Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I made this just as directed except I didn't butter the panko bread crumbs. Excellent flavor and texture. I will keep this recipe handy for this very good treat.

1 person found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I cut the fat and calories a bit by subbing 1.5 cups of veggie stock for 1.5 cups of milk. I used 1 lb whole wheat shells. That's twice the amount of pasta it called for but my family and I still found it to be cheesy enough to be really yummy.

Don't preheat the oven. You're not baking a cake. Only baked goods need a preheated oven. Save time and money (i.e. electricity) by putting the Mac in the oven while its still cold, setting the temp and then set the timer for 35-40 min. As the oven is heating up it'll heat your Mac so you won't have to wait for it to preheat and then wait another 30 min after that.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This is really good and creamy though I only made 1/2 a recipe I used 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese as I don't like too much cheese. I like mixed cheese in my mac & cheese. I pretty much halved everything except I only cooked butter and flour 3 minutes as I had halved recipe but I went for the full 10 minutes on the other simmer, stir time..

Forgot something I used less mustard as someone mentioned that had too strong a mustard flavor. Though I used all the onion.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Really like this Mac- N- Cheese! The panko, mustard & onion are different but that's what makes it so good. Thanks for sharing!

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This was one of those times when I went to make a mac & cheese casserole for a neighbor couple & decided to double the recipe so that I'd have a casserole for the 2 of us here at home as well! Followed your recipe right on down to the bread crumb topping & then substituted crushed Milton's Original Multi-Grain Crackers for the panko! Was very happy with the results as were the neighbors, but that satisfaction doesn't mean that I won't, sometime, make it with the ingredients you've given! You do have a great mac & cheese recipe here & one I'll be making again! I, for one, enjoyed the boost that the mustard gave it! Thanks for posting it! [Made & reviewed in New Kids on the Block tag]

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I keep forgetting to rate this but it is my fave mac and cheese recipe. The mustard powder is key for me. I sometimes add the panko, sometimes not. If not, I like to brown the top well. I used skim milk most of the time since it is what I have on hand and it works just as well as whole. I'm sure whole is better but if you aren't eating them side by side no one knows the dif. This is a keeper...thanks for posting.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Nice texture and "held" together just like moms! I didn't have any panko bread crumbs so I used crushed club crackers and I used Velveeta instead of cheddar cheese (in doing this I only used 2 cups of milk instead of 3). Came out wonderful! Next time I'll grab some cheddar and panko to try the original!

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I love Alton and I love this Mac and Cheese! My husband hates onion, so I leave that out, but otherwise make this recipe as is. If I am making as a meal, I add some cooked chicken or beef and vegetables to the mixture before baking.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This is an excellent mac and cheese - well worth the work. DH and I were a little iffy about using the onion, so I subbed 1/2 tablespoon of onion powder instead. The panko topping really puts this recipe over the top. Thank you for posting.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I was very disappointed in this recipe. The onions are overpowering in this dish imo, it also seems to have too much mustard powder. I will be sticking to my regular mac-n-cheese recipe from this site Fannie Farmer's Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Alton always gets it right. It's just fact. This was very very good. I've made a handful of highly rated recipes from this site and they were just ok. Nothing measured up to the mac and cheese I had as a kid. Even with my substitutions (2% fat cheese and skim milk although it doesn't specify and no egg) it shined. My favorite part was the breadcrumbs. I even hid some shredded carrots in my daughter's portion.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Everyone is right, this recipe will use a lot of dishes and is not the quickest, however it is FANTASTIC!!! I've made it on multiple occasions and for various events, it's always gone quickly and with people begging for the recipe. Yummy yummy yummy!! Oh, and I've made it with either macaroni noodles or penne...either work great! Thanks for posting this one!

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

It was tasty & good! Definitely a lot of dishes to wash up after. Thanks for posting. Katherine

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Excellent Recipe! I made a few adjustments. I used 2% velveeta because I didn't have any other cheese and I omitted the paprika because I was out. Other than that, I did everything the same, and the result was delicious and a little lighter than the original recipe. Definitely will make this again, and again.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This was my first time making baked mac and cheese and it was delicious! i left out the onion and added ALOT more cheese. I also left out the bread crumbs and just sprinkled some cheese on top when it was done. perfect for our very first 4th of July cookout!

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

I made this for my mom on Mother's Day. I was worried because her mac and cheese is a family favorite but I think this turned out even better! Great flavor. I love the addition of onions. The leftovers were awesome as well. Thanks so much.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This was really good mac and cheese! I followed the recipe as written and thought it was better than any mac and cheese I have ever tasted. Try it!

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Alton Brown's recipes have always been very good to me. I like this Mac & Cheese better than his stovetop recipe. I personally feel the bay leaf is not necessary as well as the onions. I loved the panko and the flavor of the recipe but I feel it takes a bit more time than I would like to use. I think I will thin the cheese with milk by microwave, add the spices, plus the mustard, and pour over the cooked mac next time to see how that works out. I feel his way toned down the flavor of the sharp cheese and I really like a good sharp cheese. I would highly recommend this recipe, it truly beats the "box".

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

Perfect mac & cheese! The only change I made was that I only used 1 tsp. dry mustard ( a tablespoon just seemed like A LOT to me!). Was a bit of work, but mac & cheese this yummy is worth it! Served with meatloaf and green beans for a great down home meal.

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account

This was easy and turned out great! Some things to note is it is 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni. Also, I would cut up your onion first finely and then get all the ingredients out with lots of measuring containers and your measuring spoons. Also Panko bread crumbs can be bought at the store by the bread crumbs but if you have a food processor, they are easy to make (shred 1 loaf white bread, bake as directed on instructions on internet and store in bag) but you would want this done before doing the recipe. Also that makes a whole big bag full for breading other things too. I think next time I will season more the mixture with more salt and pepper before adding the cooked noodles to the mixture but it was great. Step 2 was only like 2 minutes of stirring for me. I served mine with a slice of ham that I glazed and made biscuits. It was so good, especially the panko topping!

0 people found this review Helpful. You can only vote others' reviews helpful or not helpful... Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No We don't know who you are. Sign in or create an account