One Pot, Stove Top, Creamy Mac and Cheese – My decadent revolution
Update: This Stove Top One Pot Mac and Cheese was originally shared in 2009. It now has new step-by-step photos, video and updated technique to satisfy all our hungry readers. Also, try this “healthier” version of Broccoli Mac and Cheese. It’s another reader favorite.
Stove Top Mac and Cheese Recipe
I’m calling for a mac and cheese recipe revolution. For those sweltering Summer days when cranking up the oven means turning our kitchen into a sauna, or for those times when I don’t want to be a dishwasher, but still want to have a satisfying home cooked meal, I need a meal that can be cooked fairly quickly and efficiently. Enter the solution and what I call, my mac and cheese revolution: the One Pot, Stove Top, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese recipe.
Watch this delicious Stove Top Creamy Mac and Cheese Video:
Start by boiling small macaroni in water on low simmer
constantly stir so that macaroni doesn’t stick
after macaroni is pre-cooked in water, add milk and simmer on low heat
when macaroni is plump, tender and cooked, add the cheese
optional- add toasted bread crumbs or panko for extra crunch and texture
How to Make One Pot, Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
It’s simple, clear, and considerate of everything we need in order to still eat well and prepare quickly, without compromising on quality and taste.
- – One Pot– Yes, you read it correctly. All the raw macaroni is cooked in one pot, without a pre-boil step that most other stove top recipes require. There is no extra pot to pre-boil or wash. One pot means less dishes!
- – Stove Stop- Stove top means NO oven. During our hot summer days, that last thing that I want is to turn on my oven and sweat even more just for a bowl of mac and cheese. The stove top method is a wonderful way of cooking the macaroni pasta, quickly and to your desired texture. I can control exactly how soft or al dente I want my macaroni to be.
- – Creamy – This mac and cheese recipe is slowly cooked in water, then milk and a little butter. The cheese is added in the end and it’s so creamy and amazing.
- – Flavor blasts with creative cheeses- Now that I’ve figured out how to cook it easily and still maintain great texture, now comes the best part—-great flavor! Have fun with this recipe and experiment with flavorful, cheeses that melt well. My favorite is using parmesan and asiago cheese because I can use less cheese and still have bold flavor. Every single bite is delicious.
I’m still a huge fan of oven baked mac and cheese because the warm, comforting, casserole bake can’t be compromised. The cheesy crusts are a show stopper too. But when I’m starving and the weather is scorching hot, the last thing I want to do is to blast that oven to 350°F.
happy Stove Top Creamy Mac and Cheese times to you,
-diane
Toasted bread crumbs: I love toasted bread crumbs and it’s so easy to make. Just break up some old bread, heat it up on a skillet. Continue stirring until crumbs start to brown and become fragrant. Remove from heat and top off your macaroni and cheese!
One Pot, Stove Top Macaroni & Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) small elbow macaroni , uncooked
- 3 cups (720 ml) water (approximately)
- 2 cups (480 ml) low-fat Milk , or more if needed
- **if more milk is needed , additional 1/4 cup milk at a time for final cooking. **Macaroni pasta varies so much! have additional milk on hand, or be ready to increase the heat if your macaroni doesn't absorb fast enough.
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Butter , for flavor
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Salt , plus additional for final season later
- generous dash of Nutmeg
- 8 ounces (227 g) Grated Cheddar Cheese , any one or combination of (jack, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, gouda, parmesan*, asiago*, pecorino*) *Hard cheeses are best combined with a secondary, softer, better melting cheese. Cheese varies in flavor and salt level too! The more cheddar cheese you use, the creamier the mac and cheese will be
additional toppings:(optional)
- bacon bits
- bread crumbs
- chopped parsley
- diced tomatoes
- black pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Place raw elbow macaroni in colander and quickly rinse under water. Let drain.
- In medium sauce pot (about 3.5 qt), add water and raw elbow macaroni. Heat the pot on medium heat to bring the mixture to a low simmer and keep the flame consistent to maintain the low simmer.
- Stir the macaroni frequently as it comes up to a simmer. This will separate macaroni and keep them from sticking together. DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE! The mixture will come to a low boil very quickly and leaving it unattended will leave a big mess on your stove stop.Once mixture comes to a simmer, add the milk and bring the mixture back to a low simmer. Then immediately turn down heat to LOW. Macaroni will slowly cook in the milk. Having your heat too high will burn the milk and scorch your pan
- Continue to stir the mixture frequently so that macaroni will cook evenly and absorb milk evenly. If you don't stir your mixture frequently, you will get a big clump of macaroni in the end! Stir, stir stir!Cook for about 10 minutes or until macaroni is tender. Make sure there is still some milk in the pot to melt the cheese, which makes the mac and cheese creamy. **If macaroni is not cooked fully, add a little more milk to mixture ( in small amounts) until macaroni is fully cooked.
- When the macaroni is plump and cooked, add the mustard powder, salt, nutmeg and grated cheddar cheese. Stir the cheese mixture evenly into the macaroni. We will add more milk to the pot if needed, then add the cheese to make the mixture more creamy.
- Take a final taste and add additional salt to taste. Before serving, stir one final time to mix everything together. Turn off heat and serve immediately.Add bread crumbs for a crunchy bite if you wish.
