No Boil Baked Mac and Cheese
I love making mac and cheese. My dad is the one that taught me how to make mac and cheese. I don’t do it exactly the same way that he does. He has been known to make a roux as his base. Often he’ll add an egg as well to help it all hold together. I prefer my mac and cheese a bit on the runnier side. I have another recipe on the site that you can find here. This version is something I wanted to try after we were able to figure out the no boil pasta bake, which can also be found here. Curiosity got the best of me and I needed to know if a mac and cheese could be done this way. I mean why not, right? I end up baking it anyway. Can I cut out a step and some dishes? The other inspiration for this one comes from the single dish and little clean up. After all when I was working on this one and the other no boil ones the Wife was pregnant. Now the little one is here.
This recipe is a bit more “complex” than the other ones just because there’s more cheese and steps. It really is just as easy and delicious I promise. It can easily hold its own against the boiled pasta mac and cheese recipe. Some of the steps don’t visually look tasty, but I promise that once things are stirred up it comes together quite nicely into a creamy baked mac and cheese. The other benefit of this recipe is that it’s flexible, like most things. If you want to change the flavor profile, change up the cheeses that you use. Like it on the spicier side, throw in some sriracha, or maybe some cayenne pepper. Garlic power or minced garlic will also tweak it and hold up well to the cheesiness. Don’t forget the grilled chicken, sausage, or ground beef for some meaty protein.
As this recipe is a bit more “complex” than the other ones let’s talk about a few tips and tricks. First slice the sausage (if using, or cube the chicken if you’re using that). Basically prep the protein before you get to that step. Don’t forget to pre-heat the oven. Take the Velveta out and cube it. One you have those done you can prep the first bit and pop it in the oven. Once that’s baking away you can then grate the cheese. This will reduce the amount of time you are spending just standing around since there are a few additional steps with this one. Another tip: at times it may look a little less than tasty. Rest assured that once stirred it will come together nicely and look like elegant mac and cheese cooked with many dirty dishes. Finally make sure you save some of the shredded cheese to bake on top at the end. It adds a nice cheesy crust.
Ingredients
1 lb elbow pasta
1 lb Velveeta cheese
2 sausages cut up (or 3/4 lb of chicken breast cubed)
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz monterey jack cheese
1 1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups Chicken Stock
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 425
Cube the Velveeta and set aside
Slice up the sausages (1/2 inch wide) and set aside
In a 9x13 inch pan add the pasta, milk, chicken stock, paprika, pepper, and minced garlic. Stir to combine. Try to cover as much of the pasta as you can
Add the cubes of Velveeta and the slices of sausage trying to arrange them fairly evenly
Cover the dish in tinfoil and bake for 35 minutes
While the dish is baking shred the blocks of cheese (if not using pre-shredded cheese)
Remove from the oven and remove the tin foil. Stir the whole thing until well mixed
Add 3/4 of the shredded cheese and mix well
Layer the last 1/4 of the shredded cheese on top
Return to the oven, uncovered, for an additional 10-15 minutes, until golden and bubbly
Remove from the oven, let sit for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy
