This creamy, cozy three cheese macaroni and cheese is made from scratch with a blend of white cheddar cheese, gruyere, and pecorino romano (but it's easy to customize!)
When it comes to restaurant quality mac and cheese, a great cheese blend is your secret weapon. In this easy stovetop recipe, we're using three distinct cheeses to create a rich, cozy sauce that feels layered and complex.
Serve this simple recipe as-is, or top with a handful of toasted garlic breadcrumbs for added texture. This pasta is also a great blank canvas if you'd like to add any protein or veggies!
Ingredients Overview
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
- We chose radiatore noodles here, but use whatever pasta you like! (Learn more in our review of the best noodles for mac and cheese.)
- Milk. We recommend 1% or 2%. You can use whole milk if you'd like a richer sauce.
- Butter and flour form our roux, which thickens the cheese sauce.
- Fresh cracked black pepper adds a ton of dimension here. Stir some right into the sauce, and top the finished pasta with a few extra turns of pepper before serving.
Cheeses
In over a decade of homemade mac and cheese recipe testing, we've found the best cheese combinations for mac and cheese strike a balance between strong flavors and mild ones. For a 3 cheese pasta, we like to follow this general guideline:
- 1 flavor powerhouse
- 1 sharp, salty cheese
- 1 creamy, mild, smoothly-melting cheese
In this recipe, our testers' favorite combo was a blend of ultra-flavorful gruyere cheese, sharp, salty pecorino romano, and a smooth-melting white cheddar.
Shred your own cheese
Store bought shredded cheeses are often coated with preservatives and anti-caking agents that prevent them from melting smoothly. For best results, buy blocks of cheese and shred it yourself.
Variations and Substitutions
- Add protein. Crispy bacon or pancetta, chicken (try this Dutch oven pulled chicken), ham, or sausage are all good here.
- Add veggies. Stir spinach, kale, broccoli, peas, or caramelized onions into this pasta.
- Extra spices. Add a dash of garlic powder, paprika, dry mustard, or cayenne pepper if you'd like more spice (similar to our spicy mac and cheese!) This sauce is also good with a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
Step by step instructions
Cook the pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous pinch of kosher salt, then add your pasta and give it a stir.
Timing Tip: Put water on to boil, then start the sauce in a separate pan. After you whisk the milk into the sauce, drop the pasta into the pot of boiling water: It will cook while the sauce thickens. When the pasta's done, the cheese sauce will be ready to go!
Make the sauce
Melt butter in a large saucepan; add all purpose flour and whisk to form a roux. Let this cook for a minute or so, until the roux is bubbly and fragrant. Add milk a little at a time, whisking constantly to work out any lumps.
Keep the sauce just below a simmer, whisking frequently, until it thickens. Turn off the heat, then add cheeses, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese has fully melted.
Transfer cooked pasta to the cheese sauce. Stir until noodles are evenly coated, then taste and add salt or pepper as needed.
Pro Tip: Use a spider strainer or slotted spoon to transfer pasta directly from the boiling water to the cheese sauce. This lets a few drips of starchy pasta water to fall into the sauce, which helps it cling to the noodles.
A note about mac and cheese
There are two main styles of macaroni and cheese: The French-leaning version builds a creamy sauce using a basic stovetop béchamel sauce (comprised of a flour-and-butter base - called a roux - with lots of milk). Southern mac and cheese is typically baked, and it sometimes features eggs or evaporated milk in addition to a blend of cheeses and seasonings.
The "right" way to make macaroni and cheese is different for everyone. Our mac and cheese recipes have plenty of riffs and mix-ins, and they lean towards the French style.
FAQs
We love pairing rich macaroni and cheese with a lighter side salad or roasted veggies. Some of our favorite side dish recipes:
- Lemon Arugula Salad
- Spinach Balsamic Salad
- Lemon Roasted Broccoli
- Cumin Roasted Carrots
You can also pair this pasta with a heartier protein. Try our Maple Dijon Chicken, lemon garlic chicken, or the fall-apart tender beef roast from our crockpot french dip recipe.
