Baked Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

For our first Soul Food Sunday I am sharing a recipe (with pictures) for baked macaroni and cheese (some call it macaroni and cheese casserole). Boy, oh boy, oh boy do I LOVE macaroni and cheese. My absolute favorite macaroni and cheese recipe, of all time, is my great grandmother’s. She made it in glass Pyrex dishes, topped with loads of cheese ontop of a cheesy-tasting, creamy white mixture that was to die for. Later in life, I realized the creamy white goodness was a béchamel sauce, and I also realized that very few people take the time and effort to make it.

I would love to say that I am sharing my great grandmother’s mac and cheese recipe today complete with bechamel sauce (oh boy would I), but I am not. It was a recipe that was never written down before she passed.

My recipe is what I call a “cheater.” Primarily because I use a jar of alfredo sauce and it just doesn’t feel like it’s made from scratch when you do that. But never the less, it is quite yummy and I get loads of compliments every time I make it.

Dyani’s Cheater Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Everything you'll need to make cheesy goodness

Ingredients

Half a pound of elbow macaroni boiled and drained

One jar of your favorite alfredo sauce

1/4 cup of milk

1 16 oz. package of mild cheddar cheese shredded divided (1 cup and ½ cup)

1 16 oz. package of casserole cheese* (or a colby/jack mix) shredded divided (1 cup and ½ cup)

¼ tsp Pepper

Butter (for greasing dish)

*the only brand I have ever found to have “casserole cheese” is Kroger. It is a mixture of American, cheddar, colby and mozzarella cheeses.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use butter to grease 9” x 9” glass baking dish. Set aside.

In large bowl mix boiled macaroni, alfredo sauce, 1 cup of casserole cheese, 1 cup of cheddar cheese and stir. Although tempting, do not add more cheese as this can make the inside dry.  Trust me, the inside will be cheesy and delish!

Mixing it all up in the bowl

Pour milk in alfredo jar and swirl around.  Add milk and pepper and stir again. Spoon mixture in prepared dish and flatten with spoon. Top with ½ cup casserole cheese and ½ cup cheddar cheese. The top should be completely covered. If it is not, add more.

All set to go into the oven

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until entire mixture is bubbly and top cheese is all melted and starting to turn brown. Enjoy!

Finally... cheesy goodness!

Visit the sites below in this linky for more delicious macaroni and cheese recipes that I found on the web! Got one of your own, add it!

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE RECIPE

To join the Soul Food Sunday Linky:  (1) add your soul food recipe post to your blog, (2) add your post (and delicious photo) to the linky (3) add the linky code to your post! It would also be great if you would link back to The Soul Mom blog.

Next week’s Soul Food Sunday (8/12) will feature potato salad recipes so come on back!

Make sure to check out the entire schedule of upcoming Soul Food Sunday recipes.