One Pot No Boil Macaroni and Cheese
One Pot No Boil Macaroni and Cheese is creamy, cheesy, homemade mac and cheese with no pasta boiling required and only one skillet to clean!
Happy Veteran’s Day! I just want to give a huge thank you to all of our Veterans, and the men and women that are serving our country right now.
In honor of that, I have a movie recommendation for you. If you haven’t seen Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg, it’s a must. It’s a real life story about a team of Navy Seals on a mission in Afghanistan. It was all over the news, and while you already know the outcome, it’s much different when you actually see the reality. It’s such a great movie, and while the events of the movie broke my heart, it was such a moving story.
Onto our recipe of the day, which happens to be very exciting. Why? Not only because we’re talking about homemade macaroni and cheese with a crispy panko topping, but you can make it in one pot. And you don’t have to boil the pasta beforehand!
One Pot No Boil Mac and Cheese
Years ago I saw a recipe in Bon Appetit for No Boil Macaroni and Cheese, and I made it, then I posted it here. It was a revelation.
I was thrilled to be able to skip the pasta boiling step because I’m all about skipping steps where I can. And in this One Pot No Boil Macaroni and Cheese, I skipped another step — washing an extra sauce pan. We make the mornay or cheese sauce right in the skillet, then add water and our dried pasta. This is the easiest homemade macaroni and cheese EVER. 🙂
The best part about homemade mac and cheese is that you get to choose how light or indulgent you want it — because it really is a personal preference. There are so many options — whole milk, cream, half and half, low fat milk, etc.
I used to always go skim milk or low fat, but my kids started saying that the mac and cheese at certain restaurants was better than mine. I knew why — whole milk and cream, and tons of cheese. I don’t normally roll that way, but I decided to start using either whole milk or half whole milk and half skim, which definitely made it richer. We can skimp a little bit, but we don’t want our end result to be skimpy.
Needless to say, my kids now think my mac & cheese is up there with some of their favorite restaurants. 🙂
Now we need to talk about the star of the show, the cheese. We want our mac & cheese to be VERY cheesy…in a good way, of course. That means there’s no room for non-fat or low-fat cheese — it’s just not the same.
What we can do if we want to go a bit lighter is use full fat cheese but less of it, and choose a variety with lots of flavor, like sharp cheddar or a combination of gruyere and parmesan. I went with a decent amount of sharp cheddar because I love the color. 🙂
Top your macaroni with panko bread crumbs and instead of tossing them with melted butter, you can skip a step there and just top it with more cheese. You’ll get nice, crispy bread crumbs, just the way I like it. 🙂
Next time you want homemade mac and cheese, I hope this is the one you choose. You get to spend less time preparing it and cleaning up, and you also get to enjoy one tasty side dish customized exactly the way you want it. It’s a win-win any way you look at it!
Now open wide! 🙂
More one pot pasta recipes:
One Pot 30-Minute Pasta e Fagioli
One Pot Creamy Sausage Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
One Pot Farfalle Pasta with Sausage, Mushrooms and Peas
One Pot No Boil Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard optional
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese divided
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 6 ounces dry elbow pasta
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large cast iron skillet or pot, heat the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter, and add the ground mustard, salt, and pepper, and whisk constantly. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the roux smells like shortbread.
- Add just a bit of milk at a time, whisking constantly, until the roux forms a smooth paste. Add the remaining milk and whisk until there are no lumps.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat until thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in 1 cup of the cheese until smooth, and repeat with the water. Stir in the pasta gently and cover with foil.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through baking time to ensure the pasta is covered with liquid. Remove from the oven and remove the foil. Top the pasta with the breadcrumbs and remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the liquid has been absorbed. Enjoy!
Notes
- Substitute the pasta with your favorite. This recipe works perfectly with gluten free pasta as well.
- The sharp cheddar may be subbed with your favorite cheese. If you like your mac & cheese extra cheesy, use more in the sauce and/or the topping.
- For a richer cheese sauce, use half and half, or to lighten it up, use half whole milk and half skim.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
41 Comments on “One Pot No Boil Macaroni and Cheese”
I love one pot meals.. I’m always interested when I see a recipe that’s as easy as this … but so delicious-sounding, too. photos are beautiful! 🙂
Thank you, Arpita! I’ve been a bit lacking in the one pot meal category, and since I hate doing dishes, it’s high time I got with it!
This mac and cheese looks perfectly cheesy and delicious!
I’m so thrilled to have a new way to make Mac & cheese with less dishes!
Why have I never heard of making mac-n-cheese like this Marcie? Thanks for enlightening me – it is going on my must try list and pinned!
