautifully with the cheese. The turmeric is for color and is optional. Adjust the spicing to your preference. You can introduce herbs here as well
- all-purpose flour: flour, cooked with fat in equal parts, is a roux and is what thickens your sauce.
- whole milk: This is the standard dairy for bechamel. You can make it richer, but I let all the cheese take care of that!
Jenni Says: For a truly decadent treat, use bacon fat in the roux and add crumbled bacon after adding the pasta to the cheese sauce.
Cheese and Other Enrichments
- cream cheese: provides an overall creaminess to the sauce
- sour cream: adds some tang without too much extra fat (although we’re really just splitting hairs here!)
- sharp cheddar: I love a super sharp cheese to cut through some of the mellow fattiness, so I generally opt for “extra sharp” cheddar
- Colby jack: balances the sharpness of the extra sharp cheddar. Honestly, most of the time I just use all sharp cheddar as my cheese, so please use what you like and what works for you
- Parmesan: Adds a sharp nuttiness. It is entirely optional. If you do opt to use Parm, buy a block and grate it with a Microplane. Don’t try to use the “green can” kind, or your sauce will not be silky smooth
Pasta
Here are some choices of pasta shapes. I generally stick with short shapes that can grab onto a lot of the cheese sauce:
- elbows
- penne rigate (with ridges)
- cavatappi
- medium shells
- rotini
- fusilli
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Topping
For me, the topping is entirely optional, since I’m all about the creamy goodness. For folks who like a bit more textural contrast, it’s very easy to make a topping for mac & cheese
- cheese crackers: something salty and crunchy. You could also use potato chips
- panko: extra crunchiness. Panko also doesn’t really get soggy, so it’s nice to use to reinforce the crunch
- cayenne: or other seasoning. At the least, a little pepper and a pinch of salt.
Procedure
In a nutshell, here’s what you have to do to make this mac and cheese:
- Cook pasta
- Make mornay sauce
- Combine sauce and pasta
- Top with topping and bake (both optional steps
Making macaroni and cheese is not difficult. The one thing you have to remember is, to keep your sauce nice and smooth, reduce the bechamel before adding the cheese and pasta. If there’s too much water in the bechamel (from the milk), the cheese will get grainy, especially upon reheating.
Here’s how I make the sauce:
- Melt the fat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Add all the spices and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes to cook off the raw flour flavor.
- Whisk in the milk, bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce and thicken the bechamel.
- Whisk in all the cheese and sour cream off the heat or over very low heat.
For the smoothest sauce, reduce the bechamel for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat before adding the cheese.
How To Reheat
This recipe is basically stove-top mac and cheese that I bake just for a few minutes to get the top a bit crunchy.
You can serve it straight from the pot, though.
Regardless, macaroni and cheese tends to get dry in the refrigerator and congeal into a solid mass of noodle and cheese.
This makes it hard to reheat and retain (or regain) the creaminess of the hot-off-the-stove or out of the oven recipes.
Reheating in the Microwave
To reheat it in the microwave, I put a portion in a microwave safe bowl, splash in a bit of half and half, and heat until hot.
Then I stir it to incorporate the half and half. This results in a nice, creamy reheated dish that doesn’t get grainy.
Reheating on the Stove
To reheat it on the stovetop, I put it in a pan with a splash of half and half and reheat on medium low heat, stirring frequently but gently so I don’t break up the pasta.
I don’t recommend reheating in the oven, because it will just dry out even more than it has in the fridge.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
More Macaroni and Cheese Recipes
This recipe is really creamy and decadent, but here are a few other macaroni and cheese recipes you might enjoy.
- Goat Cheese Mac & Cheese is super rich and decadent. Not your average comfort food
- Leftover Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese pairs the glory of delicious pulled pork with garlicky, creamy, cheesy mac and cheese
- Southern Mac and Cheese a shortcut recipe using store-bought or homemade pimento cheese whisked into hot pasta. Easy and delicious!
- Baked Mac and Cheese This recipe uses two different cheddar cheeses for a nuanced flavor. Really tasty, topped with panko
Printable Holiday Recipe Card
Don’t forget your holiday printable! Click on the photo to download the pdf!
I have made this twice now at the NC Coast for beach gatherings with neighbors and NOW this is my requested dish when we are there. This is the PERFECT mac & cheese recipe…Thank you and also for this treasured recipe!
Reader Tami
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love This Creamy Mac & Cheese? Please Rate and Review. Thanks!
