Grandma’s Baked Mac & Cheese

I’m sure everyone has some favorite recipes that their Grandma used to make or still makes today. Some of my favorite recipes that my Grandma would make were: Poppyseed Roll or Rigatoni Pasta. To this day, I am not sure what she did special about her pasta. But no matter how much I try to re-create it, it’s not the same. When my grandma passed away, I found her recipe book and made copies of some of her recipes to pass along to my kids one day.

I don’t recall ever eating my Grandma’s Mac & Cheese growing up. It was something my mom didn’t really make either. Being that I love a good mac and cheese, I happened to come across this recipe in her book. I asked my mom about it, she said she had it a lot growing up. She mentioned she really didn’t care for it, that is why she never made it for us. However, my aunt loves it and still makes it for her family today.

Prior to meeting my now husband (Bob), I made this recipe a few times. Then, I created a spin-off of my own Mac & Cheese recipe. So when I met Bob and throughout our relationship, I always just defaulted to my own recipe. Which, BTW, he said was his favorite mac and cheese recipe and would request for me to make it it all the time.

One night I was looking through my recipe book for something “new” to make for dinner one night. I ended up coming across my Grandma’s Baked Mac & Cheese recipe. It dawned on me that I have never made this for him!! How is it after 5+ years of being together that I haven’t made it yet?!?

It’s so easy to make and so good. If you like ooey-gooey cheese, this one is for you. Let me just say this…. after my husband took one bite, he looked at me and said “Sorry honey, but this recipe blows your recipe out of the park. ” So, I guess that answers that – Grandma knows best and I will just start making her version from now on.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa. It makes me smile/laugh everytime!

Hope you enjoy as much as we do in our family!

In the comments below, feel free to share what your favorite recipe was growing up!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Grandma's Baked Mac & Cheese

Grandma's Recipe

Author: Sweet Dash of Sass

Recipe type: Dinner

Serves: 4

Ingredients

8 oz. elbow macaroni (but Penne or Rigatoni works too!)
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper (I usually add extra once I plate, since some might not like the extra pepper)
½ lb. American Cheese (about 12-13 slices)

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add a good pinch of salt to the water after boiling. Cook macaroni for 10 minutes (or roughly 1-2 minutes under time listed on box).
Arrange cooked pasta in a shallow, buttered casserole dish. Cut cheese into ½″ cubes. (I usually stack all the slices together and cut into small squares. Then, break apart slices and scatter all over the macaroni. )
Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Blend in flour with a whisk to create the rue. Stir in milk slowly. Bring to a slight boil, be careful now to burn. Stirring occasionally. Add seasoning.
Pour sauce over the noodles. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned on top!

Tip #1: Add a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg in your milk mixture.

Tip #2: After you pull out of oven, stir to fully incorporate cheese over all the noodles and serve!

Note: Don’t mind my use of 2 different pasta noodles used in my pics. I used what I had left pasta wise in the house. :)