There are so many good combinations of cheeses for mac and cheese.
When making a 3 cheese mac and cheese, we like to follow this rule:
- 1 flavorful cheese (like gruyere, smoked gouda, sharp cheddar cheese, or goat cheese)
- 1 salty, sharp cheese (like parmesan cheese, asiago, or pecorino romano)
- 1 creamy, mild cheese that melts well (like white cheddar cheese, cream cheese, fontina, or havarti)
We tested this recipe with several different combinations of the above cheeses. They were all good, but the white cheddar + gruyere + pecorino romano blend was our testers' favorite!
Learn more: The Best Cheese for Mac and Cheese.
For more cheese blend inspiration, find some of our favorite 2-cheese combos in these recipes:
- Mushroom mac and cheese (gruyere + goat cheese)
- Jalapeno popper mac and cheese (white cheddar + cream cheese)
- Smoked gouda mac and cheese (smoked gouda + white cheddar)
- Spinach mac and cheese (parmesan + cream cheese)
You can use half and half or heavy cream in place of some or all of the milk here if you like, although we really don't find it's necessary to use such heavy dairy products here.
If you do use heavy cream for this mac n cheese, just keep in mind that the béchamel will thicken more quickly, and you'll end up with a VERY rich sauce.
Pre-shredded cheese is often coated with preservatives and anti-caking agents that prevent it from melting smoothly. For best results, buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself.
If you ever have a cheese sauce that is grainy or clumpy, you can also zap it with an immersion blender for a few seconds to smooth it out (Learn more: immersion blender uses).
Yes! For baked mac n cheese, undercook the pasta slightly (it will continue to cook in the oven). Make the sauce and assemble as directed, then transfer mac and cheese to a buttered baking dish and top with lightly toasted panko breadcrumbs. You can also skip the bread crumbs and bake this mac and cheese in a cast iron skillet (or a casserole dish) with just additional cheese on top, à la our spicy mac and cheese.
See this method in action (along with step by step photos) in our smoked gouda mac and cheese recipe,
📖 Recipe
Three Cheese Mac and Cheese
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: American
Description
This creamy homemade mac and cheese uses a simple blend of three cheeses for a rich, complex sauce. Ready in under an hour!
Ingredients
- ¾ pound pasta (we used radiatore)
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- ¾ cup shredded white cheddar cheese (3 ounces)
- ¾ cup shredded gruyere cheese (3 ounces)
- ¾ cup shredded pecorino romano cheese (2 ounces)
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta in very salty water until it’s al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour to form a roux and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Whisk the milk into the roux a little at a time, making sure to work out all the clumps so you have a smooth sauce. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until milk has thickened, about 6-10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Add all three cheeses, a pinch of kosher salt, and a few turns of black pepper; stir until cheese is fully melted.
- Add cooked pasta to cheese sauce; stir to combine. Taste and add seasonings if needed. Top with a few more turns of cracked black pepper and serve immediately.
Notes
Additions and Substitutions. Add cooked protein (chicken, chorizo, diced ham, bacon) or veggies (broccoli, peas, spinach) to this mac and cheese to make it heartier. Top with toasted bread crumbs for additional texture.
Customize the cheese blend. Feel free to adjust the cheese blend to suit your tastes! We recommend using one strong or flavorful cheese (like gruyere, smoked gouda, or goat cheese), one sharp/salty cheese (pecorino romano, parmesan, or asiago), and one mild cheese that melts well (white cheddar, cream cheese, havarti, fontina).
For best results, shred your cheese yourself! Store-bought cheeses are often coated with preservatives that keep them from melting smoothly. If your cheese sauce is grainy or clumpy, smooth it out with an immersion blender before adding the pasta.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 456
- Sugar: 5.9 g
- Sodium: 471.7 mg
- Fat: 18.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 50.3 g
- Protein: 21.1 g
- Cholesterol: 56.4 mg
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
This 3-cheese combo is just UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. Classic and simple and so cozy.