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Quick, creamy, and incredibly delicious, this 5-ingredient mac and cheese is the perfect kid-friendly meal! Your little ones will love its cheesy flavour, and you’ll love how fast it comes together. Make a double batch and you can send the leftovers in their lunchbox tomorrow!
5-Ingredient Mac and Cheese – No Flour Required!
There are so many ways to mac and cheese! If you’re ditching the blue box and making mac and cheese from scratch, most recipes require you to make a roux by heating and whisking flour with melted butter and milk. Not this one!
Thanks to this easy 5-ingredient mac and cheese recipe, you’ll have creamy homemade mac in no time without the mess or fuss!
5-Ingredient Mac and Cheese
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Why We Love This Mac and Cheese Recipe
- Kid-Friendly: What kid doesn’t love mac and cheese? Even your picky eater will devour their dinner with this homemade macaroni!
- Flexible: Tweak this recipe to suit your kids’ preferences by adding their favourite veggies or protein. Use whole wheat or vegetable pasta for extra nutrition and fibre.
- Easy: This homemade comfort food is a one pot classic! While you’re draining the macaroni, whisk together the cheesy sauce. Add the noodles back to the pan, stir, and serve.
Ingredient Notes
- Macaroni: Choose your favourite brand of macaroni noodles. This is a great place to play with whole grain, or fibre or veggie-enriched noodles. Gluten-free alternatives can also be used if required.
- Butter: A little butter adds so much creaminess and a smooth, glossy texture, making this easy recipe irresistible.
- Evaporated milk: Canned evaporated milk is incredibly convenient because it’s shelf stable. Keep a can on hand at all times! I typically use 2% partly skimmed evaporated milk, but you can use whatever you have on hand.
- Cheddar cheese: Shred a block of cheese using a grater or run it through the shredder attachment for your food processor.
- Salt and black pepper: These two spices draw out the cheese sauce and pasta flavours. Adjust these according to taste or leave out altogether if serving this recipe to babies to minimize sodium intake.
How to Make Homemade Mac and Cheese – Step-by-Step
- Cook noodles according to package instructions until al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter with evaporated milk.
- When butter is melted and the mixture is hot and steaming, turn the heat down to low. Add the cooked pasta to the saucepan and stir well.
- Add about a quarter of the shredded cheese. Stir until melted and combined. Repeat until all of the cheese is added and the noodles are coated with cheese sauce.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve warm.
Keep scrolling to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe!
TIPS FOR THE BEST HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE
- I typically use fibre-enriched Smart elbow pasta or whole wheat macaroni, which has about 8 grams of fibre per serving, but you could also use regular elbow macaroni if desired.
- To minimize dishes and keep this recipe a one pot mac and cheese, cook the pasta first and then use the same pot for the cheese sauce.
- Make sure that you don’t turn up the stove too high, or the cheese may get clumpy and not properly melt. It’s best to add the cheese gradually over low heat or remove the pot from the heat altogether if the mixture starts to bubble.
- The type of cheese that you choose is important since not all cheeses melt well enough to create that creamy sauce. I like to use sharp cheddar cheese as it tends to have good melting properties.
- Avoid using pre-shredded cheese as it contains additives that prevent the cheese from melting properly. For best results, use freshly shredded cheese.
- Mac and cheese tends to lose a bit of its creaminess the longer that it sits. To get it creamy again, add about a tablespoon or so of evaporated or regular milk until desired creaminess is achieved.
Recipe FAQs
There are many ways to customize this easy stovetop mac by adding different cheeses, vegetables, or protein. Add frozen vegetables like peas, spinach, kale, or broccoli to the pasta water just a few minutes before the pasta is done. The vegetables will continue to warm up as the pasta drains.
Stir other add-ins, like chopped chicken or ground beef, into the cheese sauce to coat each bite with the creamy sauce.
Yes! This creamy mac is so flexible. Although gluten-free pasta may have a slightly different texture than regular pasta, follow the package directions to cook it until al dente. Prepare the sauce as directed.
Babies can have pasta and cheese starting around 6 months. When your baby is starting to display readiness for solids, this is the perfect starter food since pasta is nice and soft. Additionally, when introducing your toddler to mac and cheese, this is the perfect option because you can control the quality of ingredients and the sodium content.
If your toddler is still close to a year, consider overcooking the noodles by just a few minutes to make them softer and more tender. Cut any large pieces down to make them easier to eat. Limit the salt and skip the pepper, if desired.
Storage & Reheating Guidelines
- Refrigerator: Allow the leftover mac to cool and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. To reheat, stir in 1 tablespoon of evaporated or low-fat milk to make the mac creamy again.
- Freezer: Let the mac and cheese cool completely, and then store it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw the mac and cheese overnight in the fridge. Place it into an oven-safe dish, stir in 1 tablespoon of milk, cover with foil, and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.
- To reheat: The noodles will absorb the liquid from the sauce as it cools, so you’ll want to mix in 1 tablespoon of milk to get that creamy texture back. Either heat in a small saucepan or microwave for 2 minutes.
- Prepping for lunches: Follow the steps above to reheat the macaroni. While reheating, fill a thermal lunch container with boiling water to keep the container hot until lunch. Dump out the water, add the mac and cheese, and close it tight.
Optional Add-Ins
This 5-ingredient Mac and cheese is such a blank slate. Serve it as is for a side dish or add these delicious mix-ins to make a complete meal your whole family will love:
- Steamed broccoli
- Diced ham
- Crumbled bacon
- Frozen peas
- Steamed cauliflower
- Frozen kale
- Fresh spinach
- Cooked chicken breast
- Crumbled ground beef
- Canned tomatoes
What to Serve with Mac and Cheese
This 5-Ingredient mac and cheese can either be a side dish or a complete meal. If you want to serve it on its own, add some protein and vegetables to make it a balanced meal.
My family enjoys this stove top mac with air fryer chicken nuggets, pesto chicken bites, baked chicken fingers or this mini meatloaf recipe along with these air fryer veggie tots, air fryer zucchini fries or steamed broccoli!
Recipe Variations
- Gluten-free: Use your favourite gluten-free pasta and cook your noodles until al dente.
- Extra cheesy: Try replacing half of the cheddar with another melty cheese like gouda, Monterey jack, havarti, or Gruyere.
- Loaded with veggies: Use pasta with added vegetables and add about a cup of frozen broccoli or your favourite vegetables to the pasta water a few minutes before the pasta is done.
- Milk options: If you don’t have evaporated milk on hand, you can substitute whole milk. It will add a similar creaminess but will have more calories and fat than partly skimmed evaporated milk.
More Pasta Recipes
- How to Make Hamburger Helper without Milk
- Carrot Pasta Recipe
- Green Sauce Pasta
- Chicken Pastina Soup
- 4-Ingredient Pasta Salad
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5-Ingredient Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni pasta (I use fibre-enriched or whole-wheat)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup partly skimmed 2% evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package instructions until al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter with evaporated milk.
- When butter is melted and mixture is hot and steaming, turn the heat down to low. Add the cooked pasta to the saucepan and stir well.
- Add about a quarter of the shredded cheese. Stir until melted and combined. Repeat until all of the cheese is added and noodles are coated with cheese sauce.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve warm.
