Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Creamy baked southern-style macaroni and cheese, a cheesy baked casserole and soul food classic.
I've lived in St. Louis for some time now, and as I've said before, it's very "southern" here in terms of cooking. One of our favorite soul food restaurants had the best mac and cheese, and that would be Sweetie Pie's. Miss Robie's recipe is easily found on the web and the local paper has published a paired down recipe for the home cook.
I'm pretty sure the location we went to in The Grove neighborhood has closed and I don't understand all the drama surrounding the closing. It was the subject of a reality TV show at one point. I just know we went often and always, always had her macaroni and cheese.
What is southern macaroni and cheese?
It's basically a custard-style baked macaroni and cheese with eggs and evaporated milk. This version uses three kinds of cheese and butter and a little sour cream. It bakes up creamy but firm, hearty and filling and absolutely delicious.
How to make this soul food classic
It's really easy, here's how:
- Cook and drain elbow macaroni and place in baking dish or pan.
- Make the custard mixture by whisking together milk, evaporated milk and eggs and some seasoning, pour mixture over macaroni.
- Add the butter, sour cream and three cheeses and stir to combine well.
- Top with more grated cheese and bake until bubbly and top is browned.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- People swear by Velveeta in this recipe, do not use a substitute. Miss Robie herself uses only Velveeta.
- While pre-packaged shredded cheese works fine, grating your own is the better option. It just melts better.
- It's going to be oily on top after baking, that's how it is with real cheeses and butter. If you think it's excessive, blot some up with a paper towel while it rests. I do sometimes.
- Reheats are great, just pop in the microwave.
- This is filling and hearty enough to serve as the main dish but most often it is a side dish. It's unbelievably good alongside collard greens and fried chicken!
Delicious soulful macaroni and cheese, doesn't get any better than this. A real treat and labor of love for Sunday supper and the holiday table. Trust me on this one! Kelly🍴🐦
Try these collard greens in the Instant Pot for some more traditional soul food.
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Southern Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 to 10 ounces elbow macaroni
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1½ teaspoons white pepper
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ½ pound Velveeta, cut into small chunks
- 8 ounces shredded Colby-Jack cheese or 4 ounces Colby and 4 ounces Monterey Jack
- 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Bring large pot of water to boil and then salt generously. Cook macaroni just shy of package directions, al dente. Drain well and place in 9" by 13" baking dish or pan.
- In same pasta pot, whisk together whole milk, evaporated milk, eggs, salt, pepper and sugar until combined. Pour mixture over cooked macaroni in pan.
- Add butter, sour cream, Velveeta, Colby-Jack and sharp cheddar cheeses. Stir to combine well and top evenly with shredded mild cheddar.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned on top. Let rest 10 minutes or so before serving. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- People swear by Velveeta in this recipe, do not use a substitute. Miss Robie herself uses only Velveeta.
- While pre-packaged shredded cheese works fine, grating your own is the better option. It just melts better.
- It’s going to be oily on top after baking, that’s how it is with real cheeses and butter. If you think it’s excessive, blot some up with a paper towel while it rests. I do sometimes.
- Reheats are great, just pop in the microwave.
- This is filling and hearty enough to serve as the main dish but most often it is a side dish. It’s unbelievably good alongside collard greens and fried chicken!
Nutrition
*Inspired by Sweetie Pie's, St. Louis and adapted from STL Post-Dispatch.
BEST recipe for baked macaroni and cheese I’ve ever found. Tastes just like Grandma’s on Thanksgiving and Easter. My only alternatives was that I used regular black pepper. I couldn’t find a Velveeta block, but I found a 8oz bag of shredded Velveeta and it was still amazing. I love it and will continue using this recipe forever!
I did this recipe with most of the original ingredients the only thing I did different is adding regular pepper in place of white pepper. Substituted the salt with Tony’s creole Chachere’s and substituted the regular velveeta cheese for velveeta queso cheese. It has be a hit at all of my gatherings!
Hi! Do you have to cover this or put it right in the oven as is?
Love this recipe....delicious so so good.....thank you for sharing...
Kelly,
I've read most of the comments here and the results sound amazing so I'm going for it!! Big questions though, has anyone tried using gluten free pasta and would the results be the same? Just wondering because it seems so many people now have a gluten sensitivity. I thought I would try this with gluten free pasta since there are so many great brands now. Thoughts?
@Jane Drucker, I made it today with Tinkyada brown rice pasta, and it seemed totally fine, pretty much indistinguishable from normal pasta. The only thing was that the cheese custard mixture did not totally 'stick' to the noodles, but I'm not sure whether that happens when you make it with regular pasta, either, since this is the first time I made this dish. I also found the cheese custard part to be a bit lumpy and next time I think I would try melting the cheeses into the sauce over low heat before mixing them with the noodles.
@Jane Drucker, I’ve made it with banza elbow pasta and it worked our very well. Also made it with a rice/quinoa one I found at Costco one time and it also worked well with that one.
I doubled the recipe to make an extra casserole to share with another family. I split one stick of butter between the two casseroles but it still came out rich and gooey and delicious. A little bit goes a long way, so I recommend several veggies to offset the richness! Easy to assemble once you have the ingredients.
Literally ate this for 6 days in a row with my family and we didn’t get tired of it, so delicious it’s one of the best southern baked Macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had!!
Everyone loves my Mac and cheese the most because of this recipe.
Hello I see that the recipe says you add the cheese, sour cream, and butter after you make the custard mixture. Do you need to heat up the custard mixture and melt any of the cheese? Or do you just put the unmelted cheese in the pan and stir it really well before popping it into the oven?
I consider myself a mac and cheese snob and have been looking for this kind of mac and cheese everywhere. Most soul food restaurants serve this stringy, wet/loose, mac that looks like it wasnt even baked. This recipe makes the mac firm yet cheesy inside, gives me the black pieces on top which I LOVE, and is simply perfect. I have never made it with sour cream and egg so I was hesitant about it but my husband and family agree this was the best mac I've ever made. Thank you for this recipe!
I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A RECIPE LIKE THIS FOR YEARS. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS WANT THIS VERSION FOREVER. IT REMINDS ME OF MY GRANDMOTHERS MAC AND CHEESE. THANKS SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS RECIPE. I USED STRAIGHT VELVEETA FOR THE NOODLES AND COLBY/MONTEREY JACK FOR THE TOPPING. IT'S GOING ON A RECIPE CARD.
Delicious!!! I highly recommend this recipe. It added a nice touch to our Easter dinner. Thank you!
The Best!!! Reminds me of holidays at my Granny’s house as a kid!! Thank you so much for bringing those memories back!! YUM!!
If I omit the sugar, what will happen? How does the sugar affect overall taste?
Fantastic every time !!! Love it ❤️