Turn the flame off and add in the salt and spices.

This is a good time to get a silicon spatula and scrape the sides of the pot to make sure it’s all combined and there are no flour-y lumps.

You’ll know it’s ready when it coats the back of a spoon.

Cook the milk with the butter and flour mixture until it gets nice and thick.

After the butter and flour are cooked into one another, milk is added. A roux is one part butter and one part flour.

The first step to making the sauce, is making a roux.

To make the crunchy bread crumb topping, you want to combine the bread crumbs with melted butter and a pinch of salt.

How to Make Creamy Baked Macaroni and Cheese I say you do you! I personally think a bread crumb topping is the move.

Crunchy top! Some people LOVE a crunchy bread-crumb topping.

More info below on the type of cheeses and breakdown, but you need a good amount of cheese in order to make it, well, cheesy! Liberal amount of cheese! This recipe uses a pound of cheese.

I NEVER rinse my pasta but in this case, I want to get rid of any extra starch that will contribute to a thicker sauce. I learned this tip from The Kitchenista! In my opinion, it’s a bit too saucy for a stove-top macaroni and cheese, but for a baked version the ratios are perfect. The saucier the macaroni and cheese is, the less likely it’ll dry out in the oven. I didn’t want that for this macaroni and cheese so here are some things that we did in order to achieve creamy while baked. I’ve always struggled with baked macaroni and cheese because it can dry out very quickly.

Macaroni and cheese roux no flour