Tini's Viral Baked Mac and Cheese ‐ Gluten-Free Version
| Pasta/Rice/Potato Salads and Casseroles | Printable Recipe |
We have tried so many different baked mac & cheese recipes, tried to create our own even, and were always underwhelmed. Tini's recipe went viral for good reason! It's delicious! You can see a video here with preparation directions. We use Tinkyada Pasta elbows, and Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 flour. I'm sure any brand of gluten‐free products will work for this recipe. They have been around for ages, and make an amazing product. Some of their shapes don't hold up so great, but their elbows are a winner!
Serves: 7
Ingredients:
- 16 Ounce Tinkyada Brown Rice Elbows Boil 8 minutes, strain and rinse with cold water.
- 1⁄2 lb Mozzarella Hand Shredded
- 1 lbs Monterey Jack Hand Shredded
- 1⁄2 lb White Sharp Cheddar Hand Shredded
- 1⁄2 lb White American Cheese Sliced
- 1 T Garlic Powder
- 1 T Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp. Mustard (Prepared or Dry Powder) We omit this.
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 Sploosh of pepper. Pepper with your heart
- 3 Tbsp. Butter Melted in a pan.
- 3 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten‐Free Flour Or your favorite gluten-Free flour
- 12 Ounce Evaporated Milk
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- Milk to thin if needed.
- Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
- We use Tinkyada Elbows, specifically. That brand and shape holds up very will in baked dishes and cold salads. It also tastes just like regular pasta. Only on the first day in cold salads. However, any brand will work, even wheat pasta.
- Boil pasta for 7 minutes. It will cook more when baked. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside to drain.
- Shred all the blocks of cheese, except sliced American. Split the shredded cheese in half into two bowls. Set one aside for later.
- In your pasta pot, melt the butter. Add spices and stir around. Let them cook in the butter for a couple seconds. Then add flour and stir constantly over a medium heat to cook the flour. This is called a roux.
- Add evaporated milk still stirring constantly. Then add heavy cream, still stirring constantly. Bring this to a simmer, still stirring constantly. Remove from heat but leave the burner on.
- Add American Cheese one slice at a time and stir until melted. Return to heat at any time. Gradually add one of your bowls of shredded cheese in same manner. It's important to not do this on the heat; you want it just hot enough to melt the cheese. Only return to heat if it needs to be warmed up; it may cool down as you add your cheese. If you heat these cheeses too much they can quickly overcook and get grainy.
- If the texture of your cheese sauce is super thick, you can add milk a splash at a time until it gets to the right texture. Watching Tini's video will really help with this part (video linked in Prep Notes.)
- Stir in you cooked cold pasta. Pour half into a greased casserole dish. Top with half of your remaining cheese. Pour other half of noodle mixture into pan and top with the other half.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Then switch the oven to broil and broil until desired amount of golden on top. WATCH CLOSE! This will not take long at all. It gets browned and bubbly very fast.
- Remove from oven and enjoy! This mac & cheese reheats very well!