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Stove-Top Macaroni Cheese Recipe
Stove-top macaroni cheese is creamy, cheesy, and wonderfully simple to make without turning on the oven. The pasta cooks until tender before being folded through a smooth, rich cheese sauce that clings to every piece. It’s quick enough for an easy weeknight dinner, comforting enough for those days when only carbs and cheese will do, and far easier than a baked version when you want maximum comfort with minimum fuss.
Stove-Top Macaroni Cheese
My stovetop mac and cheese is my go-to when I need comfort food fast. Made with a quick roux and loads of cheese, it’s rich, creamy, and ridiculously satisfying. No baking, no faff – just a pot of cheesy goodness in under 20 minutes. I love adding a pinch of mustard powder or a handful of crispy bacon bits when I’m feeling extra. Whether it’s a busy weeknight or a cosy night in, this easy mac and cheese never lets me down.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500ml milk
- 150g-200g of grated cheese (see notes)
- 1 tso chicken stock paste
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
- 250g macaroni (or other short pasta)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions until just al dente. Scoop out about ¼ cup of pasta water before draining and set aside.
- In the meantime, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes until it smells slightly nutty and turns pale golden. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly to avoid any lumps.
- Continue to whisk until the sauce thickens - about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the grated cheese, chicken stock paste, Dijon mustard, and a generous crack of black pepper.
- Add the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce slightly and make it extra creamy. Taste before adding any salt - depending on your cheese and stock paste, it might not need much.
- Turn off the heat, and add the drained pasta straight into the sauce. Stir until everything is well coated. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken further, then serve immediately with extra black pepper on top, if you like.
Notes
- Use whatever cheese blend you’ve got knocking about in the fridge - tasty, cheddar, Gruyère, Pecorino, gouda, or provolone all work wonderfully . Just don’t use pre-grated cheese, as it’s often coated with anti-caking agents that can make your sauce go clumpy.
- If you don’t have stock paste, half a chicken stock pot works well too. This recipe is all about using what you’ve got and making it delicious.
What I Cook With
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 540Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 105mgSodium: 886mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 31g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Serve this with
- Serve with my Homemade Barbecue Sauce and crispy bacon for a smoky, tangy contrast to all that creamy cheese. It’s a very easy way to give the mac and cheese a bit more punch.
- Add my Garlic Bread on the side for scooping up the creamy cheese sauce. The crisp, buttery bread is a much better match for rich stove-top macaroni cheese and turns it into proper comfort food.
- Pair with steamed broccoli or green beans with lemon and black pepper. Something fresh and uncomplicated is exactly what you want beside a bowl of seriously creamy macaroni cheese.
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From Kraft Packet to Kitchen Queen
Would you believe I was well into my thirties before I ever tried macaroni cheese? Growing up in Australia in a dairy-free household, it just wasn’t something we ate, especially as my dad hated pasta, and barely tolerated spaghetti bolognese! Fast forward to Scotland, my first day in my little flat in Paisley, with no idea where the supermarket was, and nothing in the cupboards except my shiny new pans and blind hope. I wandered down to the corner shop foolishly hoping they’d have something gluten free. And surprise surprise – they didn’t. But they did have a box of Kraft Macaroni Cheese and a bottle of wine. So obviously, I bought both… and some butter and milk, obvs.
Anyway, it was love at first bite. I don’t just like cheese, I love cheese, so pasta swimming in cheese? Yesssss. But I also knew straight away that I could make it better (and gluten free). And over the years I have. I’ve experimented with cheeses, pasta shapes, techniques. My stove top mac and cheese recipe has seen many iterations and today’s version is what I go to when I want something easy, comforting, and ridiculously good. It’s also what I made this weekend, on a sleepy, overcast winter’s day in Adelaide, as Lulu chased a piece of string around the living room and the fake fireplace glowed away behind me.
