Baked Mac and Cheese

The three cheese sauce in this baked mac and cheese is anything but bland. Garlic, onion powder, and dijon mustard adds flavour and balances the rich cheese sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings servings

Calories 616kcal

Author Subhasmita

Ingredients

400 grams Elbow Macaroni
3 tablespoons Plain Flour
3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
4 cups Milk at room temp
½ tablespoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion
1 teaspoon hot sauce   adust as per taste
2 cups Sharp Cheddar grated
1 cups Mozzarella shredded
1 cup Gruyerre
Salt & Black Pepper to taste
1 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
Fresh parsley/ Chives finely diced to garnish

For Breadcrumb Toppings

⅓ cup Parmesan grated (save half for top)
½ cup Breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and prepare a 3 qt baking dish (9x13"). Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season well with salt. Cook macaroni until it is 3/4th cooked (when you bite into pasta, it should still be a little raw in the middle). Drain and run pasta under cold water to stop it from cooking further.
In a bowl, add breadcrumbs, melted butter, parmesan cheese, and a pinch of salt. Mix well and keep aside.
In another bowl toss all three cheeses (by mixing you can easily divide cheese mixture into two portions. One part you will add to the sauce and the rest to sprinkle on top)
In a large saucepan (that can hold 4 cups of milk and 3 cups of cheese) add butter and melt.
Stir in flour and cook on low heat for about 30 seconds (without browning it)
Slowly add 2 cups of milk little by little, while continuously whisking with the other hand. The mixture will start to thicken. Make sure there are no lumps. Add rest of the milk and simmer for a couple of minutes for the mixture to thicken a little further( keep whisking in between to avoid lumps)
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, dijon mustard. and hot sauce (if using).
Stir in 3 cups of cheese mixture in 2-3 batches. Mix until all the cheese has melted and the mixture is thick and creamy.
In a large mixing bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce, stirring to combine fully. Carefully pour the pasta and sauce mix into prepared baking pan.
Sprinkle the rest 1 cup of cheese followed by breadcrumb parmesan mixture evenly on the top.
Bake for 15 minutes, until topping is bubbly and lightly golden brown.

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