Creamy Baked Gluten Free Mac and Cheese Recipe
This is the best baked gluten free mac and cheese you will find. The pasta is baked with a creamy cheese sauce and topped with parmesan bread crumbs.
To me, baked mac and cheese is the definition of classic comfort food. My mom would make mac n cheese before she stopped eating gluten. She would start with butter and wheat flour to make a roux, then she would add milk and cook until it boiled and thickened. Stir in cheese and bake it with pasta. We are doing the exact same method except it will be gluten free. I’m so excited to share this with you all today because I do believe that this is some of the best homemade macaroni and cheese you can make.
Table of Contents
The Keys to Success: Creamy Cheese Sauce
There is no doubt in my mind that the cheese sauce is the most important part of mac and cheese. Making a roux with white rice flour gives you the best results and there is no noticeable difference between rice flour and wheat flour. I put 2 to 3 tablespoons of rice flour in the recipe as guidelines for how thick the sauce will get. For a traditional consistency use 3 tablespoons. If you want a looser sauce to coat the pasta use less flour.
I cannot recommend that you use a gluten-free flour blend. Every gluten free flour is different and makes the consistency of the cheese sauce unpredictable. Do yourself a favor and buy the white rice flour and use it for all of your sauces that start out as a roux. If you are trying to avoid rice in your diet, one option is to use potato starch or potato flakes. The potato starch can be swapped out with the rice flour and potato flakes are added last to thicken to your desired consistency. Please note, that potato starch is not a 1:1 ratio to rice flour.
The Keys to Success: The Pasta
I really enjoyed using Barilla gluten free elbow pasta. The cooking process was the same as regular pasta and the final texture was fantastic. I didn’t even run the pasta under cold water. I just made sure to cook it to al dente according to the package instructions. I highly recommend giving the pasta a try as I believe it is your best option.
The Milk
I used cow’s milk in my mac and cheese because I prefer the taste, fat content, and consistency it gives. However, you can use skim milk, almond milk, or soy milk.
The Crunchy Topping
The gluten-free breadcrumbs are certainly optional but they add another dimension to this already fabulous dish. I especially love the parmesan which adds more savory and salty dimensions. I used store bought breadcrumbs but you can certainly make your own. It’s especially easy if you have a food processor.
Your recipe looks too bland plain…
Ummm, okay. Well, you can certainly add more flavor. A teaspoon of onion powder, garlic powder, and/or smoked paprika will give you a nudge in the right direction. My suggestion is to try this first and then make modifications the second time.
What other cheeses could I use?
You can use a combination of cheddar cheese or use a combination of soft goat cheese, gruyere, and, brie. The combinations are endless and delicious. There are also quite a few kinds of cheeses from Mexico that are widely available. Roasting and pureeing a poblano or adding chipotle would make for a yummy mac and cheese. Let me know if you try any variations.
How do I make this vegan?
Substitute the following.
- For butter use vegan butter
- For milk use your favorite non-dairy milk
- For cheese use your favorite vegan cheeses
Special Equipment and Ingredients
- Casserole Dish – Emile Henry 9x 9
- Cheese Grater – Cuisinart Boxed Grater
- White Rice Flour – Bob’s Red Mill Organic White Rice Flour
- Pasta I used – Barilla Gluten Free Elbows 12 Oz
Gluten Free Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 to 3 tablespoons white rice flour
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 3 cups milk
- 1 Bay leaf
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese manually shredded
- 8 ounces gluten free pasta I used Barilla gluten free elbow pasta
- Salt and black pepper
- 3/4 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
- 1 ounce grated parmesan cheese finely grated
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the white rice flour and mustard powder and whisk to combine. Cook for five minutes whisking constantly. The color of the roux will change and that’s okay.
- Pro tip: Place the milk in a pyrex and microwave for 5 minutes while the butter and rice flour cook. Keep an eye on the milk to make sure it doesn’t spill over in the microwave. This will save you some time whisking over a hot stove.
- After 5 minutes, increase to medium heat and add the milk and bay leaf to the butter mixture. Whisk constantly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes and remove the bay leaf.
- Meanwhile, add your gluten-free pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions to al dente.
- Off heat add the cheddar cheese to the sauce and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning, I usually start with 1 tsp salt and go from there. Add the drained gluten-free macaroni and stir to combine.
- In a medium bowl, add the gluten free bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and melted butter. Stir to combine.
- Pour the macaroni and cheese into an 8 by 8 baking dish and top evenly with the bread crumb mixture. Cook time is 30 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes after it comes out of the oven.
- Enjoy!