The no boil thing was awesome enough, and less dishes really make me happy! Thx for the pin, Deb!
This is the perfect month for baked mac & cheese! Great Recipe! No boil!? I’m in!
Thank you, Ambar!
This looks amazing and fabulous Marcie! I love the fact that it’s no boil! Pinned!
This is the lazy woman’s mac & cheese! lol Perfect for me. 🙂
Mac & cheese is the ultimate comfort meal and you made it even better with this one pot no-boil recipe. It looks so wonderfully cheesy and creamy and the panko crumbs are the perfect touch! So delicious!
Thanks, Kelly — with my finger hurt I want to wash as minimal dishes as possible! lol This definitely fit the bill. 🙂
Oh wow! I’m intrigued! This sounds awesome and will be trying it soon! Thanks!
Thank you, Annie, and I hope you can give it a try soon! 🙂
Love this easy recipe, Marcie! I’m reading Lone Survivor right now so I’m waiting to watch the movie until I’m finished with the book. It’s so gripping!
I really should read the book, too — the books are always better, although they did do a great job in the movie! 🙂
This is such a great idea! Josh and I have a policy where if I cook, he’ll clean … which usually turns into I cook and then later I clean, too. Have to love one-pot meals.
That’s funny, Kelly! I do both in my house, you know I want less dishes. 🙂
No boil mac ‘n cheese? Sign me up! This is definitely my version of a perfect comfort food meal. And homemade is so much better than the boxed stuff. Love how easy this is to prepare, too!
This is easy, so I don’t make the boxed stuff much unless my kids ask for it…and sometimes they still do. lol
This is so great, Marcie! No boil (and one pot) are two adjectives I like to see with dinners. 🙂 Especially since this one is so adaptable – light to indulgent, with steps in between. Pinned!
Thank you, Alyssa! I’m late getting on the one pot meal train, which is surprising since I hate doing dishes. haha Thanks for the pin! 🙂
I wasn’t sure how you were going to do this, but obviously it works. The photos are certainly cheesy yummy. I like your comments about the cheeses. I agree completely.
Well done, Girl.
No boil pasta is kind of like magic isn’t it? The best kind of magic! 🙂
What an awesome recipe Marcie, so easy too. My boys would love this!
This is almost easier than boxed mac & cheese! haha Thanks, Matt! 🙂
I love this idea of no boil mac and cheese! I love a one pot meal, and it sounds so simple. And yes, you must go with whole milk and heavy cream when making mac and cheese. It’s a must! No room for skim milk here! And thanks for the movie recommendation, I’m going to have to check that out!
It’s so funny how I used to resist using whole milk and cream — oh the horror! When you know what real mac & cheese tastes like (which I clearly didn’t), things change. 🙂
Hi Marcie, love one pot meals, makes sense that this would work, clever idea!
Thank you, Cheri! It’s so nice to make mac & cheese quicker and easier, so now I can make it more often. 🙂
I still have yet to really try any true one pot meal! haha Apparently I like dirtying up my kitchen???
But seriously, this looks awesome. I’ve started using whole milk a lot more in cooking and baking and it really does make a difference in the end result with the richness, etc.!
For someone as lazy about dishes as I am, I’m late getting into this one pot meal thing, too. I’m trying to change that, especially now with my hurt finger — dishes are especially a problem! And it’s so funny how I used to resist whole milk — it does make the biggest difference in cooking and baking! 🙂
This is my kind of dinner Marcie! I know my kids would gobble it up!! 🙂
Thanks, Renee, and my kids would probably eat this every night if I made it! 🙂
You can make this in one pot and you don’t have to cook the noodle first?!! I’m so in! Mac and cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods and this version looks sooooo good! I think I could eat the entire pan 🙂
Thanks, Isadora, and I agree — I could eat the whole pan, too! 🙂
Mac & cheese has to have the breadcrumbs…in my humble opinion. 🙂 Thanks, Mary Frances!
Yum, this looks awesome! And I love that it doesn’t make a huge mess to make it! Sharp cheddar is definitely the best for mac n cheese 🙂
Sharp cheddar is the best! Thanks, Jess! 🙂
It can’t really be that easy?! That is easier than the boxed stuff (which my husband still buys sometimes…you can’t win them all!)! I can’t wait to try this out and wow him 🙂 Pinned
I do still buy the boxes here and there cuz somehow we all get a hankering for it! I never had it growing up, so I blame it on my mom. haha Now, however, it’s not needed. 🙂 Hope you get to try it out soon, Lindsey!