No.15 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Baked macaroni and cheese

Made famous by Martha Stewart

Photo: @joefoodie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Martha Stewart's Perfect Macaroni and Cheese, Martha Stewart Living, and The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, 2000.

The most searched comfort food in America. Martha's baked version, with a béchamel, two cheeses and buttered crumbs, has been her most requested recipe for decades.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics.

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter, divided, plus more for the dish
• 6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4-inch pieces
• 5 1/2 cups (1.3 L) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 4 1/2 cups (about 18 oz, 510 g) grated sharp white cheddar, divided
• 2 cups (about 8 oz, 225 g) grated Gruyère, divided
• 1 lb (450 g) elbow macaroni

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 375F (190C). Butter a 3-quart baking dish.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter, toss with the bread pieces in a bowl and set aside.
3. Warm the milk in a saucepan until steaming. In a large pot, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat until bubbling. Whisk in the flour and cook 1 minute, whisking.
4. Slowly pour in the hot milk while whisking. Keep whisking until the sauce bubbles and thickens enough to coat a spoon, 8 to 12 minutes.
5. Off the heat, stir in the salt, nutmeg, pepper, cayenne, 3 cups of the cheddar and 1 1/2 cups of the Gruyère until melted. Set aside.
6. Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water 2 to 3 minutes less than the package says; it should still be quite firm. Drain, rinse briefly under cold water and drain well.
7. Stir the macaroni into the cheese sauce and pour into the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheeses and the buttered bread.
8. Bake about 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the edges bubble. Rest 5 minutes before serving.

Chef's tips

• Undercooking the pasta keeps it from turning to mush in the oven.
• Grate your own cheese; pre-shredded has starch that makes the sauce grainy.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics by Martha Stewart: get the book.

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