Baked Macaroni Cheese

A deliciously cheesy macaroni cheese with homemade cheese sauce, crispy bacon and a breadcrumb topping… a homemade dinner idea that is easy and heavenly.

There is just something about macaroni cheese… I have always adored it, but how can I not?! Pasta, cheese, bacon, a crispy top and a cheesy sauce… it’s heaven in every bite in my eyes! 

Dinner ideas

The key details before you dive in:

• Prep: 30 minutes
• Cook: 25 minutes
• Serves: 4
• Method: oven baked, with a crispy breadcrumb top
• Bacon: optional (easily left out for a veggie version)

I absolutely adore cooking, and I thought it was high time I start posting some savoury bits and bobs on my blog. You guys have asked over and over, and when I share anything I cook on social media it gets such a good reaction… so here is another beauty; macaroni cheese. 

Last time I posted my chicken, leek & bacon pie and oh wow… you all LOVED it! It’s an easy and delicious dinner idea, that can be quite versatile. You can serve it lightly with salad, or make it a hearty dish with some roasties and veg, it’s completely up to you, just like with this one. I have a few savoury bakes that are more lunch like, but this can also be a lunch as well if you fancy. 

How to make macaroni cheese

Here’s the whole thing at a glance before the full recipe card below. It comes together as a lovely baked dish, and honestly it’s easier than you’d think:

1. Boil the macaroni for 2 minutes less than the packet says, then drain (you want it al dente)
2. Fry the bacon lardons in a dry pan until crispy
3. Make the cheese sauce: melt the butter (or use the bacon grease), stir in the flour, mustard powder and garlic, and cook the flour out for a minute or two
4. Add the milk gradually, whisking well, then simmer until it thickens
5. Off the heat, stir in the grated cheddar and parmesan until melted and smooth
6. Tip the pasta and bacon into a baking dish, pour over the sauce and mix it all together
7. Top with extra cheddar and the breadcrumbs
8. Bake at 200ºC/180ºC fan for 25 minutes until golden and bubbling

What makes mine a bit different is that it’s a proper baked macaroni cheese, crispy bacon running all the way through and a golden breadcrumb top, rather than a plain stovetop version.

The important bit… the cheese

When it comes to something cheese themed, I want to add as much as possible. I do prefer mature cheeses, but that is my choice. I use a mix of mainly mature cheddar cheese, and parmesan in the homemade cheese sauce, and then I use extra mature cheddar cheese on the top. 

I tend to grate the cheddar cheese myself as I find if you buy pre-grated cheese, it has something on the cheese to make it stop sticking and I am not a fan. I also find that cheese is in pieces that are too large compared to grating it yourself. However, the per-grated parmesan is absolutely fine to use. 

The best cheeses for macaroni cheese, in my book:

• Mature or extra mature cheddar: my main cheese, for that strong, tangy hit that a mild cheddar just can’t give you
• Parmesan: a little goes a long way and adds a lovely salty, savoury depth to the sauce
• Fancy a change? A bit of gruyere melts beautifully, or red Leicester adds colour. I lean mature cheddar and parmesan for a proper UK flavour, rather than the gruyere or mozzarella blends you’ll see elsewhere

Bacon

I will start by saying that bacon is optional in this recipe… if you are vegetarian, or just don’t like or want to use the bacon, you can 100% leave it out. You can replace it with something else such as tomatoes, or even some mushrooms if you fancied – but again, these are optional. 

I use bacon lardons in my cooking most of the time as I like the size of the chunks, and I find if you fry them in a dry pan until crispy and delicious they are heavenly. You can use chopped up bacon instead, or even some cooked ham however instead. 

One great tip for this recipe is if you do like the flavour or bacon, you can use the grease from the pan you fried the bacon in instead of the butter in the sauce of the macaroni cheese to increase the flavour, and have no waste. 

Pasta

As it’s macaroni cheese, I use macaroni pasta… I feel like this is obvious, but at the same time, you can theoretically use any pasta if you just want to make it with whatever you have in the cupboard for ease (sorry if that’s a sin to you!!). 

Some pasta brands take different amounts of time to cook, so a general rule is to boil the pasta for two minutes less than the cooking instructions say. You don’t want the pasta to be too cooked already, as it may end up mushy later on; you want it to be al dente.

This really matters for a baked macaroni cheese, because the pasta carries on cooking in the oven. Slightly undercooked at the boiling stage is exactly what you want. Overcooked pasta now means mushy pasta later, so stick to that “2 minutes less” rule and you’ll be golden.

Making the best cheese sauce

The cheese sauce is a key part to this recipe, as you wouldn’t have a macaroni cheese without a cheese sauce. I make my own cheese sauce, and it’s much much easier to make than you think – so please try it. 

I add the butter to the pan, and melt that down (or use bacon grease). Once that’s melted, I add the flour and stir these together. Add the mustard powder and garlic (which are both optional!), and then mix these together. One important bit here is you need to cook this mixture for a little bit, stirring well, so that you cook the flour. If you don’t cook the flour out, the mixture won’t thicken and it might have a weird taste. 

Once the flour is cooked our, you want to add the milk SLOWLY to make the sauce. I add a splash of milk at first, mix in, splash of milk, mix in, etc until the sauce is become looser. Then, still slowly, add and whisk in the rest of the milk. Simmer this, whilst stirring, until starting to thicken. Remove from the heat, add the cheese and salt & pepper and stir until the cheese is melted. 

Avoid lumps and grainy sauce:

• Lumps: add the milk gradually and whisk well each time, that’s genuinely the whole trick. If it does go a bit lumpy, whisk it hard or give it a quick blitz and it’ll come back smooth
• Grainy sauce: take the pan off the heat before you add the cheese, then stir it in gently. Adding cheese to a sauce that’s too hot, or boiling it hard afterwards, can make it split and turn grainy

Tips for the best macaroni cheese

• If you like the bacon flavour, you can use the bacon grease from the frying pan instead of the butter in the sauce (if you don’t have 35g worth, make up the difference with butter)
• You can use any cheddar really, I just love mature cheddar cheese
• If you want a little kick, add 1tsp paprika to the cheese sauce along with the mustard powder and garlic
• The bacon is optional, it and be left over if you want the dish to be vegetarian
• The breadcrumbs are also optional

Make ahead, storing, freezing and reheating

This is a brilliant one to get ahead on, and it keeps and reheats really well.

Reheating: reheat in the oven at 180ºC fan, covered with foil, until piping hot through the middle. Stir a splash of milk through first to bring the creaminess back, as the sauce naturally thickens in the fridge.

Make ahead: assemble the whole dish, cover it, and chill for up to 24 hours before baking. Bake it from cold, adding 10 minutes or so to the time.

Storing: keep leftovers covered in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Freezing: freeze it assembled but unbaked for up to 3 months. Defrost fully in the fridge, then bake as normal with a few extra minutes.