Today I sampled Panera's new Signature Macaroni and Cheese. It was a cozy bowl of comfort. According to Panera's website, a small serving (7.75 oz) of their mac and cheese has 490 calories and a large serving (15.5 oz) has 980 calories.Here is my own simple version of Panera's mac and cheese. The recipe in a more printable format follows below the photo walk through.
Boil about 12 oz of pasta shells, lightly salting the water to keep from boiling over. Slightly undercook the pasta. Set aside.
Microwave 4 tbs of butter with 8 tbs of flour for two minutes, stirring with a whisk after each minute.
Then slowly add 2 cups of milk, stirring with the whisk constantly.
Microwave the entire mixture for several minutes, stirring after each minute, until sauce thickens and takes on a matte finish. How many minutes will depend on the power of your microwave. (Mine took about 6 minutes).
Add 8 oz. grated Vermont white cheddar to sauce. The sauce should be hot enough that the cheese will melt as you stir. If not, you may add the cheese then microwave a little more.
For an extra creamy sauce, pour a small amount of the pre-cheese sauce into a separate bowl, add one egg and beat vigorously, then return the reserved sauce to the original sauce.
Combine pasta and sauce, then pour into a well-greased baking pan. In these images I am using an oven-safe bowl. The pasta will absorb some of the liquid, so don't worry if the mixture seems more liquid-y than the way you would normally serve pasta.
Cover the pasta and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until bubbling and starting to become golden.
Enjoy!
Imitation Panera Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients:
12 oz pasta shells
4 tbs butter
8 tbs flour
2 cups milk
6-8 oz grated Vermont white cheddar cheese
1 oz grated American cheese (optional)
1 egg (optional)
Boil about 12 oz of pasta shells. Slightly undercook the pasta. Set aside.
Microwave 4 tbs of butter with 8 tbs of flour for two minutes, stirring with a whisk after each minute. Then slowly add 2 cups of milk, stirring with the whisk constantly. Microwave the entire mixture for several minutes, stirring after each minute, until sauce thickens and takes on a matte finish. How many minutes will depend on the power of your microwave. (Mine took about 6 minutes).
Add grated Vermont white cheddar to sauce. The sauce should be hot enough that the cheese will melt as you stir. If not, you may add the cheese then microwave a little more. For an extra creamy sauce, pour a small amount of the pre-cheese sauce into a separate bowl, add one egg and beat vigorously, then return the reserved sauce to the original sauce. Add cheese to taste. I used an entire 8oz block. Add a dash of grated American cheese (optional).
Combine pasta and sauce, then pour into a well-greased baking pan. The pasta will absorb some of the liquid, so don't worry if the mixture seems more liquid-y than the way you would normally serve pasta. I used a 9 by 9 in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees covered for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and starting to become golden.
Enjoy!
5 word review: mmmm mm mmmm mmm mmm!
ReplyDeleteWe visited Panera and asked the cashier what was in the mac & cheese sauce, she grabbed a list and read off: Cream, butter,sharp & mild Vermont white cheddar & American cheese
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this recipe! I tried it last night for Thanksgiving and it was a hit!
ReplyDeleteMmmm Glad to find this--I just had their mac n cheese and was like, OMG NEED THE RECIPE!!!! My mac and cheese is good, but not creamy at all.
ReplyDeletethank you!! can't wait to try this.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I decided this would be the perfect lunch today, did a quick search for a recipe and your blog came up. It looks perfect and I'm about to give it a try. Happy New Year!
ReplyDelete"Add cheese to taste. I used almost an entire 8oz block"
ReplyDeletedid you mean add cheese to paste? I don't understand that part of the directions. The 8 oz means that you added another 2 oz of cheese after you beat the egg right?
thank you for the recipe !! I can't wait to try it out. I've been craving panera style mac and cheese
Lilly,
ReplyDelete"Add cheese to taste" means "add as much cheese as you like" or "add enough cheese to satisfy your personal taste."
I made this recipe again over the holidays, adjusting it slightly. Now I would recommend using the entire 8 oz block right away and scaling back the amount of pasta used. It seems that the more sauce the better. My advice is to cook up a healthy amount of pasta, say the original 16 oz, then once you have made the sauce, add the pasta little by little, stirring well, so you can judge the sauce to pasta ratio for yourself. If you have leftover pasta, you can use it for another recipe the next day.
Thank you to all for the comments! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteTried this last night and it was a big hit. I even forgot the egg part and it was still delicious and creamy. I increased the recipe (added 4 tbsps of flour, 2 tbsps of butter, 1 cup of milk, and some extra of both cheeses) I also substituted half and half in place of a cup of the milk.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, a big fan of the Panera version, loved it! Thanks so much for putting this on the blog.
I've been looking around for a recipe similar to Panera Bread's mac&cheese, and this is perfect! Thanks so much for posting this!
ReplyDeleteWe are making this now, and it tastes very sharp and cheddar-y... too sharp cheese flavor as compared to Panera's. I wonder if we were supposed to use mild white cheddar? We used Cabot classic vermont white cheddar.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome recipe!! I just had Panera Bread's mac and cheese this week, and was dying to try to recreate it. While I didn't use the best cheese (just regular orangy-cheddar), the creaminess made up for it. My kids (2 and 4) gobbled it up too. I would never have thought to make a white sauce in the microwave, but it worked out perfectly!
ReplyDeleteI just made this last night and was surprised that salt & pepper were not mentioned in the recipe, so I did not add them. It was MUCH too bland without it though so I will add it next time. It wasn't quite as creamy as the Panera version so I think I'll add some half & half next time as well. Thanks for giving us something to start with!
ReplyDeleteOh, and instead of melting the butter & everything in the microwave I just used the pan from the pasta noodles. Why dirty another dish? :)
I made this about a week ago and forgot to come back and comment. The only changes I would make would be to add a dash of pepper, and cook the pasta completely and don't bake it. I'm not sure if it was the flour in it, but when I baked mine it came out very gummed up and dried out, I think it was perfect and creamy before baking!
ReplyDeleteThis recipe cannot compare with Panera Mac 'n Cheese! The Panera ingredients are: Skim Milk, Cheddar, Colby and American cheeses, Soybean oil, Whey, salt and Sodium phosphate. NO flour or egg! I agree with Holly B. Cook the shells well done and do not bake it. All in all...this recipe is a waste of ingredients, time and effort! Purchase it at Panera's and enjoy the Mac 'N Cheese!!
ReplyDeleteWow...I am stunned by the rudeness of a couple of these posts! If you don't like the recipe, just don't make it again..you don't need to be rude to the person who went to the trouble of figuring it out! Our society is losing its social skills at an alarming rate!
ReplyDeleteI agree, the one comment is unbelievably rude. This recipe doesn't include oil and chemicals (sodium phosphate)...how refreshing! Thank you for taking the time to post your recipe, it is delicious! I did add salt and pepper to mine, but everyone has different tastes. As for the rude comment above, this recipe is not a waste of ingredients, but your comments are a waste of everyones time. Maybe you can't follow the directions on the recipe and ruined your own mac and cheese, because this is a delicious dish!!!
ReplyDeletethanks so much for the recipe! I had panera's mac and cheese today and was dying to find the recipe!! Thanks for taking the time to write it out for all of us mac n cheese lovers out there and agreed if you want to be rude then don't bother writing on here! Everyone has their own opinion on how they like theirs cooked, and you are wasting your time and being negative on the wrong person and should be yourself your probably upset with!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Thanks sooo much for posting this! Tomorrow I'm going to make this for my family! I can't wait and I'll tell you how it is tomorrow! Thanks again! =]
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried this yet, but i will, it sound wonderful
ReplyDeleteThank you for your effort and time to figure out the recipe for us
Love Panera mac and cheese
Does anyone know what would happen if you substituted part of the butter for gourmet olive oil??
ReplyDeleteThanks!
James
I really like the idea of this recipe. I agree that it could probably go without baking and be fine. I had never done a roux in the microwave before and I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. I think I should have done it on the stove because after the 2 minutes I noticed that it was really thick. I don't know if anyone else had this problem but it really made the sauce too thick and it wasted a clean dish. Other than this odd problem the flavor was great! I think the egg really helped. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.
