Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

a spoonful of homemade macaroni and cheese ready to be plated

Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

I call this an oven baked macaroni and cheese recipe because the oven truly does all the work! This macaroni and cheese is creamy and dreamy without boiling the pasta or making a cooked cheese sauce (roux) before baking it in the oven.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Easy Baked Macaroni, Homemade Baked Macaroni, Homemade Macaroni, macaroni and cheese, Macaroni Cheese Recipe, Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 453kcal

Author Jill McOwen

Ingredients

1 cup 4% fat cottage cheese
2 cups half and half
8 oz smoked Gouda cheese grated
8 oz medium cheddar cheese grated
2 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz (half box) macaroni pasta
2 tbsp butter softened

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a baking dish (at least 8 cup capacity) with the two tablespoons of butter and set aside.
Combine the shredded Gouda and Cheddar cheeses and set aside about 1 cup of cheese. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
In a blender, combine the cottage cheese, half and half, remaining shredded Gouda and Cheddar cheeses (about 3 cups), salt, mustard and hot sauce. Blend until smooth.
Stir the half and half and cheese mixture into the uncooked pasta and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 for 50 - 60 minutes (or until the macaroni is cooked through - I taste it to make sure). Remove the dish from the oven. Remove the foil and stir well. Top the cooked macaroni with the remaining cup of shredded cheese.
Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Return the macaroni and cheese to the oven and bake an additional 10 - 20 minutes, or until the cheese on top is bubbling and starting to lightly brown.

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