Sheet Pan Macaroni and Cheese Gives You Crispy, Cheesy Topping in Every Bite
Did you know it’s possible to make macaroni and cheese on a sheet pan? It’s a little unconventional, but if your favorite part of baked macaroni and cheese is the crunchy, buttery crust on top, baking your macaroni on a sheet pan is a great way to expand your macaroni’s surface area and get as much of that crunchy topping as possible.
Preheat your oven to broil, and set the top oven rack about six inches under the broiler. Boil some elbow macaroni according to the package directions. While that’s happening, make your macaroni and cheese sauce.
This is actually a pretty classic macaroni and cheese sauce. Melt some butter in a saucepan and use it to cook some diced shallot and minced garlic until they’re fragrant. Whisk in some flour and paprika and let the flour cook in the butter until it starts to brown. Then whisk in milk, heavy cream, and some Dijon mustard. The flour will thicken the milk and cream nicely, and you’ll see it start to look like a proper sauce. Then stir in cheddar and Parmesan cheese, then the cooked pasta. Mix it all together and add some salt and fresh black pepper, if necessary.
Then just spread the pasta into a greased sheet pan and sprinkle the top with panko breadcrumbs and shredded cheddar cheese. Broil the pan for about five or six minutes, rotating the pan every so often to make sure the heat is distributed evenly over the pasta. In about five minutes the pasta will be golden, delicious, and ready to eat, and you’ll have a bite of that crispy breadcrumb topping in every single forkful. I would tell you to make sure to save the leftovers for lunch, but looking at this recipe, I don’t think you’ll have any leftovers. At least not for long.
Get the recipe: Sheet Pan Mac and Cheese from Damn Delicious
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