This is the creamiest, cheesiest stovetop macaroni and cheese you’ll ever eat!
A big bowl of macaroni and cheese ranks right up there with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me when it comes to comfort food. My go-to recipe is my favorite baked mac and cheese version – I love the buttery crumb topping and crusted bits of macaroni and cheese around the edges!
However, my father-in-law makes a seriously mean stovetop macaroni and cheese. It’s one of my husband’s favorite foods and I cannot, for the life of me, replicate what he does. He’s given me his recipe countless times – he just uses butter, half and half, and cheese – but he says that he’ll add a little more cream or a little more cheese to get the consistency right. I just can’t seem to nail it, but was determined to find some type of creamy stovetop mac and cheese that I could make when my husband got hungry for it, as he doesn’t share my infatuation with baked macaroni and cheese.
Not only did I find a creamy version, but I found what might be THE creamiest and cheesiest stovetop recipe EVER. Case closed.
I haven’t had much luck in the stovetop macaroni and cheese department, with many of the recipes I’ve tried turning out grainy or clumpy and just not very good. I also have an aversion to stovetop macaroni and cheese recipes that call for eggs… I’m sure they might be delicious, but it just doesn’t sound appetizing to me!
This is an incredibly simple, basic cheese sauce made with butter, flour, milk and cheese, but the ratios result in one HECK of a cheese sauce. It’s super thick and cheesy, which basically equates to perfection when you’re talking about macaroni and cheese.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that only 1 pound of elbow macaroni is used in this recipe… when I plopped the bowl down on the table for Sunday dinner, no one could believe that I only used a pound. Between the pasta and the sauce, this ends up making a TON! And the best part? It reheats like a DREAM! Some macaroni and cheese can dry upt or turn grainy when you reheat them, but not this one. It stays nice and creamy.
It’s still not exactly like my father-in-law’s recipe, but I have absolutely found my go-to stovetop macaroni and cheese recipe! Hallelujah!
Ingredients:
- 1 or 1 1/2 pounds elbow macaroni
- 4 qt chicken broth
- 2 TBS butter
- 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 1 cup shredded American cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded Muenster cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Pour broth in a large pot
Bring to a boil
Stir in the elbow macaroni and cook according to package instructions until al dente.
Drain macaroni. Do NOT rinse.
Pour macaroni back into the pot; heat off
Stir in the butter until it melts
Pour in the evaporated milk and half and half.
Turn heat back on medium.
Bring mixture to a simmer
Add in the salt, onion powder, and white pepper.
Stir in all of the American cheese and half of the rest of the cheeses EXCEPT the cheddar cheese.
Once cheese melts, turn off the heat.
Butter a 9×13* baking dish.
Pour the macaroni into the dish in a single layer.
Add the remaining cheese on top including the cheddar cheese.
Bake for 30-35 or until the cheese is as brown on top as you’d like.
Allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
