- A homemade white sauce is the base for Ina’s rich, creamy mac and cheese.
- Shredding your own cheese creates a smoother, more flavorful sauce.
- Macaroni or cavatappi are best for soaking up cheesy goodness.
For many of us, mac and cheese is one of the first “recipes” we master and memorize as kids. Boil and drain the noodles. Dump in the packet of cheese, milk and butter. Stir and serve.
When we’re ready to go beyond the blue box, the plot thickens. What pasta cut is preferable? And how does one make a silky and luscious sauce, without oodles of additives or pricey ingredients? In my 20s and 30s, I’ve “dated” dozens of mac and cheese recipes in my quest to find the best, but I’ve yet to find one reliable and delicious enough that I wanted to make it my MVP; my forever mac.
All of that changed when I turned to my culinary spirit guide, Ina Garten. She’s a master at the classics. To date, Ina has coached me through how to roast chicken with confidence, how to level-up my brownie game (coffee is key!) and how to take tomato soup over the top (grilled cheese croutons for the win). So I figured Ina would be a great resource regarding mac and cheese, too.
By trying—and taking notes during—my experiments with two of Ina’s most popular mac and cheese recipes, I not only picked up some tricks but also landed on my all-time favorite homemade mac and cheese recipe. And it’s not much harder than that recipe from childhood.
Here are the top five tips I learned from Ina’s baked Mac and Cheese and Overnight Mac and Cheese.
1. Start with a Homemade White Sauce
“To make real mac and cheese, as opposed to the stuff from the box, the first thing I’m going to do is make a béchamel sauce, which is really a fancy word for ‘white sauce,’” Ina explains in a throwback segment I discovered on season 2 of her Food Network show Barefoot Contessa.
After bringing a pot of salted water to boil, she walks us through how this is done: Heat a quart of milk in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, in another pot, melt butter and whisk in flour. Allow this to cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly, then slowly pour in the hot milk as you whisk. Once this is smooth, you’re all set. Take the pot off the heat, then season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg—a spice Ina says is a classic in white sauces used in French gratins. “I thought it would be really good with mac and cheese,” Ina says. “I actually think nutmeg brings out the flavor in the cheese.” After trying a bite of the finished product, I think she was right. It also lends a little warmth and complexity.
2. Don’t Be Shy with the Cheese—and Shred It Yourself
The next trick is hidden in the very next step: adding the cheese. Ina recommends using “lots of good cheese.” This is one place it’s wise not to skimp, she urges. In fact, Ina calls for about 6 cups of cheese to pair with 1 pound of pasta. For your best, cheesiest mac, this is a solid formula to follow—it’s the same ratio featured in one of our favorite mac masterpieces in the EatingWell recipe archives.
Ina suggests mixing nutty, creamy Gruyère and sharp, buttery cheddar for a nice blend of flavor and melty texture. Skip the pre-shredded stuff, which is coated in anticaking agents, to prevent the shreds from clumping. Although these are perfectly safe to eat, cheeses treated with them don’t melt as smoothly and can result in sauces with a gritty edge.
Now that you know why and which blocks of cheese to buy, you could shred these by hand using a box grater. But Ina sneaks in a bonus tip here: she employs her food processor fitted with the grating blade. With the press of a button, in a matter of seconds, she has all 6 cups ready to stir in.
3. Pick a Huggable Pasta
The sauce is all set, so it’s time to turn our attention to the noodles. The pasta aisle is full of different shapes to choose from. However, if Ina was shopping with you, she’d steer you toward the elbow macaroni she uses in her classic mac casserole or cavatappi (tubular corkscrews, which are the star in her make-ahead mac).
Both of these shorter cuts are stellar at cradling plenty of sauce and stay firm and forkable much better than longer, thinner alternatives, such as spaghetti or angel hair. Can’t find or don’t dig either of those options? Five other chefs we spoke to recently on our quest to learn more about building the best mac and cheese confirm that shells, fusilli, rigatoni and penne are also solid options.
4. Take Things over the Top
After boiling, draining and stirring your noodles into the sauce, you could certainly serve the mac and cheese right from the stovetop. However, Ina advises upping the ante—and adding extra fresh flavor and crunch—by dumping the cheesy pasta into a baking dish and layering on sliced tomatoes and breadcrumbs. (The flavor harkens back to that tomato soup and grilled cheese combo I mentioned earlier!) Bake for 30 minutes at 375° F, and you have “mac and cheese but better. Fancier,” Ina verifies at the end of the clip.
5. Prep Ahead, If You Like
There’s an even easier alternative if you’re willing to invest 10 minutes the day before you plan to make a meal of mac and cheese. In her Overnight Mac and Cheese recipe, Ina calls for cooking and draining cavatappi for just 4 minutes (it will be underdone—that’s the goal) before adding it to a big bowl and mixing it with cream, shredded Gruyère and Cheddar, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight. While the cavatappi chills out, it will soak up the cream and grow in size and flavor. Stir the soaked pasta, transfer it to a baking dish and top with more shredded Gruyère and Cheddar to match that ratio of cheese to pasta mentioned above. Finish with buttery breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes or so.
The Bottom Line
Ina Garten has cracked the code for the best homemade mac and cheese, and it’s almost as easy—and is far more flavorful—than boxed renditions. For the ultimate mac, Ina advocates for making a quick homemade white sauce that includes two types of cheese. She proposes pairing this with a pasta cut like elbow macaroni or cavatappi; two noodles that capture and cling to the sauce better than longer, thinner alternatives. Lastly, try baking this blend in a dish, showered with sliced tomatoes and a handful of breadcrumbs, if desired, for a meal you won’t soon forget. In the words of our gourmet guide, “how easy is that?”
