🧀🙌🎉 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.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
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!
Avery,I do not see a ‘Pin it’ link. Could you please add. Tnx
Top RIGHT HAND CORNER of every photo, there is a hoovering Pin It button so you can pin with ease.
Averie Noting sounds better than mac n Cheese especially when Sharp Cheddar is mentioned . YUM!
Happy WEEK END
A recipe with simple ingredients always makes for a great meal. For some reason I ended up with too much roux, which made the Mac & cheese a bit soupy but not awful. Next time I will either: 1) cut back on the amount of roux; 2) add the roux to the pasta rather than the other way around; 3) use more than 1lb of pasta (who would argue with that one?)
Thx for sharing Tris recipe. Way better than a box…
Glad it was way better than a box for you and that you will try again to perfect it exactly to your liking.
A recipe with simple ingredients always makes for a great meal. For some reason I ended up with too much roux, which made the Mac & cheese a bit soupy but not awful. Next time I will either: 1) cut back on the amount of roux; 2) add the roux to the pasta rather than the other way around; 3) use more than 1lb of pasta (who would argue with that one?)
Thx for sharing Tris recipe. Way better than a box…
I tried this 1 more time.. The second attempt was WAY better. I heated the milk rather than add it cold to the flour/ butter. This helped the most to add more thickness to the sauce. I also added the cheese very slowly and used an Emerson blender at the end to ensure no lumps. To keep the cheese stable in the oven I added about a cup of shredded Velveeta processed cheese. It didn’t really affect the flavor much but it kept the sauce from cuddling. When done right this recipe is great. The flavor is quite nice. Thanks!
Mine came out soupy. I did turn off the heat while I was mixing the cheese in is that what the problem was? I also used elbow macaroni as I didn’t have any shells. Is it okay to put this in the oven to crisp up the top? Every other time I try to do macaroni and cheese in the oven the cheese somehow curdles I don’t want that to happen in the oven.
Was your pasta drained well?
But in time, if you just gently cook it, it will thicken up and some water will evaporate.
In the oven, usually it’s best if you add a breadcrumb topping of some sort so that the cheese itself isn’t getting too much direct heat.
I tried this 1 more time.. The second attempt was WAY better. I heated the milk rather than add it cold to the flour/ butter. This helped the most to add more thickness to the sauce. I also added the cheese very slowly and used an Emerson blender at the end to ensure no lumps. To keep the cheese stable in the oven I added about a cup of shredded Velveeta processed cheese. It didn’t really affect the flavor much but it kept the sauce from cuddling. When done right this recipe is great. The flavor is quite nice. Thanks!
I’m glad it worked out well for you this time.
*curdling lol not cuddling
Have you ever doubled the recipe? Should I double all ingredients? Or just the pasta?
You would double everything BUT this makes a very big batch of mac and cheese. I would make a single batch one time and evaluate if you really need a double batch for the future.
I doubled everything to serve a group of 8. We had leftovers.
I made it but I think I did something wrong but it still tastes good.
I made it but I think I did something wrong but it still tastes good.
I do not like extra sharp white cheddar cheese.
It has too much of a bite to it.
So i will look for a mild white cheddar cheese or
use a mild regular cheddar cheese to make this.
could you please post a gluten free version of your mac and cheese because it looks irresistible and im dying to try it but am gluten intolerant and wouldn’t know how to replace the flour (the actual pasta is easier because im assuming any gluten free pasta would do fine as a base) thank you so much!!
I’ve never made a gluten-free mac & cheese from scratch so I really can’t give any suggestions of what to do with the recipe or what to expect. You’ll have to give it a try see what happens.
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.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this recipe came in handy for your extra Tillamook and that you will for sure use again!
I loved this! I plan to make it for Thanksgiving but it would be easiest if I can make it ahead of time due to other demands on the dutch oven. How do you recommend reheating it? Thanks!
The only way I’ve ever reheated it is from individual plastic containers that I store my leftovers in and then pop it in the microwave. I’m not sure how well the microwave is going to work if you’re literally reheating the entire batch all at one time. I don’t know, maybe put it in a big casserole dish and put it in a low oven covered with foil, maybe put it in a pot and reheat it on the stovetop very gently. Kind of depends what other cooking pots and pans you have that are already in use and if your stove, oven, etc. are already in use. Or you could put it in a bag microwave safe bowl, and reheat may be half the batch at one time.
AVERIE – I use a 3 ingredient mac and cheese recipe that doesn’t finish as nicely as yours, so I’m intrigued. Once I cook my pasta I typically add a little cream along with the cheese. Works very well, but stays stringier. At the least, I need to cook the pasta in less water. Thanks.
This recipe is really foolproof and delivers great results. I highly recommend it!
AVERIE – I use a 3 ingredient mac and cheese recipe that doesn’t finish as nicely as yours, so I’m intrigued. Once I cook my pasta I typically add a little cream along with the cheese. Works very well, but stays stringier. At the least, I need to cook the pasta in less water. Thanks.
Can’t wait to try these! I pinned & printed them! Great comfort food! Thanks!
Thanks for pinning and enjoy!
There is nothing better than homemade when it comes to mac and cheese! Extra sharp cheddar sounds wonderful–we love strong cheese.
The strong cheese was so tasty here!
I plan to make it for Thanksgiving but it would be easiest if I can make it ahead of time due to other demands on the dutch oven.