This is the best mac and cheese with cream cheese recipe: comforting macaroni baked in an ultra-creamy, smooth, cheesy sauce. All you need are 6 ingredients and less than one hour.
Creamy mac and cheese with cream cheese, Gouda, or Cheddar and panko breadcrumbs. The pasta is smothered in the creamiest, tastiest, cheesiest sauce possible and topped with crunchy panko.
You can also turn this into a stovetop recipe. In this case, you will not need the panko topping. Just mix the macaroni with the sauce and serve!
Make other super comforting pasta dishes: Vegetable Lasagna with Bechamel, New England American Chop Suey, or Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese.
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Ingredients: 9 + salt & pepper | Servings: 4 | Difficulty: Easy
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Why should you use cream cheese in mac and cheese?
The main reason is that it makes the dish creamier than it would ever be without it. And that's particularly important when baking this dish.
A stovetop recipe is always creamy, even if you don't bother making a flour roux or adding cream, but that's not always the case when making baked macaroni and cheese. Cream cheese will save the day!
Recipe ingredients
- Pasta: Elbow macaroni noodles are the standard choice. However, any kind of short pasta is wonderful.
- Cheese: Sharp cheddar cheese, Gouda, or a combination of both. Use whatever you have or like best; the dish will be delicious and creamy either way. Try this Mac and Cheese without Milk next.
- Cream cheese: Full-fat cream cheese.
- Sometimes, I use Philadelphia, but often enough, I use another brand or no-name, cheaper cream cheese. The recipe works perfectly, no matter the cheese I use. The most important thing for me is to use pure cream cheese without additives or other ingredients.
- Breadcrumbs:Â Panko breadcrumbs are best for this recipe; they are larger and thus become crispier and more delicious. However, regular breadcrumbs are a good alternative, either plain or seasoned.
- Other ingredients: Butter, whole milk, all-purpose flour, fine sea salt, and ground black pepper.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make mac & cheese with cream cheese?
- Preheat the oven and cook the pasta.
- In the meantime, make the cheese sauce.
- Melt the butter in a large pan (1). Add the flour and whisk until it is lightly golden, 1-2 minutes (don't let it get dark) (2).
- Slowly pour in the milk. Whisk constantly to break up the clumps (3).
- Continue to whisk on medium heat until the sauce starts to simmer and thickens slightly (4).
- Turn the heat down to very low and add cream cheese, grated cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir well until you have a smooth and creamy cheese sauce (5).
- Drain the pasta and add it to the pan. Stir to combine (6).
- Assemble the dish: Transfer the contents of the pan to the buttered baking dish (7).
- Melt the butter needed for the topping in a small pan. Add the breadcrumbs and extra grated cheese. Stir to combine. Spread the mixture on top of the casserole. (8).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and golden brown on top.
Tips
Don't use pre-shredded cheese; its additives prevent it from melting well, and the sauce will be grainy. The best cheese for melting is freshly grated from a wedge.
Cup measuring: I googled how to measure 1 cup of grated cheddar/Gouda in grams. The answers went from 83.5 g to 113.5 g to 235 g! So I measured out of curiosity, and 1 cup of freshly grated cheese (grated on a box grater) weighed 93 g/ 3.3 oz. I rounded up 2 cups to 200 g/ 7 oz.
Double batch: Use a larger casserole dish.
How to make ahead, store, and reheat?
Make ahead: Combine cooked pasta and cheese sauce, transfer to the baking dish, and cover tightly. Refrigerate for 1-2 days. Only combine the ingredients for the topping and top the dish before baking. If you bake the mac and cheese with cream cheese directly from the fridge, increase the baking time a little bit. Or let the dish come to room temperature before baking for about 30 minutes.
Refrigerate cream cheese mac and cheese in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Reheat before serving.
Freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator. Defrosted mac and cheese tends to be a bit grainy, not as creamy as it was before freezing.
Reheat the creamy macaroni in the oven to keep the topping a bit crispy (it will still not be as super crispy as freshly baked). You can use the microwave, but the topping will lose its crispiness completely.
How to serve?
- Main course: Serve with salad or roasted or steamed vegetables on the side. As a main dish, the recipe will serve 4 people.
- Side dish: A perfect side dish for Roasted Chicken, Hot Lemon Pepper Wings, Baked Curry Chicken Wings, Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs, or Air Fryer Pork Roast. As a side, the recipe will serve 6-8 people.
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📖 Recipe
Mac and Cheese with Cream Cheese
Equipment
- Round casserole dish or a cast-iron pan - 9 inches/23cm (Note 1)
- Large skillet
Ingredients
Mac and cheese:
- ½ lb elbow macaroni Note 2
- 2 ½ tablespoons butter Note 3
- 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk whole or semi-skimmed (min. 1.5% fat)
- 2 cups Gouda or sharp Cheddar grated
- ½ cup cream cheese
- a few gratings of nutmeg
- fine sea salt and ground black pepper
Topping:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup Gouda or Cheddar grated
Instructions
Mac and cheese:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Butter the casserole dish (no need to butter a cast-iron pan).
- Cook macaroni: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt generously and cook ½ lb pasta according to package instructions.½ lb elbow macaroni
- In the meanwhile, make the cheese sauce.
- Roux: Melt the butter in a large skillet. Sprinkle the flour on top and whisk until the flour is lightly golden, 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour the milk into the mixture while constantly whisking to break up the clumps. Whisk on medium heat until the sauce starts to simmer and thickens slightly.2 ½ tablespoons butter + 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour + 2 ½ cups milk whole
- Add cheese: On the lowest heat possible, add cream cheese, 2 cups of grated cheese, a few gratings of nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir well until smooth. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.½ cup cream cheese + 2 cups Gouda or sharp Cheddar + a few gratings of nutmeg + fine sea salt and ground black pepper
- Combine: Drain macaroni. Add them to the pan and stir to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
- Topping:
- Combine topping ingredients: Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Stir to combine. Cover the mac and cheese with the mixture.1 tablespoon butter + ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs ; ¼ cup Gouda or Cheddar
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and golden brown.
Notes
- Baking dish: You can also use a square/rectangular casserole dish of similar capacity. If using a casserole dish, butter it first.
- Pasta: Any other short pasta is excellent.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted; adjust the salt accordingly.
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