Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Readers love this classic, layered version of old-fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese from the Yankee recipe archives.
By Yankee Magazine|Oct 14 2022|
Old-Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Photo Credit: Aimee SeaveyBefore it became the decadent stuff of creamy, cheesy dreams, many a mac and cheese recipe was simple like this one from the Yankee recipe archives (Feb, 2000). Cooked macaroni is layered with shredded cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs (plus a generous splash of milk) for a home-style version of the classic comfort food. Try it for yourself and see how it measures up to your modern mac favorite.
Yield
4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
3-1/2 cups elbow macaroni, about 6 cups cooked
4 to 6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups coarse bread crumbs, approximately
10 to 12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste (remember, cheese is quite salty)
1 cup milk
Instructions
Cook the macaroni according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Grease (with butter) bottom and sides of a 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Put in a layer of macaroni, sprinkle with cheese, dot with butter, salt, and pepper. Repeat until all ingredients are used up, ending with layer of cheese. Add milk. Sprinkle a good layer of bread crumbs over the top; dot with butter.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes.
This dish needs to be more creamy.
Want creamy? Buy the boxed stuff. This recipe produces the real thing.
I love this recipe! This is the macaroni and cheese I grew up with. If you’re used to the box variety, it’s probably not creamy enough, but for those of us who grew up with the real thing, it’s perfect!
Sometimes I add prepared mustard and/or a pinch of horseradish for extra tang.
I always put sliced onions in each layer.
I don’t think that I’ve ever eaten mac and cheese with bread crumbs and I’ve eaten a lot of mac and cheese growing up. (I’m 59.) What do they add?
they add a wonderful buttery crunch.
The bread crumbs are rich and buttery and just delicious.
Bread crumbs.
This is very much like the recipe my NH/MA mother made, but she didn’t add breadcrumbs. A lot of people use them; I scrape them off when nobody is looking!
My mom made Mac and Cheese this way, yet added a beaten egg with the milk to make it thicker. Called it Pioneer style.
my grandmothers recipe is very similar. it’s amazing. We use evaporated milk. The breadcrumbs are a MUST. They add amazing texture and flavor.
This is similar to my Mom’s version I grew up with but without the breadcrumbs and she used Midget Colby Longhorn Cheese. She would simmer it on the stove until the cheese was stringy then put it in the oven. Yum!
I use light cream, butter & extra sharp white cheddar, and it’s very creamy, with crumbled ritz on top!
Hi how much of each? I love it creamy. Thanks.
This seems much easier than what I have always made. Made a cheese sauce and poured it over the elbows. Also if I have ham I add that to the bottom. Going to try your version tonight and yes always put bread or cracker crumbs on top.
That recipe is too long. A splash of milk in a saucepan, add slices of Italian 4 cheese, and stir. If you want ham, jalapenos, etc., add it to the sauce when the sauce is hot, not boiling. When done, pour it on the macaroni and stir. You can adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more milk or adding the cheese. Maybe diced tomatoes is another version.
Yuck – I’ll stick to the tried and true original recipe of our Mothers and Grandmothers!!!!
I’ll second the “YUCK”. I bet you love the boxed version with cheese powder. It’s even quicker.
Yuck!
I grew up in the Midwest, but this is my mothers recipe! I’ve missed the texture and how it holds together. With the cool nights, this sounds perfect!0
My Mother and my Nana made mac and cheese this way. Never liked the “saucy” versions. And I never made it as good as theirs. Now I have “our” recipe.Thanks so much
I use red hook cheese, sometimes a finely chopped fresh Jalapina mixed in. and crushed potato chips, wise if you have them , and sometimes toasted wheat germ
this was how my mother made it. after it came out of the oven and she served it, some family members put stewed tomatoes over it. I didn’t like the tomatoes. but love left overs that I warm up in butter in fry pan. yum
I added tomatoes, and topped with Ritz crackers. So yummy!
I’ve been making it this way ( just like my mom did ) for a long time. I’ve always used Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp White, but have recently discovered a Cheddar/Gruyere combo from Trader Joe’s that makes it taste even better!
I love this recipe! I go to Market Basket and request some “cheese ends” and add some extra sharp to them. I also use a diced small onion, 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, teaspoon or 2 of dry mustard and a 1/4 (tiny) pinch of nutmeg and some basil and oregano, garlic powder pinches here and there, it just depends on what you like. I love Worcestershire so I use it liberally. YUM
You “love” the recipe, but change it completely!?
Just like the one my mother made and my favorite of all! We cube the cheese up and do not rinse in cold water. I always add some ketchup on top of mine.
This recipe sounds good, but there was an outstanding recipe in the old
Women’s Home Companion Cookbook (out of print). I remember it had minced onion, dry mustard, Worchester sauce and cheesy buttered breadcrumb topping. If anyone has this recipe I would really appreciate receiving a copy.
BOOM!! found it https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/baked-macaroni-and-cheese/298110 there are also a ton of the hardcovers for sale on amazon.
My Mom’s Mac and Cheese was similar but she did not shred the cheese. She cubed Colby Longhorn cheese and mixed it throughout the macaroni, poured a cup of milk over it and then put thick slices of the Colby cheese on top with lots of pepper (no bread crumbs either). I loved the bubbly, hot stringy cheese in every bite and the “crunchy” texture of the cheese that formed on top! Prefer this to the creamy kind any day! Her recipe dates from the 1940’s!
This mac and cheese was okay, but needed more milk and cheese. It was okay, just dry!
