No boil mac and cheese is completely cooked in the oven. You don’t have to boil the noodles first. Just load everything in the pan and let it bake to cheesy no boil macaroni and cheese perfection!
Make cheesy mac and cheese without boiling the noodles first. There’s no cheese sauce to make either.
Just dump the ingredients in the pan and let the oven do the work. This is the easiest baked macaroni and cheese recipe you’ll find and it’s delicious too!
It’s a perfect filling side dish for almost any meal. It is also a great meatless entrée if you would like.
Why no boil macaroni?
Have you ever had one of those days where you can’t handle one more thing? You know the kind where things feel overwhelming or the schedule is so full that you can’t fathom adding one more thing to the day.
I love to cook. Everything from the simplest stir and serve recipes to more labor intensive (and dirty dish!) filled recipes.
But sometimes even I can’t handle one extra step in the kitchen. Those are the days where boiling and draining pasta seems like too much.
Tell me you’ve been there too! Days like that one pot recipes come in handy because it all cooks together.
No boil pasta recipes are kind of like that, but with the oven. You don’t have to wait for the water to boil or for the macaroni noodles to cook before you move to the next step.
Plus the starch from the pasta helps thicken the sauce, which means you don’t have to mess with making a bechamel sauce. The meal and the cook are working together in unison to make a delicious and easy dinner.
So when Nicole from Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom mentioned her favorite macaroni and cheese recipe was baked but no-boil during an intense macaroni and cheese conversation on Facebook, I had to check it out. I had a feeling we were going to like it.
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Honestly, it doesn’t get any easier than this either. That is always helpful, whether you are having one of “those days” or not.
Just throw it together and bake it. It does take a little time in the oven, but that gives you time to make the rest of the meal.
Or fold some laundry.
Or relax for a bit?!
The results are cheesy and delicious. We have made it countless times over the years and now my mom makes it for family dinner several times a year. We hope you like it just as much as we do!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I double this recipe?
Yes, we have doubled this recipe several times when we are feeding a larger crowd. Just double the ingredients and bake it in a 9×13 dish.
What kind of cheese can I use for mac and cheese?
We usually use sharp cheddar cheese for this recipe because the flavor and texture are great for macaroni and cheese. However, you can combine cheeses or substitute another kind of cheese as long as it is a good melting cheese. Use American cheese or half mozzarella and half sharp cheddar for a milder super cheesy mac. Try using gruyere if you are looking for something different. Or use some pepper jack if you want to add a little zip.
Can I add a crunchy topping?
Yes! Add bread crumbs or cracker crumbs at the end when you add the extra cheese.
No Boil Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 3½ cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2½ cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat you oven to 350°F and spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Combine the 3½ cups whole milk, 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and 1 1/2 cups of cheese in the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove foil and stir. Top with remaining cup of cheese and bake for 10 more minutes.
- Let stand for 10 minutes and then serve.
Notes
Video
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Curdled milk and not very creamy unfortunately. I love making homemade mac and cheese- good cheese is too expensive to waste. It’s not a terrible dish but I wouldn’t make it again. There’s nothing better than creamy, homemade mac and cheese. I did top mine with panko, which is always a plus.
I’m sorry that you didn’t like it. It doesn’t quite have the same texture as a traditional baked mac and cheese, but I think it makes up for it in the time and effort savings.
The fact that your milk curdled makes me think that you probably used pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese has caking agents in it that keep it from becoming coagulated on the shelf. You need to use either block cheese that you’ve shredded yourself, or, what I did was use sliced cheese which does not typically have anti-caking agents. If you read the ingredients and it says anything other than milk and culturing agents, that’s probably going to make your mac and cheese curdle. I put half of my pasta in the pan, added a layer of sliced American, Swiss, and medium cheddar cheeses. I also added some dollops of mascarpone cheese just because I had some that was going to go bad. Then, I added half of my milk, topped with the rest of my pasta, added another layer of cheddar, poured the rest of the milk on top. After baking it the first time, sauce will be very soupy. Stir it until it starts to thicken. Then, top it with your panko and another layer of cheese (this can be the pre-shredded cheese if you want it to be, but I just did more sliced cheese) and bake it for another 10 minutes. That should give you a casserole consistency.