The thing is, mac and cheese is never just about the food. It’s about those quiet moments when the world slows down and you actually stop to nourish yourself. It’s the kind of dish that says, “I’m staying in,” with a good cup of tea in hand and zero plans to leave the house. It’s warm socks, French jazz, and pretending the fake fireplace is the real deal – and I love that about it.
She Who Cooks Decides
The best thing about stove top mac and cheese recipe is its adaptability, although I will always use macaroni – I’m a pasta purist. However, I will also always use whatever cheese is in my fridge. Sometimes Gruyère and Reggiano Parmigiano, sometimes Cheddar and Pecorino. But I’ve also made it with gouda and provolone, like I did this weekend, and let me tell you, it was so good.
A weird little habit of mine is pairing my mac and cheese with steak. I know it sounds a little bit odd, but trust me – it works. There’s something about the indulgent silkiness of the cheese sauce with the deep char of a medium-rare steak cooked on a cast iron griddle that just hits the spot. Back in Scotland, when I’d cook for my ex-husband, I’d always plate up a big old steak with a generous side of gooey mac and cheese. He’d eat it, of course – there were never any leftovers – but he’d complain. He said it should be mash. I said he was welcome to start cooking. He refused. So mac and cheese it was.
I’ve realised recently that I never actually shared the plain and simple mac and cheese recipe on the blog. I mean, I’ve shared the bacon version, sure. But not the foundational one – the one I always come back to. That feels a bit criminal, considering how much I rely on it. Especially during winter! When Adelaide wraps itself in grey and gloom, this is what I cook when cooking anything else feels too much.
Don’t Fear the Sauce
If the idea of making a cheese sauce puts the fear of god into you, don’t worry. I used to be scared too, but all you need is a bit of confidence and a whisk. The key is the roux – let that butter and flour mix cook off for a minute or two until it turns golden and smells just a little nutty before adding the milk. Though if you’re using gluten free flour, you may need to cook it a little longer. And for the love of all things good, keep whisking. If you do that, you’re golden – just like your roux.
A lot of people try to cheat this bit with shortcuts or pre-made sauces, but it’s just not worth it. Once you’ve made a proper cheese sauce from scratch, you’ll never go back. It’s rich, it’s glossy, and it wraps around the pasta like a velvet hug. Plus, you feel a bit proud of yourself when it works perfectly. Like, yes, you are that domestic goddess, thank you very much.
The other non-negotiable? Do not use pre-grated cheese!! I know it’s convenient, but it’s also coated in anti-caking agents that ruin your sauce. You’ll end up with lumps and sadness, and wasted cheese and hope. Get yourself a box grater and put some elbow grease into it.. And while we’re here, let’s all agree that soft cheeses like brie or camembert have no place in mac and cheese. I love them dearly, but they do not behave well in a sauce like this, so keep them for your cheese board.
Ingredients Breakdown
So here’s what you’ll need when you make my stove top mac and cheese. Pasta, obviously – macaroni if you’re a purist like me, but you do you boo. You want a pasta shape that holds sauce well. Then we’re going in with butter, plain flour, and whole milk to build the bechamel base. Good quality salt and a crack of white pepper to season, and then the cheese.
There is no strict rule here, just whatever you have to hand, as long as it’s not a soft cheese. Firm cheeses are your friends – think cheddar, fontina, comté, or even something like asiago. And please, skip the shredded cheese from the supermarket bag. It’ll give your sauce a gritty, weird finish, and you’ll wonder why it doesn’t taste right. Because it’s not right – that’s why.
I always add a hit of dijon mustard to round out the sauce, but sometimes i add garlic salt, or a little bit of chicken stock paste to add some extra oomph. But at its core, this is comfort food. Simple, indulgent, and exactly what your soul needs on a chilly afternoon when you’re tucked inside, wrapped in your dressing gown, and your cat is chasing shadows across the rug. It doesn’t need to be over-complicated to be absolutely delicious.
