Easy Dutch-Oven Mac n Cheese
This easy dutch-oven mac n cheese is a specialty in this house. It’s crispy on top, but oh so creamy within. The sauce is a cheesy sauce, with milk and cheddar cheese. The top is a combination of more cheese and crackers (or bread crumbs, my personal favorite). All of this makes a perfect dutch-oven mac n cheese and it’s one for the books!
I do have a very similar recipe to this, but I’m going to tell you four reasons why this dutch-oven recipe is better!
Fewer pans to wash:
Who doesn’t like fewer pans to wash? If you cook your mac n cheese in a dutch-oven, you only have that and the noodle pan to wash! With the more “casserole” version, you have the noodle pan, saucepan, meat pan, and the actual casserole dish to wash! So this recipe is a much better way.
The dutch-oven creates more crevices:
The dutch-oven is deeper than a 9×13, so that creates more crevices for the sauce to creep through and able to coat everything in and out.
It’s convenient:
Since you’re mostly making everything in the dutch-oven, when it’s time for the oven, you can just slide it in!
Makes it nice and toasty
A dutch-oven keeps a hot temperature. So when it cooking in the oven, it warms it up and keeps the top toasty and the inside warm and creamy.
Now onto the recipe!
Ingredients:
- 8 Tbsp butter
- Half onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 cup noodle water
- 2 cup milk (I like to use raw milk. If you have soured raw milk(clabber), this is a good thing you can use for!)
- 3-3.5 cups cheddar cheese, plus more
- ½ cup fresh parmesan cheese, plus more
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 16 oz penne
- Butter Crackers
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Cook your noodles in a large pot according to the box. When you go to drain them, save at least two cups of your noodle water for the sauce later on.
In your dutch oven, cook your onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook till browned. Put in a pie plate and set aside.
In the same dutch-oven, add your butter. Once melted, add the seasonings and flour to make a roux. Cook it for about one minute. Add your noodle water, whisking as you go. Then add your milk, again whisking it. Keep whisking till it thickens, it may take a few minutes, but it will thicken.
Once it starts bubbling around the edges, take it off the heat and add the cheese. Stir it in till it’s all melted. Then add the ground beef and noodles. I have a 3.5 qt dutch oven that I use and it pretty much fills it to the top.
Sprinkle more cheese on top and crunch the crackers to make crumbs.
Put in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
Take a heaping spoonful and gobble it all up!
~Becky 🙂
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