I love mac and cheese. It’s one of my favorite comfort dishes and is always a crowd-pleasing favorite. When our son turned two, this was the mac and cheese that I made for his birthday party. And let me tell you, everyone there was raving about how freaking delicious my mac was. Not too soupy, not too dry, but just right and packed full of flavor. So, follow along as I teach you my delicious recipe that you will be sure to get compliments on.
Specialty Kitchen Equipment and Ingredients
For this recipe, since you’re making the dish for a big gathering, you’ll want to make sure you have the following:
- A VERY large casserole dish (10×15 or larger)
- A large dutch oven or pot to make the cheese sauce
- Another large pot to boil the noodles
- A cheese grater or food processor to shred cheese – Hands down, one of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my Hamilton Beach Food Processor. Since getting this, I have not grated cheese by hand and that was almost 4 years ago. One of my absolute favorite wedding presents by far.
It’s important that you have a LARGE casserole dish. A 13×9 WILL NOT BE BIG ENOUGH. I’m warning you now. I made that mistake myself. But, you could always cut the recipe in half too if need be.
As far as specialty ingredients go, there are a few different kinds of cheese I use that will most likely be located in the gourmet cheese section of your grocery store. These are the three kinds of cheese that I use:
- Smoked gouda – Like I mentioned above, I HIGHLY recommend the Hamilton Beach Food Processor to be able to quickly shred cheese. It literally takes less than 15 seconds to shred a block of cheese.
- Italian blend shredded cheese – The blend I used had thick shreds of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. I typically use Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Brand.
- Garlic herb brie – This will likely be the most difficult of the three to find. If you cannot find it, you can always sub a regular block of brie and add a tablespoon of garlic powder as well as a couple pinches of finely chopped fresh parsley and chives.
Pictures:
Would you look at that beautiful cheesy gooeyness? Ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about this mac and cheese!
Recipe:
Mac and Cheese for a Crowd
Equipment
- 10×15 inch casserole dish
- Large pot
- cheese grater or food processor
Ingredients
- 24 oz jumbo macaroni noodles
- 1 stick butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 5 cups milk
- 2 8 oz blocks of smoked gouda, shredded Any flavor of high quality gouda will be good. If you can't find gouda, substitute white cheddar.
- 2 6 oz bags Italian blend thick style shredded cheese We use Tillamook Farmstyle shredded cheese. Feel free to sub parmesan and mozzarella.
- 8 oz garlic herb brie, cut into cubes If you can't find garlic herb brie, sub regular brie or camembert but add 1 tbsp garlic powder as well as a couple pinches fresh chopped parsley and chives.
Optional Topping
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup Italian seasoned panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 15×10 inch (or bigger) casserole dish with nonstick spray. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Cook noodles according to package directions, drain, blanche with warm water, and toss into the greased casserole dish. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt butter over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add flour and seasonings coating well to form a roux until all butter is absorbed. Allow the roux to brown a bit, stirring frequently for 3-4 minutes.
- Add milk to the roux 1 cup at a time whisking constantly until smooth and the sauce thickens. Repeat until all milk is added and sauce has thickened.
- Once all milk is added and sauce is thickened, reduce heat to low and add half of the gouda, half of the Italian blend cheese, and all of the brie. (If you were unable to find garlic herb brie and are using plain brie or camembert, add 1 tbsp garlic powder as well as a couple pinches of fresh chopped parsley and fresh chopped chives at this time as well.) Whisk constantly until all cheese is melted and creamy. It may take some time for the brie to break down and melt. This is normal.
- Pour all sauce over the noodles in the prepared casserole dish. Mix well to fully coat all noodles. Top with remaining gouda and Italian blend cheeses. Bake for 30 minutes.
- (Optional) If using topping, melt butter and stir into the breadcrumbs 3-5 minutes before the mac and cheese finishes baking. After the mac and cheese is done baking, change the oven to the broil setting and spoon the buttered breadcrumbs evenly over top of the mac and cheese. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the breadcrumbs have toasted and are a nice, crispy golden brown.
- Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve and enjoy!
Notes
This recipe for mac and cheese is seriously one of my most complimented dishes. I’ve never made it and had someone NOT like it. So, I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as my family and friends have!
If you try this recipe and liked it, make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any other tasty treats posted here at Growing Up Garlicky. You can also check out any of the posts below or my recipes page for new ideas. Lastly, make sure you leave a comment and a rating so that I know what you think! Thanks everyone!
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Hi
I’m bringing this for Thanksgiving .
Can I make it on Wed and reheat on Thurs and add the topping then? Does it dry out?
I’m so sorry I hadn’t seen this until now. I do find that the mac and cheese is best the first day, but please let me know how it turned out for you!