Favorite Mac & Cheese – a quick & easy side dish or meatless main dish. Super easy to make and tastes great! Macaroni, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, milk, egg, cajun seasoning, and paprika. Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later. The whole family gobbled this up! #macandcheese #casserole

baking dish of our favorite mac & cheese

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Mac & Cheese with Cottage Cheese

This Mac & Cheese is a favorite at our house. We make this at least once a month, if not more often.  It is super simple to make and tastes great! This makes a great side dish or meatless main dish. You can even throw in some ham, chicken, pulled pork, ground beef, or broccoli in the pasta mixture and make this a main dish casserole.

How To Make Macaroni & Cheese From Scratch

As I said, this Favorite Mac & Cheese is super easy to make. The hardest part of the whole recipe is boiling the pasta. You don't have to make a roux and a cheese sauce. Just cook the pasta, mix in the remaining ingredients and bake.

This recipe uses cottage cheese. I know a lot of you have an aversion to cottage cheese. I don't eat cottage cheese out of the container, but it is wonderful in casseroles. It makes this Macaroni and Cheese Casserole so creamy and delicious. I urge you to give this recipe a try with the cottage cheese!

Feel free to swap the cheddar cheese for your favorite cheese. Any shredded cheese will work just fine in this recipe. You can also omit the cajun/creole seasoning if you are worried about the heat.

Can Macaroni & Cheese Casserole be Frozen?

You can make this Macaroni & Cheese ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze for later. If baking this after refrigerating, you may need to add 5 or 10 minutes to the baking time.

To bake the casserole after freezing, thaw completely and bake as directed below. To reheat the casserole after freezing, thaw completely and cover with aluminum foil. Bake the covered casserole at 350ºF for 30 to 40 minutes.

What to Serve with Easy Mac & Cheese

We absolutely LOVE this yummy Mac & Cheese. It is definitely a favorite! This is great with dinner and at potlucks. Everyone needs a quick and easy potluck recipe in their arsenal. We make this Favorite Mac & Cheese year-round. It is great with chicken, pork, steak – anything! Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this yummy casserole:

baking dish of our favorite mac & cheese

Favorite Mac & Cheese

Yield: 8 people

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 15 mins

Favorite Mac & Cheese – a quick & easy side dish or meatless main dish. Super easy to make and tastes great! Macaroni, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, milk, egg, cajun seasoning and paprika. Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later. The whole family gobbled this up! #macandcheese #casserole

  • 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
  • 8- oz pkg. shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 2 tsp cajun seasoning
  • 1 tsp paprika

  • reheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

  • Cook macaroni according to package directions, just until tender; drain.

  • Meanwhile, combine cheeses, sour cream, milk, egg and cajun seasoning in a large bowl.

  • Add cooked macaroni; stir gently to coat well.

  • Transfer to prepared baking dish; sprinkle with paprika.

  • Cover with greased aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.

Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later.

Steph

Remember this recipe.

Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!

Pin This Recipe
baking dish of our favorite mac & cheese
baking dish of our favorite mac & cheese