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Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese (Dairy-Free Option)

Shirley Braden

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Have you had good gluten-free Macaroni and Cheese since going GF? Today, I’m here to help with an easy and wonderful recipe for Mac and Cheese. Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese.

Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese from Gluten Free Easily

My mom has traditionally been the one who makes Macaroni and Cheese for all our family gatherings. She started making gluten-free Macaroni and Cheese during the holidays several years ago so that I could enjoy it with everyone else. I was so grateful, especially because I know my mom can make it truly safe for me. (As we know, not everybody understands how to do that.)

This year at Thanksgiving, Mom wasn’t planning to make Macaroni and Cheese. She told us that her contributions to Thanksgiving for our driveway sharing of menu items before eating safely on our own would be mashed potatoes and deviled eggs.

And we were quite happy that she chose to make those two dishes as both are much-loved recipes of hers. As an added bonus, she’s been making her mashed potatoes without dairy whenever Son will join us at the table and they’re always as delicious as ever.

However, Mom has not ventured into making her Macaroni and Cheese dairy free. I get that. Using dairy-free “cheese” successfully in recipes can be more complicated—sometimes a lot more complicated—and dairy-free cheese is not always readily available in our area.

Son requested gluten-free, dairy-free Mac and Cheese this year so I decided to break my personal hiatus from making Macaroni and Cheese and make a version that he could enjoy. Because my mom always delights us with her recipe, I’ve only made the classic dish myself a handful of times.

Surprisingly, the last time I remember making it, I actually made it in the microwave. It was my same basic recipe, with an attempt to expedite its completion by using the microwave. It worked but quite unsurprisingly, it didn’t have that same baked goodness without actually being baked in the oven. 

So, I planned to skip the microwave this time and make a gluten-free Macaroni and Cheese dish that would taste wonderful whether it was made with “regular”—aka dairy-full cheese—or dairy-free cheese.

I also have strong opinions on Macaroni and Cheese recipes and which ingredients should be included—or which ingredients should be left out. I’m a big fan of recipes that focus on the macaroni and the cheese. I’m not as keen on recipes that have a bunch of other add-ins.

I’m not saying that Macaroni and Cheese recipes that include other ingredients like eggs and gluten-free flour can’t be delicious. I’m sure there are many such recipes that are special but as always on gfe, I like to keep things as simple as possible.

But because I was making a dairy-free version for us, I wanted to be sure that the cheese factor lived up to our expectations. At the last minute, that meant adding three different kinds of cheese—ones that I had on hand—and the combination of those cheeses with the usual basic ingredients in my Macaroni and Cheese worked. They worked so very well!

At the last minute, Mom actually did make her gluten-free Macaroni and Cheese this year and gave us a small container to take home. We all ate the Mac and Cheese recipe that I’d made for our Thanksgiving meal but later when the leftovers came out, Son’s girlfriend ended up eating Mom’s Mac and Cheese.

She loved it—as she has always loved all of Mom’s cooking—but she reported that it was not quite as good as my Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese. Wow.

Hearing her review, I beamed of course. Admittedly, I think the fact that three different types of cheese are used in this recipe definitely take it up a notch.

Oh, and we all agreed that we would never share the “even-better-than-Grandma’s” assessment with Mom. Never ever. So, keep that tidbit quiet! Please.

Gluten-Free-Dairy-Free-Extra-Cheesy-Macaroni-and-Cheese

I apologize for the lack of photos of this dish but we felt famished by the time we got home from our visit and quickly chowed down on our Thanksgiving meal. It was only when we were re-heating leftovers that I had time to snap photos—and that was of a single serving after reheating.

Of course, I could make you wait until I make this Mac and Cheese again and have time to take lots of photos but I really don’t want to do that. Because you’ll want to make this recipe soon!

It should not be reserved just for holidays and other special occasions either but it is certain to make any meal special. And that’s always a good thing in my opinion.

Plus, we officially head into Winter next week and winter is the ultimate season for enjoying comfort food. This Extra Cheesy Macaroni and Cheese is Comfort Food with a capital “C” and a capital “F.” Enjoy!

Mochi Duraflame Woodstove Rug

Oh, and try to stay warm and cozy like my grand dog, Mochi, clearly was at the moment I took this photo. As you can see, as soon as Mochi left the spot but only after I turned the heater off, Dozer took her place. With his size and all his magical fibers of joy and love flying around, I’m really glad he waited until the heater was turned off!

More Gluten-Free Comfort Food Dishes

A Few of the Comfort Food Dishes on gfe

~ Chicken and Rice Casserole

~ Creamy Slow Cooker Swiss Steak

~ Easy Mexican Casserole

~ Pot Pie

Some Gluten-Free Comfort Food Dishes from Friends

~ Brisket and Cornbread Casserole

~ Cheeseburger Fries

~ Potato-Vegetable Chowder (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)

~ Waffled Tater-Tot Tostada

Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaron and Cheese Close-up Photo

Yield: 8 servings

Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese (Dairy-Free Option)

Extra Cheesy Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese from Gluten Free Easily

If you're looking for an easy and wonderful Macaroni and Cheese recipe, this is the one for you. In fact, it's extra cheesy and tastes just as delicious when you make it dairy free (whenever you need that option).