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Best Creamy Mac and Cheese
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound of your favorite short noodle shapes preferably rigate (with ridges) I used my favorite: cavatappi
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- several grindings of fresh black pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon dry mustard powder
- 2 teaspoons turmeric optional, but it gives it a lovely golden color, plus it's good for you
- 1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika or sweet smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 quart whole milk 4 cups
- 2 oz 1/4 block cream cheese
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- 8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese grated
- 8 oz Colby Jack cheese grated
- 4 oz Parmesan cheese finely grated (not from the green can)
- freshly ground black pepper and paprika or ground chipotle for topping
For the optional Goldfish topping
- 1 cup Goldfish crackers or other cheese crackers
- ½ cup panko
- 2 Tablespoons butter melted and cooled
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne or chipotle powder or to taste (optional if you don't like it spicy)
Instructions
- Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. If you're going to bake the mac and cheese, preheat the oven to 400F.
- Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed 4-5 quart sauce pan or Dutch oven,melt the butter. When it starts to sizzle, add the salt, pepper, mustard powder, optional turmeric, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. Let sizzle about 45 seconds, stirring.
- Dump in the flour and stir until all the butter is absorbed. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Add the milk and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken slightly.
- By this time, your water should have come to a boil. Salt your water and dump in the pasta. Cook for 5-6 minutes until just shy of al dente. The bite should be very firm, especially if you're going to be baking it. If eating directly from the stovetop, take the pasta to almost done or until it's just a smidge firmer than you like.
- While the pasta is cooking, take the bechamel sauce off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese and sour cream until melted.
- Whisk in the cheeses, a big handful at a time, until all melted and smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- When the pasta is done, drain it, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Add the pasta and reserved water to the pot of cheese sauce. Stir well to evenly coat and then bring to a boil, stirring the whole time, until the cheese sauce is as thick as it was before you added the cooking water and the pasta is well-coated with sauce.
- You can either serve it now, or place the mac and cheese into a casserole dish, sprinkle it with some paprika or the optional topping.
- Bake the the topped pasta for about 15 minutes, or until the top/topping is a bit crunchy and has some color on it.
- Let set up for about 10 minutes for individuals or up to 30 for one whole casserole before serving.
For the optional Goidfish topping
- Crush crackers either in a food processor or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Either in a bowl or right in the bag, add the panko, butter and spice. Mix well (or squish the bag around well) to incorporate.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
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Enjoy the mac and cheese, friends.
Thanks for spending some time with me today. Always good to see you.
Take care, y’all.
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Oh man, gooey cheese and pasta? I think my whole family is going to want to camp out at your dinner table for this!
This one is truly a winner–so good! You know your family is welcome whenever, Sandi! xo
This is sheer comfort food! I must make your recipe because like all you share, the dishes turn out perfect. Thanks and have a great weekend, Jenni!
Oh wow, thanks, BA! It is pretty darned comforting, I must say. Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend too. xo
I found this Mac and cheese recipe is probably the best I ever made. My 8 year old grandson loved it and surprisingly my son and daughter in law liked it as well
My husband also likes it. As I do too. Although I have to control how much I eat. As a child when my mom made Mac and cheese I would not eat it. When I had my first child they served me Mac and cheese one night for dinner. That was it. Today Mac and Cheese is one of my favorite foods today. . My menu of foods is like a child’s menu.
I guess u have figured it out this recipe is a family delight……
Oh, Dottie, I can’t tell you how happy this comment makes me! I’m thrilled this is something the whole family can enjoy (even if it has to be in moderation!) Thank you so much for letting me know!
I have made this twice now at the NC Coast for beach gatherings with neighbors and NOW this is my requested dish when we are there. This is the PERFECT mac & cheese recipe. I am getting ready to make this dish tonight to take to a family of 6(the mother has been in the hospital). I was not sure if you can make and “wait” to bake it the next day …OR if I should bake it (just as recipe states) and then have them heat up in the over the next day.
Thank you and also for this treasured recipe!
I am so SO happy you and your family love this mac & cheese! Hooray! It’s also the perfect comfort food when you’ve been in the hospital, so I’m sure that family will be so appreciative. You can absolutely make it and hold it to bake, or bake and reheat. Either way will work just fine. I would tell them to add a touch of milk or half and half and cover it to reheat it so it doesn’t dry out.
We’re going to the OBX this Christmas, and now I feel like I should make this since you make it for beach gatherings!
Thank you again for getting in touch–it means a lot when someone takes the time to let me know when they like something. Makes me feel like I’m sort of a part of your mealtimes. 🙂
Give me all the carbs and all the cheese! I love it! This looks like mac and cheese perfection!
You got it, Angie–all the carbs *and* all the cheese! =)
I’m thinking you may have achieved the best, creamy mac recipe! You had me at “upping the cheese-to-noodle goo ratio” for many a time the baked product came out a tad dry despite it starting saucy at the beginning. And yes, *tasting* the cheese is paramount. Nice work, my friend. Pinned!
Thanks, Brooks! Yeah, the goo to noodle ratio in the mac and cheese we did for the last Cook the Book was almost like macaroni in cheese soup and it baked up perfectly. This changes everything! =)
OMG! Will try this weekend!
Enjoy it, Sue! If the weather where you are is anything like our weather here in NC right now, you’re going to need it!