🧀🙌🎉 20-Minute Stovetop White Cheddar Mac and Cheese is almost as FAST and EASY as using a box but tastes a million times BETTER! A family favorite, it’s so creamy, ridiculously cheesy, and the extra sharp white cheddar cheese gives this mac and cheese so much FLAVOR!
Ultra Creamy Easy White Cheddar Mac and Cheese Recipe
If you’re the type of person like my daughter who loves extra creamy and very cheesy macaroni and cheese, this is the recipe for you.
- I promise you that this creamy stovetop mac and cheese is nearly as fast and easy as using a box and tastes a million times better.
- It’s ready in 20 minutes and has so much depth of flavor from the white cheddar cheese.
- It’s ridiculously creamy, uber cheesy, and it’s pure comfort food that’s like receiving a big warm hug.
Being that I already have other homemade mac and cheese recipes on my site, like my slow cooker mac and cheese, taco macaroni and cheese, and pumpkin macaroni and cheese, I wanted to play with the kind of cheese I used for this recipe. Specifically, I used an extra-sharp white cheddar cheese. Because you’re using a pound of it, make sure it’s a cheese that’s high quality and that you like.
What Readers Are Saying:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ With a nearly five-star rating, readers love this recipe as much as my family does. Take a look at what they’re saying:
Excellent, easy, perfect, customizable. I made this twice in 3 days. Thank you.
Hillary
Made this with the best white extra sharp cheddar cheese. It was great and definitely will make again. Thanks for another great recipe!
Maureen
Ingredients and Notes
To make this homemade stovetop mac and cheese, you’ll need:
- Small pasta shells
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Spices (mustard powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder)
- Whole or 2% milk – Heavy cream will also work
- Extra sharp white cheddar cheese – If you don’t like your cheese to be quite as sharp, I recommend going with ‘sharp’ rather than ‘extra-sharp’ white cheddar. But for us, we relish a little extra bite and sharpness. You may say this mac and cheese tastes a bit more ‘grown up’ than varieties made with basic or mild cheddar
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Grate the cheese
I highly recommend grating the cheese by hand on the coarsest blade of a box grater (or dirty your food processor and do it in there). Pre-shredded cheese in bags can be coated with chemicals that can make it resistant to melting smoothly which would be a disaster here.
I don’t know that I’ve ever actually seen white cheddar cheese in bags — usually white cheeses like mozzarella, Monterey Jack, or Pepper Jack are the usual bagged varieties — but just pointing it out to avoid bagged cheese for this recipe and go with a brick of cheese.
How to Make White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
This white cheddar macaroni couldn’t be easier to make! Here’s an overview:
- In a large pot, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- In that same pot, melt the butter. Once melted, stir in the flour and spices. Whisk that up until smooth (you’re making a roux here, which will thicken the cheese sauce).
- Slowly whisk in the milk.
- Then, add the shredded cheese.
- Stir in the cooked pasta shells and enjoy!
What to Serve with White Cheddar Mac N Cheese
Recipe FAQs
If you’re reheating individual servings of this easy stovetop mac and cheese, go ahead and nuke it in the microwave. It’s a creamy mac and cheese, so it won’t dry out.
However, if you’re reheating multiple portions pop it back into a saucepan and reheat it gently on the stove. You may need to add a splash of milk if the mac and cheese seems dry.
If you prefer mac and cheese with a crunchier topping, I’m sure you could add breadcrumbs to the top and bake it in a 400F oven until it’s as crisped on the top as you like, although I haven’t personally gone this route.
20-Minute Stovetop White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pound small pasta shells, cooked according to package directions, drained, and set aside
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
- 4 cups 2% or whole milk
- 1 pound 16 ounces extra-sharp white cheddar cheese, grated by hand
Instructions
- To a very large pot or Dutch oven, cook the pasta according to package directions, drain; set aside.
- To the same pot, add the butter and heat over medium heat to melt.
- After the butter has melted, add the flour, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, optional cayenne (does not make it spicy at all, solely for depth of flavor), and whisk constantly until smooth. Note – this is a very important step and if your butter-flour mixture (roux) is not okay or is not smooth, your mac and cheese will not have the right texture or consistency.
- Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly.
- Add the cheese and whisk constantly until it’s melted and the mixture is perfectly smooth.
- Add the cooked pasta, stir to coat and combine, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Mac and Cheese Recipes:
Easy 30-Minute Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese — Classic mac and cheese the whole family will love! The creamy, cheesy comfort food you crave! So much better than anything out of a box and just as easy!
Easy 30-Minute Taco Macaroni and Cheese – Super creamy, ultra cheesy, flavored with taco seasoning, black beans, green onions, tomatoes, and cilantro! Easy comfort food with a Mexican flair that’s a family favorite!
Easy 30-Minute Stovetop Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese — The pumpkin flavor is subtle compared to the super cheesy and creamy factor! The pumpkin boosts the cheesiness to a whole new level everyone loves!
Macaroni and Cheese Baked Cheese Balls – A perfect use for leftover macaroni! Bread it, bake it, devour it!
One-Skillet Tex Mex Beef Mac & Cheese – An EASY recipe that’s made in ONE skillet so you don’t have to cook the pasta separately! Loaded with ground beef, peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and cilantro!
This is one my entire family loves!
I love this for you and your family!
great
So good.
So good.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it was so good!
So glad I used this recipe!! I bought 8oz 11 yr aged white cheddar from Tillamook for my anniversary and while it was amazingly delicious I didn’t think we could use it all on crackers. So I perused the good old Google for a recipe and came across yours. This recipe put my amazing cheese to excellent and mouthwatering use. The sauce turned out perfectly creamy without the grain like texture that you sometimes get with home made mac. I paired it with a salad and wine and had an amazing anniversary meal!! Thanks so much for the recipe 10/10 will use again.
I would like to note after adding the cheese I did need to turn up the heat slightly to thicken the sauce. I’m supposing this might be because the milk is cold.
great
Made this with the best white extra sharp cheddar cheese. It was great and definitely will make again.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Made this with the best white extra sharp cheddar cheese. It was great and definitely will make again.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was great and you’ll definitely make it again!
To keep the cheese stable in the oven I added about a cup of shredded Velveeta processed cheese
Great to hear that trick worked for you.
Excellent, easy, perfect, customizable. I made this twice in 3 days. Thank you.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you loved it enough to make it twice in 3 days!
Excellent, easy, perfect, customizable. I made this twice in 3 days. Thank you.
Thank you Avery! ISO know that but it is not showing on these this time.
Anne
Times are listed directly below the recipe title in the recipe card section.