This Keto Macaroni and Cheese is based off of our family recipe, made keto friendly! This southern baked style macaroni and cheese recipe is made with a 7 cheese, slightly spicy cheese sauce and low carb elbow noodles for a truly indulgent bite. It's perfect for any occasion.
So many low carb macaroni cheese recipes are actually cauliflower mac, (like this low carb cauliflower version we have) but we wanted the real thing with low carb noodles. This cheesy baked dish was a staple growing up in Chamere's household. Over the years, we've worked together to create a stellar mac and cheese recipe that is requested by family members, even grandma!
Learn how we take our carb laden version of this family recipe and flipped it. It can be used with any noodles you like, but this recipe is actually made without a roux! Our low carb version of this traditional dish is only 6 net carbs per serving! You won't be disappointed. 🙂
If you are looking for more hearty sides, be sure to check out these air fryer fingerling potatoes, our air fryer spaghetti squash with cheesy garlic filling recipe, and this spinach artichoke dip!
Keep reading from a note from Chamere, too! He is always behind the camera but wanted to pop in to talk about his love of the recipe.
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❤️Why you'll love this
- Ultimate comfort food - This mac and cheese is the perfect ooey gooey crispy and cheesy bite!
- Easy to customize - With this recipe, it's easy to switch out the noodles and cheese for something more tailored to you!
- Great for many occasions - Whether you have a special occasion like a holiday get together or you just want a delectable side tonight, this recipe is always in your toolkit.
- Crowd pleaser - We have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like this recipe! All of our friends request it for parties and Chamere's grandma approves. (This recipe is inspired by her!)
🧀Ingredients
✏️Ingredient notes
Here is a list of ingredients, you can see the recipe card for quantities and nutritional information.
- Low carb macaroni noodles - You can use anything you like here, even cauliflower florets or rice if you prefer. We always have Great Low Carb Company noodles in our pantry, and while they aren't a super clean gluten free ingredient, we absolutely adore them when the pasta craving strikes. We order ours here off Amazon.
- Unsalted butter - This is the base of the cheese sauce.
- Seasoning blend- As we mentioned, we make our mac and cheese slightly spicy, and the kick of heat in this is just right. Our family is always so pleased with the taste. Keep this in mind and season to yours taste to suit your own preferences. We use: onion powder, garlic powder, our homemade cajun seasoning blend (we will post the recipe below), mustard powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, and of course a little kosher salt and pepper.
- Heavy whipping cream - This recipe uses heavy cream instead of evaporated milk and whole milk that are used in our traditional recipe. It helps thicken the cheese sauce without the use of a roux, or many keto versions that use cream cheese.
- Cheeses - This southern baked style mac and cheese sauce consists of 7 different cheeses! You can use your favorite varieties, but we do recommend shredding the cheese fresh so it melts properly. The other "rule" we'd say to follow is that most of the cheeses should have a bit of a milder taste, with a couple sharper type cheeses that give a little bite to balance out the flavors. We use a mixture of Colby jack, Havarti, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, pepper jack, white cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese.
- Optional add-ins: If you like breadcrumbs on traditional mac and cheese, substitute them with pork rind crumbs or low carb bread crumbs. We don't prefer it on ours, but do what you like!
📖Instructions
Prepare mac and cheese noodles of choice just a few minutes under what the package suggests. Make sure to boil the noodles in very salty water to help season the noodles. (We recommend about 2 tablespoons of salt to prepare 8 ounces of noodles). We also don’t want the noodles to get overcooked, so we want them al dente.
After noodles are cooked, immediately drain and run under cold water to prevent it from cooking any further. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Heat a saucepan or skillet over medium heat, then add butter. Once butter is melted, stir in the dry seasonings, reserving the salt and pepper for later, we will add it to taste after stirring in some cheese. Cook the butter and seasoning mixture for about 1 minute, whisking continuously.
Add in the heavy whipping cream very slowly, while whisking continuously. Simmer for about 5 minutes, don’t allow to boil.
Stir in around ⅔ of the cheese, reserving some to top. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted and smooth, this will take around 5-10 minutes.
Once smooth, stir in the cooked pasta to combine. Top with remaining cheese.
Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Broil for 2-3 minutes to get the top nice and crispy if desired.
👨🏾🍳A note from Chamere!
Hey everyone! Southern Baked Mac and Cheese is something that is near and dear to my heart. Growing up, I would be so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas to come. My grandma would wake up at 3am and start making enough food for a small army.
Turkey braised in gravy, potato salad, stuffing, and the show stopping, life changing, mood elevating mac and cheese that I could not get enough of. She'd make enough for family and friends (and there were a lot of them!) She always had that perfect blend of gooey, cheesy, crispy mac that never disappointed.
Every year, I would come over, hang with the family, and leave with several take home boxes of her mac recipe. As we changed over to low carb, I would still allow myself the mac and cheese but had to rein in the amount I ate.
Now that we cook for a living, it was a joy to make something inspired by all of those times with my grandma and family. The best part is she had it and she approves! I hope this mac and cheese recipe brings you as much joy as it has over the years. We gave our all to making this recipe to add to the family tradition. Enjoy!