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces uncooked gluten-free pasta (elbows, penne, spirals, etc.)
  • 4 tbsp butter or margarine (I use the soy-free Earth Balance in pink tub)
  • ½ cup milk, whole, 2%, or full-fat canned coconut milk (I use canned full-fat coconut milk)
  • 7 ounces American cheese slices, chopped into small squares (see notes and I use Follow Your Heart dairy-free American slices)
  • 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (I used Follow Your Heart dairy-free medium cheddar shreds)
  • 2 to 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, shredded/grated (I used Follow Your Heart dairy-free shredded Parmesan)
  • ½ tsp salt (more or less to taste)
  • ½ tsp black pepper (more or less to taste)
  • ½ tsp paprika (more or less to taste; I used smoked paprika)

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions. (I like to add a little extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt after the pasta comes to a boil.) Drain pasta using a colander running a little cold water over the pasta to stop it from cooking further.
  2. Do a quick hot water scrub, rinse, and wipe of pot in which you cooked the pasta to remove the sticky residue that results from cooking the pasta.
  3. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease 2-quart baking dish and set aside.
  4. While pasta continues to drain, add butter and milk to the now clean pot that you cooked the pasta in. Over medium-low heat on your stove top, keep stirring until the butter is melted. Add in drained noodles, American cheese, and cheddar cheese. Stir vigorously a minute or two until most of the cheese melts.
  5. Pour mixture into greased casserole dish.
  6. Bake 15 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle Parmesan evenly over the top of the pasta mixture and sprinkle paprika over all. Turn on broiler, place casserole on second rack down from broiler and broil for a couple of minutes until the cheese on top of the casserole is melted. Watch carefully to ensure the cheese topping does not burn.

Notes

With the American cheese slices stacked on top of each other, I use a knife to make a grid and cut all the way through the slices to get small squares of cheese to ensure better melting when the squares are stirred in with other ingredients.

© Shirley Braden
Cuisine: American / Category: Vegetables and Side Dishes
Originally published December 14, 2020.

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Filed Under: Vegetables and Side DishesTagged With: cheese, Christmas, mac and cheese, mac n cheese, noodles, pasta, Thanksgiving6 Comments

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Comments

  1. Lisa says

    December 14, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    DEFINITELY making this!! I cannot wait and I know my family will be thrilled! Thanks for another great recipe! And Dozer and Mochi are adorable!!!

    Reply
    • Shirley Braden says

      December 15, 2020 at 11:02 pm

      Yay, Lisa! I’m so happy to hear that. Fingers crossed that you and your family will rate this Macaroni and Cheese as highly as we do! Can’t wait to make it again next week (and how can Christmas be next week?!). Thanks so much for the sweet words on Dozer and Mochi. These dogs (and our Sandy) both keep us sane and drive us mad at times. LOL 😉 Seriously, they’re good pups. Now if we could just do away with those commercials with the ringing of doorbells! That’s one of our Christmas wishes. 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply
      • Lisa says

        December 20, 2020 at 9:18 pm

        OH MY GOODNESS!! This recipe wins best mac n cheese at my house! So cheesy (DF) and so satisfying, this dish was a huge hit! Thanks to you and your mom!!

        Reply
        • Shirley Braden says

          December 20, 2020 at 10:34 pm

          Woohoo, Lisa!! Thank you so much for your review! 🙂 I’m thrilled that you all loved this recipe—even the dairy-free version like I made for Thanksgiving. This recipe is not actually a variation of my Mom’s recipe (I probably wasn’t clear on that) but she certainly instilled my, as well as the rest of the family’s, love of good Mac and Cheese over the years! 😉

          Merry Christmas to you and your family!
          Shirley

          Reply
  2. Donna Wendt says

    December 18, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    This looks and sounds delicious. Where did you find that brand of Cheese. Since I’m dairy free,
    Thanks in advance !

    Reply
    • Shirley Braden says

      December 18, 2020 at 10:13 pm

      Thanks, Donna! You can find Follow Your Heart cheese in a lot of grocery stores. Here’s their store locator so you can enter your zip code. I actually order these and other dairy-free products online via sites like Vegan Essentials and Rebel Smuggling Galactic Emporium. The costs can seem high, especially because shipping is expensive for cold stuff but it is worth it in my opinion. But for trying items the first time, you might be better off buying it from a store (with curbside pickup) before you buy in bulk. Hope all that info helps!

      Merry Christmas!
      Shirley

      Reply

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