This classic gluten free mac and cheese is made with or without bacon and baked casserole-style in the oven to creamy, crispy perfection. This is our family's go-to gluten free meal when everyone's hungry and the cupboards are nearly bare!
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This is it. The meal that I make for my family once a week, every single week. I have been making it since the beginning of time, or so it seems, and although there's been a riff here and there, this is the classic mac and cheese I always return to.
How to serve casserole style baked gluten free mac and cheese
Serve this with a quick house-style salad, and you've got a complete meal. It also works beautifully as a make-ahead meal. Either prepare the entire dish through step 3 (right before baking it). Once the cooked pasta is completely cool, cover the dish tightly and store it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, or in the freezer for longer.
You can even bake it right from being frozen. Just lower the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 30 minutes before uncovering it and continuing to bake. I often throw this together early in the morning and then let it sit in the refrigerator until close to dinnertime. Then, all I have to do is bake and serve. Perfect for busy evenings!
With or without bacon
Of course, you do not have to make it with bacon. Most often, I do not make it with bacon. But I can't resist going all-out every once in a while. There was an amazing restaurant we took the children to in Boston one year that has an extensive gluten free menu—including bacon mac and cheese cooked in miniature cast iron skillets. It was so dreamy.
I have tried a number of riffs on this recipe over the years (replacing some of the cheese with roasted butternut squash puree, replacing some of the butter with sour cream or cream cheese, using more eggs, fewer eggs, using whole milk or even cream in place of evaporated milk). My family wants to kill me, though.
This is the dish that my children will beg me to make when they're grown and come home to visit. It's warm and comforting, and it tastes and smells like home. Everyone loves a classic!
Baked Casserole Style Gluten Free Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (about 4 strips) thick-cut smoked bacon diced (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 pound (16 ounces) dried gluten free elbow pasta (my favorite brand is Barilla)
- Up to 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (1 teaspoon if you are not using bacon)
- 1 can (12 fluid ounces) evaporated milk
- 4 eggs at room temperature beaten
- 12 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese grated
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.
- In a medium-size, heavy-bottom saucepan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until browned and crispy (about 5 minutes). Remove the cooked bacon from the saucepan and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Drain off the rendered bacon grease and set it aside.
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta to an al dente texture (for Barilla elbows, I cook them for 5 minutes flat).
- Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
- Add a total of 6 tablespoons (84 g) of fat (melted butter, rendered bacon grease or a combination of the two) and the salt to the cooked pasta, and toss gently to coat.
- Add the evaporated milk and mix gently to combine.
- Add the eggs and about 10 ounces of the grated cheese and the bacon pieces, and mix gently to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and scatter the remaining shredded cheese evenly over the top.
- Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil and place in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue to bake until the mac and cheese feels firm to the touch when pressed gently in the center, about another 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to set for 10 minutes before sprinkling with the optional chopped parsley, and serving warm.
Notes
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Tricia says
Absolutely love this gluten-free macaroni and cheese! My entire family, gluten eaters, and non-gluten eaters alike gobble this down. I do not use the bacon, but everything else I follow exactly to the recipe. Thank you for providing such delicious Gluten-free recipes. I never feel like I’m missing out now