I love homemade mac + cheese. It’s easy to make and tastes so much better than the boxed stuff.
It’s easy to add a few extras to the dish to make it a full meal, too.
A perfect flavor combination to mix in with mac + cheese is chicken, bacon, and peas. My kids (and my husband) love it.
I got my recipe for homemade mac + cheese from Southern Living. Once I landed on this baby, I never looked back.
Here’s the recipe:
1 (8-ounce) package elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked macaroni)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion salt
2 (10-ounce) blocks sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 1/2 cups) and divided*
1 cup soft breadcrumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
Extras:
1/2 cup crumbled, cooked bacon
1 c. chopped, cooked chicken
1 c. frozen peas
Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain well. Set aside.
Place milk, flour, and onion salt in a quart jar; cover tightly, and shake vigorously 1 minute. (This is the FUN part.)
Stir together flour mixture, 3 1/2 cups cheese, and macaroni. Stir in the extras: bacon, chicken, and peas.
Important: You may want to experiment here. You may like to add more or less chicken or peas, etc. Find the amount that you like the best. Also, when I add extras to the mac + cheese, I add additional liquid to the recipe so it won’t dry out. So, instead of 2 c. of milk, I used 2 1/2 c. I also added a scant amount of extra flour. Again, you can adjust the recipe based on how creamy you want it to be.
Pour the macaroni mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish or 2 (11-inch) oval baking dishes. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese; drizzle evenly with melted butter.
Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
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