Try our 7-Cheese Southern Baked Mac and Cheese! It's seasoned to perfection with Cajun seasoning and a blend of savory spices. This soulful mac and cheese is ideal for family gatherings, potlucks, Sunday dinners, special occasions like holiday meals, and more! Bursting with cheesy goodness, this Southern-style mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food.
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When it comes to mac and cheese, it's one of those foods that everyone tends to love. This is the best Southern baked mac and cheese with a blend of seven different kinds of cheese! It's a family staple every holiday in our household, and we've made some updates to the family recipe to make it even more packed with flavor.
Looking for more delicious recipes to serve for Thanksgiving dinner? Try our honey cornbread muffins with whipped honey butter, this old fashioned sweet potato casserole, these Brussels sprouts with bacon and balsamic, this pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust, this sweet potato cornbread, or this cheesy cauliflower!
Wash it all down with a festive Aperol sour, this pumpkin martini, or this creamy espresso martini with Baileys!
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❤️Why we love this recipe
- Comfort food classic. This soul-warming dish is hearty and beloved. It's comfort food at its best.
- Made with staple, simple ingredients. Nothing special is needed to make this recipe. All you need are a few pantry and kitchen staples, and anything you don't have can be found at any grocery store.
- Made from a variety of cheeses. The use of seven different cheeses creates a complex and rich flavor profile that's ooey-gooey and irresistible to cheese lovers.
- Crowd-pleaser. This dish is one of our most requested for gatherings. It's a family favorite and is loved by all. It's guaranteed to be a hit for gatherings with loved ones and the first thing to go.
- Beautiful blend of textures. A southern style mac is beloved for its perfect mix of ooey gooey, creamy, and crispy! It is delectable in every sense of the word!
🧀Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.
- Cheese - We used fresh blocks and shredded them. Make sure you shred your own cheese to ensure even melting and consistency in this dish! Using a blend of any 5-6 cheeses of your choice plus parmesan for more flavor is the way to go! We recommend using a mix of mild, sharp, and aged cheeses to bring the mac to the next level!
- Note. The cheeses we used are just our preference for this recipe. Mac and cheese is versatile, so please feel free to experiment with your cheese selection!
- Cajun seasoning. Use an unsalted Cajun seasoning blend or make a homemade version to avoid oversalting the dish. We will provide our cajun seasoning recipe blend in the FAQs.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions & Variations
Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this recipe.
- Low carb & keto. We have a keto mac and cheese recipe that you can follow!
- Gluten free. Swap your elbow macaroni noodles with your favorite gluten-free pasta, and use a gluten-free 1:1 flour instead of all purpose flour.
- Vegetarian. Use cheeses that are vegetarian-friendly.
- Less spicy. Reduce the amount of Cajun seasoning and/or cayenne to your preference.
- Crunchy topping. Add cooked bacon bits or breadcrumbs right before baking for an additional crunch and flavor.
- Smoky. Incorporate smoked cheeses or a little liquid smoke for a smoky flavor.
- Herby. Add thyme, rosemary, parsley, and or chives for a herby twist on this dish.
- Different cheeses. Feel free to mix and match your favorite cheeses in this recipe! Smoked gouda, Havarti, Gruyere, Fontina, Monterrey jack, and more all make excellent additions to this mac and cheese!
🔪Prep work
- Bring a large pot of salted water for your macaroni.
- Hand shred your cheese or use a food processor to shred it. Set aside in a large bowl.
- Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
📋Instructions
In a large Dutch oven on medium heat, melt the unsalted butter. Add the flour to the melted butter and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, while whisking to prevent clumping or burning. Cook until it is golden brown to remove the flour flavor. This will make the roux. (Image 1)
Next, slowly add in the heavy cream, milk, and evaporated milk while whisking continuously. Simmer for 5 minutes and don't allow it to boil. (Image 2)
Keeping the heat low, add in the mustard, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, and Cajun seasoning to the milk mixture. (Image 3)
Mix well until fully incorporated. (Image 4)
Using only ⅔ of the cheese (reserving some to top), slowly melt handfuls of batches into the mixture. Melt slowly until all of the cheese is fully mixed before adding another batch. (Image 5)
Continue until the cheese sauce is well mixed and a creamy texture is achieved. Add salt to taste if desired. Keep on low heat and stir occasionally to prevent any sticking. (Image 6)
✨Pro Tip: Melt the cheese slowly! Adding tons of cheese will reduce the heat of the mixture, make the sauce clumpy, and be much more difficult to stir with a whisk slowly and steadily.
Prepare your noodles. Cook the macaroni of choice until a minute or two before al dente (per the instructions on the packaging). When done, use a large skimmer to drain the noodles for a second before adding them to a buttered casserole dish. (Image 7)
in the casserole dish, combine the cooked macaroni and the creamy cheese sauce gently with a rubber spatula. (This will prevent too many noodles from breaking apart). (Image 8)
✨Pro Tip: Undercooking the noodles just a bit will prevent them from becoming mushy. As they continue to cook when baking in the oven, undercooking them actually prevents them from becoming overcooked!
Take the remaining cheese and top the macaroni evenly from top to bottom. (Image 9)
Bake the macaroni for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 5-7 minutes for the top to set and get crispy. (Image 10)
Top with parsley and black pepper and enjoy!
✨Tips & tricks
- Use freshly shredded cheese. Use freshly shredded blocks of cheese, as pre-shredded cheese can have anti-caking agents that can affect the consistency of the cheese sauce.
- Add the milks and liquids slowly. Adding in the liquids slowly while whisking will prevent lumps and clumps in the texture.
- Melt your cheese on low heat. Higher heat does not equal faster melting. Melt your cheese on lower heat to prevent the cheese sauce from becoming grainy.
