{"id":2597,"date":"2026-03-22T14:21:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/?p=2597"},"modified":"2026-03-22T14:21:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:21:49","slug":"creamy-baked-mac-and-cheese-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/22\/creamy-baked-mac-and-cheese-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Ingredients:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb dried elbow pasta<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup unsalted butter<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup all-purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>1 1\/2 cups whole milk<\/li>\n<li>2 1\/2 cups half and half<\/li>\n<li>4 cups shredded cheddar cheese<\/li>\n<li>1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon salt<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 teaspoon black pepper<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 teaspoon paprika<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 teaspoon garlic powder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Instructions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Preheat your oven to 180\u00b0C (350\u00b0F). Lightly grease a baking dish.<\/li>\n<li>Cook the elbow pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.<\/li>\n<li>In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.<\/li>\n<li>Add the flour and whisk continuously for about 1\u20132 minutes to make a smooth roux.<\/li>\n<li>Slowly pour in the milk and half and half, whisking constantly until the sauce becomes smooth and thick.<\/li>\n<li>Reduce heat to low and stir in the cheddar, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. Mix until fully melted and creamy.<\/li>\n<li>Add salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Stir well.<\/li>\n<li>Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and mix until evenly coated.<\/li>\n<li>Pour everything into the prepared baking dish.<\/li>\n<li>(Optional) Sprinkle extra cheese on top for a golden crust.<\/li>\n<li>Bake for 20\u201325 minutes until bubbly and lightly golden on top.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use freshly shredded cheese for the best creamy texture.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t overcook the pasta before baking.<\/li>\n<li>Add breadcrumbs on top if you want a crispy finish.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Enjoy your rich and creamy baked mac and cheese<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese\u00a0 Ingredients: 1 lb dried elbow pasta 1\/2 cup unsalted butter 1\/2 cup all-purpose flour 1&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recipe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2599,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions\/2599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}