One of my favorite comfort foods to make is this cheesy baked macaroni. I like it freshly baked and love it even more a day or two later. Can be served as is with just a cup of coffee (I know, probably weird for some, but I do like eating any kind of pasta with a cup of coffee), or with a side of toasted garlic bread, roasted honey-garlic ribs, or baked chicken breast.
My Love for Pretty Much Anything Pasta
Pasta is undeniably high on my list of favorite foods to eat and to make. I’m not privy to any particular types of pasta, but spaghetti, macaroni, and penne are common staples in my pantry.
I like that with pasta, you can prepare the sauces in advance (say when you have the time to leisurely cook in the kitchen). You can then simply freeze them (if you’re planning to keep them for long) or keep them in separate containers (in one or two serving sizes). Now, you can just easily cook the pasta and defrost the sauces when you’re craving comfort food.
It’s no different for this cheesy baked macaroni recipe. You can make the meat sauce well in advance so that you don’t get overwhelmed when making this dish. You see, it’s entirely understandable if newbies in the kitchen find this dish a bit intimidating. It actually did for me when I was first trying the recipe – but of course, eventually, I realized that it’s pretty simple.
Perfecting This Comforting & Crowd-Pleasing Baked Macaroni Recipe
The first time I saw this baked macaroni dish on TV (as a young child), I was immediately drawn to its beautiful rustic presentation. I also liked instantly its imagined taste of richness. (It would seem that even then, I’m already biased toward anything pasta.) I knew for sure, even then, that this dish was going to be one of my all-time favorites.
When I started to spend time in the kitchen (i.e., I started to have chores connected to the kitchen, lol! I began working on perfecting my baked macaroni. I picked up tips and ideas from different cooking shows that I watched or recipe books that I’ve read to finally come up with a baked macaroni recipe that I can make to my heart’s delight.
Fast forward to today, I still love and enjoy making baked macaroni! It’s also one of my favorite dishes to make for friends and family. In fact, I particularly love it when it becomes somebody else’s favorite dish, too!
The 4-Step Secret to This Deliciously Easy Baked Macaroni
Like I said, cheesy baked macaroni can get a bit intimidating at first – especially for newbies at cooking. But honestly, it’s pretty simple – think of it as a 4-step pasta dish. Well, not exactly just four steps, but more like a 4-part recipe:
- Step 1: Cook the pasta al dente
- Step 2: Saute and simmer the meat sauce
- Step 3: Make the white sauce
- Step 4: Assemble and bake
I find that once you condition your mind to view it this way, it becomes easier and way simpler. In fact, the meat sauce is pretty much your usual spaghetti meat sauce. And if you’re already familiar with how to cook your pasta al dente, then you’re halfway there!
How One Cheesy Baked Mac Became a Family Tradition
Aside from the fact that this dish is a favorite, too, of my nephews and nieces (and a handful of cousins), it will surely stay a staple in our family gatherings. It’s one of the ultimate comfort foods that I love making regardless of the occasion.
Right now, I’m still the only one who makes baked macaroni in the family – no one has experimented yet on making it themselves. I don’t know about you, but in our family, there is that unspoken rule about forté recipes. Like, for instance, only my sister-in-law makes the best macaroni salad, that’s her forte. The rest who tried are automatically just second to hers, lol!
So you see, this cheesy baked macaroni is my forte. I sure love the idea of passing it on to the next family generation. But for now, everybody seems to be more than comfortable just enjoying my dish. At least while I’m still reigning the kitchen, I guess!
The Secret Cooking Hacks for Baked Macaroni That Never Fail
When cooking the pasta, make sure it’s al dente. Remember that you’re going to bake it still with the two sauces afterwards.
When cooking the meat sauce, cook the ground meat (beef or pork, or a mix of both) first in a pan. Spread it all over the pan and leave it untouched until it browns. This browning effect gives the sauce additional flavor. Be patient. Just leave it for a good 5 minutes or so.
When cooking the white sauce, be patient with cooking the flour in the butter. Don’t hurry it up, otherwise your sauce will end up having a pasty aftertaste.
When baking the pasta (after you have assembled everything together – pasta and the sauces), check after 20 minutes. This is to ensure it’s browning as you’ve intended. If it’s uneven, then feel free to move the pan around inside the oven (some oven has hot spots which cause the food to bake unevenly).
Cheesy Baked Macaroni
Ingredients
- 800 grams macaroni noodles
- 1 cup coarsely grated cheese
For the meat sauce:
- 1 kilo ground pork or beef (or a mix of both)
- ½ pound bacon, cut into small pieces
- 2 big onion, diced
- 1 head garlic, minced
- 2 cans button mushroom, diced or sliced thinly
- 1,000 grams tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground pepper
- ¼ cup soysauce
- Salt
- Cooking oil for sautéing
For the white sauce:
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- 2 cans evaporated milk
- 2 cans cream of mushroom
- 1 can or tetra pack all-purpose cream
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- Salt
Instructions
For the pasta:
- Cook the macaroni noodles according to package instruction. Set it aside.
For the meat sauce:
Step 1
- In a large skillet or pot, add the ground meat, spread it out to cover the surface, and leave it undisturbed until it browns. After 3-4 minutes, you can check the edges if it’s starting to brown. Once that is happening you can then add and stir in the bacon.
Step 2
- Let the ground meat and bacon cook. It will start to sweat the fats, unless your meat is very lean, in that case you may add a little cooking oil before you proceed to sauteing the onion and garlic. Or you can also scoop some of the fats if it’s too much to your liking. (I prefer mine with the fats on, though.)
Step 3
- Add the mushroom along with the seasonings – dried Italian seasoning, paprika, soysauce, and pepper. After about a minute, add the tomato sauce and let it gently simmer, occasionally stirring, for 20-30 minutes. Taste to see if it needs salt, otherwise it’s basically done. Set aside.
For the white sauce:
Step 1
- Add the butter in a large skillet or a suate pan. Then slowly add the flour while briskly stirring right before the entire butter melted. You have to keep on stirring to keep it from burning and to make sure there are no lumps in there. Continue stirring and let it cook for say for about 3-4 minutes.
Step 2
- Slowly add the milk while still briskly stirring. Once the butter and flour mixture has been well incorporated with the milk, you can then add the cream of mushroom. Season it with salt and pepper, give it another good stir and then let it simmer for 10 minutes or more.
Step 3
- Give it another taste – it doesn’t have to be salty but it should be pretty noticeable. I prefer mine with a lot of white pepper, too. Once you’re happy with the seasoning, set the fire on low, add the all-purpose cream and stir until near boil. Set aside.
To assemble and bake:
Step 1
- Mix the meat sauce and half of the white sauce with the macaroni noodles. Once they’re well incorporated, scoop the pasta into baking dishes. I like to keep mine no thicker than 2 inches. Top them with the remaining white sauce and cover them with the grated cheese.
Step 2
- Bake it for about 20-30 minutes in an oven or oven toaster at 250 degrees. Or until the cheese on top browns equally, it’s really up to you how brown you’d want it to be.
Step 4
- Let it rest for about 10 minutes and then it’s ready to serve.