- Let it rest. Letting the dish rest after baking will allow it to settle, become crispy, and settle for easier serving and better bites.
- Add ins and toppings. Feel free to add your favorite toppings or add ins to this dish. Green onions, cooked bacon bits, bread crumbs, and cooked proteins are just a few options to choose from with this versatile dish.
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💭Frequently Asked Questions
Store any leftover mac and cheese in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or the air fryer.
This recipe can be frozen and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, but it freezes much better if you freeze it before baking rather than after baking. The texture may change.
Yes! You can prepare a day or two in advance. Simply cover and keep in the fridge for up to 48 hours at the point right before the mac and cheese goes into the oven. When ready, bake until golden brown like normal. This may require more time to cook as the dish is coming straight from the refrigerator to the oven versus being warm already.
The following makes a very large batch, and we only use 1 - 2 tablespoons and reserve the rest for other recipes. DO NOT use the whole batch of the spice mix in this recipe!
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (or regular paprika)
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional, and not a traditional ingredient)
What To Serve This With
- Fried chicken, biscuits, and mac and cheese are a match made in comfort-food heaven, serve this mac and cheese with our honey butter chicken biscuit for a full meal!
- Pair this mac and cheese with this Collard greens soup with ham and beans!
- Mac and cheese pairs wonderfully with turkey for Thanksgiving. Try our buttery turkey recipe, which is a no-brine turkey recipe!
- Hosting for Christmas or New Year's Eve? Serve this mac alongside a classic pineapple honey glazed ham, or this slow cooker prime rib!
- If you're hosting a seafood boil, mac and cheese is a natural choice! Serve with our Cajun seafood boil recipe!
🍴More Recipes To Consider
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📖 recipe
📖 Recipe
Southern Baked Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- cheese grater
- large stockpot
- skimmer (or colander)
- 13x9-inch baking dish
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 16 ounces macaroni elbow noodles (or shape of choice)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 24 ounces evaporated milk (about 2 cans)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1-2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (to taste)
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons mustard
- 4 ounces low-moisture part skim mozzarella, freshly grated
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces mild cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces pepperjack cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces colby jack, freshly grated
- 4 ounces Swiss cheese, freshly grated
- 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt, to taste (this will really depend on the cheeses you use)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of salted water for your macaroni. Hand shred your cheese or use a food processor to shred it. Set aside in a large bowl. Prepare a buttered baking dish.
- In a large Dutch oven on medium heat, melt the 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Add the ¼ cup of flour to the melted butter and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, while whisking to prevent clumping or burning. Cook until it is golden brown to remove the flour flavor. This will make the roux.
- Next, slowly add in the 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 cup of milk, and 24 ounces of evaporated milk while whisking continuously. Simmer for 5 minutes and don't allow to boil.
- Keeping the heat low, add in the 2 tablespoons of mustard, 2 tablespoons of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, ¾ teaspoons of cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, and 2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning to the milk mixture. Mix well until fully incorporated.
- Using only ⅔ of all of the cheese (reserving some to top), slowly melt handfuls of batches into the mixture. Melt slowly until all of the cheese is fully mixed before adding more and until a creamy texture is achieved. Add salt to taste if desired.
- Cook the 16 ounces of macaroni elbow noodles until a minute or two before al dente (per the instructions of the packaging). When done, use a large skimmer to drain the noodles for a second before adding them to a buttered casserole dish.
- In the casserole dish, combine the cooked macaroni and the creamy cheese sauce gently with a rubber spatula. (This will prevent too many noodles from breaking apart).
- Take the remaining cheese and top the macaroni evenly from top to bottom.
- Bake the macaroni for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 5-7 minutes for the top to set and get crispy.
- Top with parsley, black pepper, and bread crumbs if you like and enjoy!
- Store any leftover mac and cheese in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or the air fryer.
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
- Use freshly shredded cheese. Use freshly shredded blocks of cheese, as pre-shredded cheese can have anti-caking agents that can affect the consistency of the cheese sauce.
- Add milks and liquids slowly. Adding in the liquids slowly while whisking will prevent lumps and clumps in the texture.
- Melt your cheese in batches. Adding tons of cheese will reduce the heat of the mixture, make the sauce clumpy, and be much more difficult to stir with a whisk. Slow and steady!
- Melt your cheese on low heat. Higher heat does not equal faster melting. Melt your cheese on lower heat to prevent the cheese sauce from becoming grainy.
- Undercook the noodles. Undercooking the noodles just a bit will prevent them from becoming mushy. As they continue to cook when baking in the oven, undercooking them actually prevents them from becoming overcooked!
- Let it rest. Letting the dish rest after baking will allow it to settle, become crispy, and settle for easier serving and better bites.
- Add ins and toppings. Feel free to add your favorite toppings or add ins to this dish. Green onions, cooked bacon bits, breadcrumbs, and cooked proteins are just a few options to choose from with this versatile dish.
- To freeze. This recipe can be frozen and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, but it freezes much better if you freeze it before baking rather than after baking. The texture may change.
Samantha says
The cheese sauce is definitely key to making this rich and creamy! My sister and I made a double batch for our family and hand grated each cheese. We swapped half regular noodles for chickpea noodles and added way more Cajun spices (because that's just how we like it) and it was amazing! We also sprinkled some goat cheese and parmesan on tip before we baked it. What I really love is the fact that this is so filling you will get more servings per person out of it than you think!
Briana says
Ooooh love the addtion of goat cheese - yum!!! Thanks for noting your swaps too - and so glad to hear that it worked out! Truthfully, we like a little extra cajun seasoning in there too, we land somewhere in the middle with the "spicier" spices when we write it out for people because we figure that not everyone likes it as spicy as us! 😂 Thanks for including this recipe in your holiday celebrations! 😍