ReplyDeleteif it is too thick then add a little more milk... ;)
ReplyDeleteYou ROCK! My daughter loves the stuff, and I don't love paying through the nose from it. Have not tried it yet, but based on the ingredients it will be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world would you fuss with the microwave when making the sauce when it is so easy to do on the stovetop?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this recipe! I was with my daughter & granddaughter in the Panera restaruant in Des Moines, IA today and had their macaroni & cheese as we always do when we go there. Having a recipe for it at home will not keep us from having it when we visit a Panera restaruant. Panera is a wonderful place for family dining!
ReplyDeleteJust finished making your recipe!!! PERFECT =) Thank you so much for taking the time to write/share..My son loves Panera's Mac and Cheese! Now he will come home for mom to make it for him..Wow! it's the best.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to try this recipe because we LOVE Panera's mac and cheese. Mine got way too thick even though I did add more milk. No one really liked it. I am hoping for some more advice as I bought a lot of the vermont cheese and it's not cheap!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there's a difference between using the Cabot White Vermont Cheddar Cheese or the Kraft Cracker Barrel White Vermont Cheddar Cheese? Is one better than the other?
ReplyDeleteThis was good, but too floury I thought. Next time I'll use less flour because the sauce would have been plenty thick with only 6 T. added. I didn't bake mine because it looked too delicious pre-oven :) I will definitely make again with less flour and the addition of a few seasonings. Thanks for the recipe! :)
ReplyDeletejust tried the mac & cheese today and I have to agree panera's is the best fast food mac yet. right away my daughter wanted to know if I could make this and since I make a bang up comfort food orange style I went surfing for a white cheddar receipe. This looks perfect and I'm gonna make it next week and take it to her for a review. I'll check back after I've cooked some.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I changed it up a bit though and it's brilliant. I used sharp cheddar and colby jack 1/2 of each. I also used 1/2 and 1/2 in place of most of the milk. I added and tiny bit of salt and pepper. It tastes great! If you're going to bake it add the egg and 1 more cup of milk or 1/2 and 1/2. If you're eating it off the stove sans the egg and extra milk. Awesome recipe!
ReplyDeleteThis was delicious! I made with a different type of pasta though. I also reserved a tad bit of the cheese to sprinkle on the top and also added some shaved parmesan on top.
ReplyDeleteGiving this a try today for Christmas eve dinner. My daughter loves Panera's Mac and Cheese. I still have not found a good Mac and Cheese recipe. So I have high hopes this one is going to work for me :). Wish me luck everyone.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone ever think that the Mac and Cheese at Panera is not homemade. That it is a mix.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the recipe. I will try it out this weekend!
ReplyDeleteHello. I haven't tried this recipe yet, but Panera's recipe for the mac and cheese was published in the People Magazine on 9/8/10 at the following link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20408595,00.html
I'm hoping its authentic! Enjoy!
I wrote to Panera asking the ingredients for their Mac and Cheese because of food allergies to mustard and a few other ingredients that were rumoured to be in this dish. They sent me the exact recipe and it is nothing like the recipe posted here or the link posted above from People Magazine. There are no eggs, mustard or hot sauce in the original. Since the dish is mass produced it's difficult to get all the same ingredients (and some of them you wouldn't want anyway!) but I used the basic whole foods and made a very close version of the original. The main secret is this is not a baked Mac and Cheese, but a stove top version, which is one of the reasons it's so creamy. A butter/flour/cornstarch roux, white cheddar and white American cheese, whole milk, cream and evaporated milk are the main ingredients. Always use equal amts of butter to the flour/cornstarch. This recipe posted has way too much flour for the amt of butter.
ReplyDeleteI was making this recipe, and it was turning out great. The sauce was perfect. Then we put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and the sauce completely cooked. There was no way to fix it.
ReplyDeleteMoral of the story: Don't use the microwave. Just use the double boiler.
Sounds Great can't wait to try it. My son will be very surprised:)
ReplyDeleteANNIE,
ReplyDeleteIF U KNOW SO MUCH WHY NOT POST THE RECIPE THAT PANERA GAVE U...
Thanks for sharing, I saved to my delicious.com links for future reference!
ReplyDelete