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.
Great concept! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Made it tonight and loved it! Even before adding the cheddar, it was tasty – almost like alfredo sauce. It does get too thick very quickly, so it might be challenging to take to a potluck or something. But if you’re just going to eat it right away, it’s amazing!
Some ideas: 1) I warmed the milk (until the butter melted) before adding the pasta, and I think that helped with the sogginess, as another poster suggested. 2) I added sour cream at the very end and that thinned it some while adding a nice flavor.
Thanks again!
It tasted good but took over an hour before the noodles cooked in the milk. If I make this again I will precook the macaroni somewhat.
Wow! That was soooo easy & turned out delicious! It’ll definitely be a repeat in our household 🙂
I made this tonight using medium macaroni noodles with ridges, 2% organic milk, a little squirt of grey poupon because I had no mustard powder, sharp cheddar, and goat cheese. I toasted parmesan bread crumbs and made a topping with those, bacon, and parsley. I did end up having to add about an extra 1/3 C of milk because my noodles absorbed the first 2 cups very quickly, but they were still done and tender well before 20 minutes. This dish turned out phenomenally. The goat cheese really sealed the deal. It melts extremely well, and has a good strong flavor. The zing of the sharp cheddar reminded us that this was, in fact, mac & cheese and gave the sauce a creamy yellow color. My only criticism is that if you’re serving this as a main dish, rather than a side, it seems like the recipe might need to be doubled. My husband and I easily put away what’s recommended as 3-4 servings by ourselves.
In response to Sarah Paige, it might be your organic, lactose-free milk that gave your dish a sweet taste. I’ve found that organic milk tends to be quite a bit sweeter than regular milk. I read once that it has to do with the UHT pasteurization method used for organic milk. The high pasteurization temperatures bring out more of the milk sugars, or something.
Rachel- thank you for the valuable input regarding the use of organic, lactose-free milk. This can definitely change the flavor and/or consistency of the macaroni and cheese recipe.
I tried this tonight, but I can’t get over how SALTY it is. I like salt, but this is so salty, it’s almost inedible. I read and reread, I used the 1 tsp of salt in the recipe, and that is it, I’m not sure why it came out so bad.
Just made this using American cheese. Next time I think I will leave out the nutmeg because it was a little overpowering, but I might have used too much! I also added Sriracha (hot chili sauce) at the end, and it was sooo good!
I made this yesterday, and it was amazing…hands down the best mac n’ cheese I’ve ever made. These are my modifications: I doubled the recipe for my 3 boys, using bowtie noodles instead of macaroni noodles. I used 3 TB unsalted butter. I used a mix of the following cheeses: 1 cup TJ’s shredded mexican blend, 1/3 cup shredded havarti, 1/3 cup shredded romano, 1/3 cup shredded parmesan. I did end up needing to add some water to get the noodles cooked, and I added a little at a time, stirring constantly until the noodles were cooked. Lastly, I also steamed and pureed 1 cup of cauliflower and mixed it in with the cheese. My family had no idea until I told them, and they loved it.
I forgot to add that I left out the mustard powder and nutmeg and added garlic powder.
I’ve been looking for this kind of recipe so long. I didnt own a oven or any fancy cooking appl.that makes life easier, just a stove. I loved mac n cheese that have it once a week over my fave joint, expensive though.
This recipe calls for the pasta to rinse then put with the milk on a pot and cook slowly. This why the pasta comes out soggy and clumpy. Immediately after being cold wet the pasta starts to breakdown/melt also while stirring. This starch is what makes the milk dries up quick leaving the pasta stil uncooked.
As per package says to boil water before adding pasta,then lower heat. So, either milk or water, the liquid should be hot enough for so the pasta surface will cook as soon.
I followed the recipe twice. But on the 3rd what I did instead of rince I blanched,then add on the simmering milk and cook slowly as the recipe rquires. I used cheese spread and cream cheese and filled cheese. Really dont hav knowlge about cheeses,those youre saying are hard to find and way too expensive here. still got yummy thumbsup with my kids. Thanks so much.
We made this last night and it was absolutely delicious. Used cheddar and monterey jack, can’t wait to make it again, yum!
I made this with gluten-free pasta, mature cheddar and full-fat milk (that’s all we had). It was simple and delicious, but I do agree that it was a wee bit bland – which is absolutely unsuprising considering it is macaroni and cheese – I added a touch more salt and pepper, and my husband and I topped ours with hot sauce and the kids had ketchup, as is traditional in our house. We were all happy and full and not left with the mountain of dishes that Mac and Cheese night usually heralds.
Thanks for going through the trouble of inventing the recipe and then photographing it and sharing it with all of us!
it seemed like it was going to be good…but it wasn’t.
I found this recipe on Pinterest and wrote about it here. It was definately the creamiest mac n cheese, but I used colby and cheddar and it tasted kind of bland. I think it must need a really strong sharp flavored cheese. So don’t be like me! Use cheese with lots of flavor!
MrsBlocko- thank you for the input about the cheese. Cheese varies so much in terms of flavor and saltiness. Hopefully future makers will read your comment and use a flavorful cheese.
I just made this dish. Very cheese and taste great!!!
This recipe inspired me to finally crack the gluten/lactose-free mac n cheese I’ve been longing for. Without any flour to contend with, I successfully substituted my favorite, organic lactose free milk. Luckily, for me, I can tolerate some low lactose cheeses. I used a combination of cheddar, parmesan and emmental. Overall, this was a complete success proven by my “gluten-full” husband gobbling every last morsel. This will most definitely be a favorite in our recipe book.
Advice: It was a rather sweet tasting dish. Can you suggest how to have a more savoury/spicy outcome?
Thank you.
I made this recipe minus the nutmeg and mustard powder, because im a college student and didnt have any in my apartment, plus garlic salt and it was delicious! i also used soy milk instead of regular milk and i think it made it creamier. I highly recommend this!
I was a little nervous at first, but it turned out great! I’d love to know if you have tried this in the crockpot!