Creamy Stove Top Macaroni & Cheese
I love macaroni & cheese. There is something about gooey, creamy cheese over lots of carb-y pasta that makes my mouth water. I’ve been looking for a blog-worthy macaroni and cheese recipes for a while now, but I had yet to test one that really made my taste buds jump for joy…until now. You’ve probably noticed that I often use 2% reduced fat cheeses in my recipes, but when it comes to mac & cheese it’s worth it to me to go all out and use the real thing. I’ve been working on a separate recipe for Wisconsin Cheese (coming in October!) and I bought a block of Black Diamond Vintage Reserved Aged Five Years Cheddar for it and used the leftovers in this dish. It is amazing. The more a cheddar is aged, the sharper and more flavorful it becomes. Using a cheese like this is perfect because it packs so much flavor that you can get a lot from a little. To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
This Creamy Stove Top Macaroni & Cheese recipe was creamy, filling, flavorful and incredibly satisfying. It was just as easy to make as the kind you buy in the box and infinitely tastier. Now that is comfort food!
Creamy Stove Top Macaroni & Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry wheat macaroni OR other small-ish pasta
- 2 cups skim milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- generous dash of nutmeg
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, Pick something strong and flavorful to maximize the taste – the better quality the cheese, the better your dish will be! I used Black Diamond Vintage Reserved Aged Five Years Cheddar Cheese
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons seasoned bread crumbs
Instructions
- Place the dry pasta in a colander and run it under water quickly to rinse. Let drain.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the uncooked pasta, milk, salt, mustard powder and nutmeg and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Make sure to stir frequently and stay near the stove during this step – milk goes from simmer to boil very quickly and can overflow if not watched! Once the mixture is simmering, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until milk is absorbed and macaroni is fully cooked.
- Add grated cheese and stir into pasta. Turn off burner heat and cover saucepan. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add bread crumbs. Toast bread crumbs, stirring occasionally for a few minutes until browned.
- Split macaroni & cheese into 4 bowls and sprinkle two teaspoons of toasted bread crumbs onto each serving. Enjoy!
Notes
9 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) adapted from White on Rice Couple
I don’t think I could eat 1 serving at a time. I’d like to eat it all at once! I’ll have to make this for the family. Thanks for sharing!
It’s pretty yummy. I actually made this tonight for my family before I even saw this post. It does take a bit of time to make, but it truly is creamy!
Can you use light cheese to cut the fat?
I don’t see why not, but if you do that I recommend using 2% cheeses over fat free. Fat free cheese just doesn’t taste right. I usually use 2% cheeses in my recipes, but here where cheese is the star of the show I really wanted to get the best cheese flavor possible. It was worth it to me to have it be a little pointier.
Although I need to practice better portion control next time I make this, we’ll definitely have it again at our house. My pasta only needed 7-8 minutes to cook, not 15, and I’ll cut back on the salt next time. I used Cabot Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar, which was pretty good. I loved that the noodles cooked in the milk – only one pan to clean. My son, who is an expert in all things mac-n-cheese, gave this high marks
Any recipe that only leaves one pot to wash is a winner in my book :). Glad it was a hit!
Hey Emily, could I adapt this recipe to the macaroni and cheese cups? I have a feeling that I would eat the entire pot full in one sitting if I weren’t careful!
You could certainly try it! I would definitely add the egg & egg white from the other recipe to help it stay together. I haven’t actually made the mac & cheese muffins in a long time so I don’t remember how much more creamy/saucy this one is. Let me know how it works out!
Could I use almond milk instead of skim milk?
I’ve never had almond milk before so I have no idea what it’s like. You can certainly try it!
I just used soy milk and it worked! So Yummy!
Good to know – thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight! So good, and so easy! I think the hardest part was grating the cheese! Thanks for the recipe!
I love your bites, I quit smoking a year in Jan 2013, it will be, and yes have gained weight lots. I am thinking WW for weight loss and looking at your receipes why not thank you
fyi i have been using coconut milk no sugar as a sub and its worked fine.
I just made this recipe! It was so good!
I made this recipe for me and my boyfriend last night and it was SO easy! I used Cabot Sharp Cheddar which gave the mac and cheese a subtle flavor, and I think next time I might go for the cheese you used for a bolder flavor. Thank you for sharing this!
I am so happy to have found your site through Pinterest! I’ve been struggling with Weight Watchers after a month of using it, and you have so many yummy Weight Watcher friendly recipes! I’m adding this to my list. Thank you!
I know this is an older recipe, but I wanted to share that I couldn’t find that particular brand of cheese in my grocery store so I used Cabot Extra Sharp New York Cheddar and it turned out great! This recipe is delicious and so easy.
I made this for the first time tonight. Everyone loved it! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you!