Oh, the ooey-gooey goodness of homemade mac and cheese. This macaroni and cheese with ham and peas is one of our favorite weeknight meals.This is THE perfect way to use up leftover ham. It is quick, easy, and versatile. You have SO many options here. Keep it plain or make it fancy. Either way, this will be your new go-to homemade mac and cheese base recipe!
Ingredients for Basic Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
As mentioned above, if you aren’t big on ham or peas, this is still the perfect “base” recipe. You can make this a couple of different ways. You can do a basic skillet macaroni and cheese by making the entire thing in a skillet and serving it creamy (my kids’ favorite way). The other option is to BAKE it…
Elbow macaroni – Butter – Corn starch – Whole milk – Ground dry mustard – Ham – Add some protein to your mac and cheese. Peas – Sharp cheddar cheese – shredded about 4 cups
Baked Homemade Mac and Cheese
The recipe below is for a baked macaroni and cheese with ham and peas. The “topping” is just an added layer of cheese. The added cheese makes for a slightly crisp, bubbly layer on the top, which is amazing (and easy).You can also broil for a minute or two instead of baking if you still want the extra creamy noodles and just a light crusty topping. In my opinion, this is the best of both worlds — just be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get scorched.I also love making a crumb topping with equal parts Panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese (about ½ cup each or so). If you want to get even fancier, you can use a stuffing mix as your topping instead. The possibilities are endless!
The Cheese(s)
My favorite cheese to use with homemade mac and cheese is sharp cheddar. Sometimes I even use extra sharp cheddar—the flavor be a little much for the kids, though. I usually end up doing a blend of cheeses. The last time I made this I actually used a blend of sharp cheddar and Havarti. I love the taste of the sharp cheddar and the smooth, creaminess of the Havarti. Havarti just melts so well (and gives you those beautiful cheese pulls.. as illustrated below).
Mix-in Options
If ham and peas aren’t your thing, no biggie. You can make your homemade mac and cheese any way you’d like. Here are a few ideas that you can add in to make this dish your own:
BaconSpinachBBQ pulled pork (seriously though, try it with the BBQ pork because it is amazing)ShrimpGround beefBroccoliOnionsSmoked sausage
Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese
This homemade mac and cheese can EASILY be made GF, mainly because the roux for the sauce is made with corn starch, not flour, like most recipes. You will find that the corn starch makes the sauce so it is not gritty at all.Really, the only thing you need to do to make this gluten-free is swap out the macaroni noodles for GF mac. We used the Barilla Elbow Macaroni to make the GF version (the Barilla GF pasta have been my favorite GF noodles so far). My family honestly didn’t even taste a difference.The same rules apply for GF noodles as below—make sure they are under-done a bit before adding to the sauce if you are baking this dish. See that picture below? Yeah, that right there is the GF version! Yum!
Quick Tips
Remember– make sure the noodles are UNDER cooked, especially if you are going to bake it (same goes for the gluten-free version). Muy importante. Also, use cheese that has NOT been pre-shredded. Trust me, if you do NOT want a gritty mac and cheese you will shred it yourself. It’s not that hard…it builds muscles…and character. 🙂
Frequently Asked Questions
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