🌟Tips & tricks
- For the noodles: Cook the noodles in very salty water. Slightly undercook the noodles according to the package directions so that they don't become gummy. After cooking, drain hot water and rinse in cool water to stop the cooking process.
- For the cheese: It's really important to use only freshly shredded cheese. Pre-shredded will not work because it won't melt properly. You can use any mixture of cheeses you like here. Just make to use mostly mild cheeses, and then a few sharper cheeses to balance out the flavor.
- Seasoning: Season to taste! We make our own cajun seasoning blend that has some salt in it already, so be aware of this. Also, some of your cheeses will add salt (like parmesan) so don't salt too much until the sauce is nearly ready. You can add whatever amount of seasonings you like, and please keep in mind that we like this mac and cheese with a little kick.
🧂Cajun seasoning blend
(This makes a large batch of 14.5 tablespoons, we will only use 1 teaspoon for the mac and cheese!)
- The following seasonings we will use 2 tablespoons of each: Kosher salt, oregano, smoked paprika (you could use regular paprika, but we prefer smoked paprika), onion powder and garlic powder.
- We will use 1 tablespoon each of the following seasonings: thyme, cayenne pepper, and black ground pepper.
- Finally, crushed red pepper is optional, but we use ½ tablespoon of it. It’s not a traditional ingredient for cajun seasoning, but we love it. You can omit if you want!
🧀More recipes to try
- Cajun Chicken Alfredo
- Creamy Mozzarella Shrimp Pasta
- Cauliflower Rice Mac and Cheese
- Steak and Seafood Skillet with Creamy Parmesan Sauce
Need more ideas? Be sure to check out this massive list of over 85+ low carb and keto friendly recipes on our site!
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🥣Storage
Store your leftover mac and cheese in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in microwave, oven, or air fryer.
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📖 Recipe
Keto Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cooked great low carb elbow noodles
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 8 ounces heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces Colby jack, freshly shredded
- 4 ounces Pepper jack, freshly shredded
- 3 ounces Cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
- 3 ounces low moisture part skim mozzarella, freshly shredded
- 2 ounces Havarti, freshly shredded
- 2 ounces white cheddar, freshly shredded
- 2 ounces parmesan, freshly shredded
Instructions
- Prepare mac and cheese noodles of choice just a few minutes under what the package suggests. Make sure to boil the noodles in very salty water to help season the noodles. (We recommend about 2 tablespoons of salt to prepare 8 ounces of noodles). We also don’t want the noodles to get overcooked, so we want them al dente. After noodles are cooked, immediately drain and run under cold water to prevent it from cooking any further. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Heat a saucepan or skillet over medium heat, then add butter. Once butter is melted, stir in the dry seasonings, reserving the salt and pepper for later, we will add it to taste after stirring in some cheese. Cook the butter and seasoning mixture for about 1 minute, whisking continuously.
- Add in the heavy whipping cream very slowly, while whisking continuously. Simmer for about 5 minutes, don’t allow to boil.
- Stir in around ⅔ of the cheese, reserving some to top. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted and smooth, this will take around 5-10 minutes. Once smooth, stir in the cooked pasta to combine. Top with remaining cheese, and bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Broil for 2-3 minutes to get the top nice and crispy if desired.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, or in the oven.
Notes
- For the noodles: Cook the noodles in very salty water. Slightly undercook the noodles according to the package directions so that they don't become gummy. After cooking, drain hot water and rinse in cool water to stop the cooking process.
- For the cheese: It's really important to use only freshly shredded cheese. Pre-shredded will not work because it won't melt properly. You can use any mixture of cheeses you like here. Just make to use mostly mild cheeses, and then a few sharper cheeses to balance out the flavor.
- Seasoning: Season to taste! We make our own cajun seasoning blend that has some salt in it already, so be aware of this. Also, some of your cheeses will add salt (like parmesan) so don't salt too much until the sauce is nearly ready. You can add whatever amount of seasonings you like, and please keep in mind that we like this mac and cheese with a little kick.
- To make your own cajun seasoning blend: (This makes a large batch of 14.5 tablespoons, we will only use 1 teaspoon for the mac and cheese!)
- The following seasonings we will use 2 tablespoons of each: Kosher salt, oregano, smoked paprika (you could use regular paprika, but we prefer smoked paprika), onion powder and garlic powder.
- We will use 1 tablespoon each of the following seasonings: thyme, cayenne pepper, and black ground pepper.
- Finally, crushed red pepper is optional, but we use ½ tablespoon of it. It’s not a traditional ingredient for cajun seasoning, but we love it. You can omit if you want!
Richard Smith says
15gs isnt keto since the allotted amount of carbs is 15-20 a day. This is nothing more then mac and cheese.
Briana says
Many people (including my husband) can eat up to 60g of net carbs per day and still be in ketosis. Everyone is different. To lower the carbs for this recipe, you can use shirataki noodles or any other noodle that you see fit. I'd like to point out though that there are 15 grams of total carbs for this recipe, but only 6 grams of NET carbs when you subtract the 9 grams of fiber.