Found this gem on Pinterest – it’s making the rounds! Bulked it up with spinach and it was a hit. Even my 11-month old loved it.
Thanks!
This is incredible!! I am the sweet person at holiday meals, because I am not good at sides or appetizers. You gave a recipe that I can take and be confident about and feel like the adult I am. Now I have to figure out how to travel a half hour with it??
My daughter is dairy-free but I wanted to try this for her using her special milk and cheese! It worked out great! I halved the recipe and used coconut milk. For the cheese, I used Daiya cheese. I could have used more milk a little longer cooking time – we were just eager to try it out! My daughter said, “I love it!” and that is high praise for my pickiest eater!
I usually read the reviews before making a recipe, so I can learn from other’s mistakes. I was in a hurry and didn’t take the time, so of course, I made several. I only had rigatoni and I think those noodles are just too big, it was starchy and pasty. I also think I might have turned the heat down too soon. All the milk was not absorbed and I couldn’t get the cheese to melt. I also had to double the cheese to get any flavor (mild cheddar). I ended up putting the whole mess in a casserole pan and sticking it in the oven to get the cheese melted. I think it will be a great recipe if I can get my own snafus worked out. I plan to try it again as my family loves Mac and Cheese. Thanks for the recipe.
I tried it with a common gratin cheese mix – the result was DELICIOUS!
I did add a bit of water at the end to really COOK the pasta, just cooking in milk the pasta was a bit too chewy. Finishing touch with some ham and mushrooms.
Will try this with blue cheese or any other strongly flavoured cheese too!
I can’t wait to give this a try! I am with you on the trying it with Blue Cheese! Actually, TGIFriday’s had a 5 cheese macaroni and cheese for awhile that was awesome! It had Fontina, Blue, Gruyere, White Cheddar & Parmesan cheeses, which I’m betting would be awesome in this recipe as well!
I found this recipe to be soggy, startchy and rather bland. Cooking the pasta in another pot will definitly improve things and I will give it another try later. Great concept just not to my taste,
Looking forward to trying this!
Oh my word! This recipe is so good! I made it last night with almond milk, and the taste was fantastic!! It was beyond easy to make, and the taste is out of this world! I used the smallest elbow macaroni I could find and a combo of pepper jack, colby jack and cheddar cheeses. Fantastic! This is definitely going to be my go to macaroni and cheese recipe from now on. Thank you!!
This is hands-down the best Mac-n-Cheese recipe I have ever cooked! I’ve made it twice, and both times it was perfection. So very easy, I can’t believe I’ve been making anything else before now.
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, and for your beautiful blog. It’s an absolute joy to browse your recipes, read your stories, and feel your love for food.
I made this a few nights ago with white cheddar cheese and “cavetappi” pasta. It took a little extra milk, just cus of the oddly shaped noodles I think. They have lots of surface area haha. It was like a revalation, how creamy it was! However… It cooled off pretty quickly and the cheese started solidifying a bit. The cheese sauce texture turned to kind of like mashed potatoes? Not the taste, just the texture. I’m not sure how well this recipe would reheat. It was delicious, but not something i would make often just because of the amount of time spent standing and stirring.
Emily- thank you for your comment! The type of pasta will definitely change the texture of the pasta and how much milk it will require. Thicker, longer cooking pasta might even require double the milk.
Delicious recipe! I found it on Pinterest and had to try it. One pot = one happy Momma at clean up time. I cooked it with whole milk (that’s what we have around the house) and skipped the butter and it turned out soooo creamy. I added some extra cheese – I love cheese – and was pleased, along with my little one with the ultimate oooey gooey cheesy creamy results. I would suggest to follow the directions and “stir, stir, stir” I didn’t have any problems with burning at the bottom and I tested my noodles as they cooked. I am a snob when it comes to noodles and insist that they be al dente. I kept testing as I went and finished cooking the dish about 5 minutes early so I didn’t have soggy noodles. The one thing that I will change when I make it again is less salt (I’m not a big salter and a whole tsp was a little too much for me) and I like stirring in some pureed butternut squash to add in some vitamins.
Thanks for sharing a keeper of a recipe!
Super awesome and easy technique! I modified it to make buffalo chicken mac and cheese and it turned out really good. It was a little bland before I added the buffalo chicken because i just used mild cheddar, so I recommend using a stronger cheese or a variety of cheeses than what I used. Otherwise, it was super creamy and delicious!
I am going to give this a try with almond milk as I’m lactose intolerant! I bet it will be delish!!!
If I do this I can handle the cheese called for.
Thanks, no more heating up the house during the summer.
Thank you so much! This is delicious! I used a little more milk than called for and cheddar cheese. It was heavenly and I will certainly make again. I added some boiled chopped carrots towards the end so I could feel less guilty!
Dear Diane and Todd,
I tried this recipe last night and it is fantastic! I even used accidentally-purchased 2% american cheese deli slices, quite possibly the most disgusting product, and it turned out great. It was creamy, melted cheese dip over pasta. I will be making this repeatedly, in countless variations. Thank you so much for sharing! Seriously. Loved every bite and can’t wait to make it again.