I definitely agree with you and the more milk than the called for one cup in the recipe. Otherwise it’s much too dry. Other than that, it’s so much like what my mom used to make minus the breadcrumbs.
This might be all right if you eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven. After 24 hours you will have a very dry and inedible dish.
Sorry, but so not true! My Mom & I have been making it very similar to this for many years & never was it dry or inedible, even the next day or 2 reheated!
People are used to the mushy creamy version, but I love the crispy crunchy bits version. There is never any leftover 🙂 BUT you could easily reheat or use more milk and cheese to start with if you like it ‘wetter’.
This recipe is nearly exact to my Great Gram’s, she didn’t put the bread crumbs in it, tho. Yes it’s not like the orange creamy mac and cheese now a days, but it is a fantastic Baked Mac and Cheese.
Thank you for the recipe
I grew up on baked mac & cheese very similar to this recipe & I have been making it for at least 42 years myself. Love it!!! The only difference is we never added any crunchy topping, but I’m sure I’d like that too & between layers, we’d zpinkle a very thin layer of flour before the cheese. We always used an extra sharp white cheddar cheese, delicious!! Recently I made it with the sharp cheddar, but I had a brick of horseradish cheddar & added that too, yumm!
instead of sprinkling a thin layer of flour between each layer, you can put the flour, cheese, and butter in a frying pan and cook until cheese is melted and all are blended. Pour o er each later of your pre peppered macaroni. Top with a few chunks of cheese or a layer of shredded cheese. Add milk. Bake until the cheese bubbles and top layer of cheese is melted and lightly browned.
This is very similar to my mothers. No breadcrumbs, cubed Velveeta cheese. During the beginning of the baking she would go into the oven to stir the mixture up as the cheese melted. Once the cheese completely melted she would stop stirring it to let a crust form on the sides and top. That way those who wanted crunchy could have some, but others could just eat the creamy portion. She tried to please her whole family!
Hi Barb! Thanks for your comment. It sounds like your mother was very thoughtful when it came to everyone’s macaroni and cheese preferences! 🙂
OMG, Grew up on this, so good. Haven’t had it in years. Husband likes creamy.
Your recipe is just how my mother in law used to make it for us minus the bread crumbs. She would also heat up a can of diced tomatoes of which she added a teaspoon of sugar and a couple teaspoons of corn starch so it would thicken up on the stove top. Put it in a separate bowl and those who liked it would put it top their Mac n cheese. 🙂
I used to make it with a layer of sliced tomatoes on top, then bread cubes.
Just like my mom’s recipe but she used crushed saltines on bottom and top. Not meant to be creamy but cheesy chunks. Sharper the cheese the better it is. Like cabot Hunter sharp cheddar.
My grandmother always used crushed saltines mixed with melted butter on the top and I always make it that way as well.
My mom always added the bread crumbs on top toward the end of baking the mac’n cheese. Lightly toasted, bubbly, crunch and delicious and I’m 64! Mom made it for us kids in the sixties and seventies. Now I make it for my husband. Great recipe!
I’m making it tonight, cloudy cooler and breezy in Las Vegas! Gearing up for 90’s, last chance for oven , pretty much. Thank you
We make this recipe continually as did my Mom in law & use smashed Ritz crackers vs breadcrumbs!! Much better!!
Same recipe but small cubed bread, not crumbs, mom made in a loaf pan
Mine’s little different. I use a white sauce…stewed tomatoes..white cheeses….
Had this when I was a child, my Mom and oldest sister made it with extra sharp Cracker Barrel cheese, butter, milk and something crunchy on top. I still make it and have used a lot of different toppings. Most have already been mentioned!❤️
My mom made one similar to this. I am surprised I don’t see anyone who’s mom topped theirs with crushed Corn Flakes. Anyone?
Always a beaten egg added to the milk and more cheese – the sharper the better!
This is closest to what my mom made sans any crunchy toppings. Whenever I’d go home (moved 800+ miles away) I’d ask her to make it. Always in a glass 9×13 baking dish, layers of macaroni & cheese, S&P, and milk up to about 3/4 the side of the dish – no measuring. I still prefer this to any of the creamy variations. I might consider those crispy fried onions as a topping next time. I use those in and on my tuna casserole.
My grandkids favorite is 8 ounces of cooked large elbows (never rinse!) toss with 8 oz sharp shredded cheese 3 tbsp butter, salt & pepper – cover with milk – bake 45 min- at 350
they fight for the crispy top! Carolann
My Grandma would make a nearly identical baked macaroni and cheese to this but would mix in crushed tomatoes as well. Always a treat when we would visit and this was our welcome meal!
I put bacon in mine.
Could someone please give me the recipe for baked macaroni and cheese made with velvet cheese and topped with bread crumbs.
My grandmother used to make it and she would put everything in a dish and topped it off with buttered bread crumbs.
I remember how delicious it was and would love to be able to have it once again.
The recipe is on the box of Velveeta.
not enough milk, now that I tried it I like it better mixed together in a sauce made from the cheese, crusty buttered crumbs on top.
Excellent recipe! Real old fashion mac and cheese before the latest generations fell in love with the gooey stuff from a box. Yes, compared to the soup that passes for mac and cheese today, this recipe will give you a much drier authentic version that prevailed in the 50s and before. I used a full one pound box of elbows, omitted the crumbs on top., and baked it in a 9×13 Pyrex dish. I served two 9×13 pans to a group of 10 people and everyone loved it. No one thought it was “too dry”.