Making Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Old-fashioned baked macaroni and cheese is a classic American comfort food. The rich, melted cheese oozes over the noodles, and the crunchy topping provides the perfect contrast. Making baked macaroni and cheese from scratch is not that much harder than mixing it up from the blue box; give it a try and see if you don't prefer the homemade version.

Macaroni and Cheese Basics
All baked macaroni and cheese recipes have two items in common: macaroni and cheese. What kind of cheese you choose makes all the difference between gourmet and simple macaroni and cheese dishes. You'll want to choose cheeses that melt easily, and make sure to create a cheese sauce of some sort, using either a cream soup base, a flour, butter and milk or cream base, or a melting cheese that creates its own sauce.

Simple Macaroni and Cheese
The very simplest of baked macaroni and cheese recipes is the Velveeta cheese recipe. This is for when you have little time or you're cooking for a bunch of kids who just love mac and cheese.
Ingredients You Will Need:
One box elbow macaroni
One package Velveeta cheese
Two cups panko bread crumbs
Two tablespoons butter, melted

First, cook the macaroni in a pot of boiling water until it is al dente, or still firm.

Drain the macaroni and return to pot.

Slice off pieces of the Velveeta cheese into the pot, mixing the cheese into the macaroni. As you build up a base of cheese, turn the stove ring back to low, and keep adding cheese until macaroni is sufficiently coated with melted Velveeta.

Pour macaroni and cheese into a baking dish. Sprinkle the panko bread crumbs over the macaroni and cheese. Drizzle the melted butter over the bread crumbs. Broil the pan of macaroni and cheese on high (on the top rack) until the bread crumbs are browned and somewhat crisp, approximately three to four minutes. Watch carefully while broiling so the crumbs do not burn. Serve immediately.

*Hint: If serving this dish to kids, you might want to cut up hotdogs or ham and throw this in at the end stage of boiling the noodles. Kids like this combination.

Old-Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese
If you want more of a classic dish, try this recipe.
Ingredients You Will Need:
1 box elbow macaroni noodles
¼ cup diced onions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 large egg, beaten
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

After cooking the macaroni noodles (al dente) and draining, set the pot aside.

Sauté onions in a small amount of butter or olive oil.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Using a wire whisk, whisk in the flour until there are no lumps. Cook butter and flour mixture over low heat for a few minutes. Gradually add in the milk, whisking continuously, gradually increasing heat to medium. Whisk in the beaten egg. Cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, gradually adding cheese until it is all incorporated into the recipe. Add in sautéed onions. Pour cheese mixture over macaroni noodles. Stir. Pour macaroni and cheese into baking pan.

Toss bread crumbs in the two tablespoons of melted butter. Top macaroni and cheese with bread crumb mixture. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.

Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese
Vamp up the classic recipe listed above by adding one or more of the following ingredients: diced red chilies, diced mushrooms, minced onions, cooked and diced chicken breast or chopped fresh spinach leaves. Try dusting the top of the dish with a bit of paprika for color, and garnish with a spring of parsley.

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese
When making this dish in a crockpot, only cook the noodles slightly. Add in an extra cup of milk to the recipe, and skip the topping of bread crumbs. Instead sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the top a few minutes before serving for a stringy, fun topping. Cook the dish on low for 60 to 90 minutes in the crockpot. Check the noodles when you think the dish might be ready. Do not overcook.