Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni

19 Reviews
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Photo: Oxmoor House
Yield
8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
October 2000
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

This lightened recipe for macaroni and cheese keeps all the cheesiness with half the fat and calories.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 2/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
  • 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded fontina or Swiss cheese
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded extra-sharp
  • cheddar cheese
  • 3 ounces light processed cheese (such as Velveeta Light)
  • 6 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 3 cups uncooked)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Cooking spray
  • 1/3 cup crushed onion melba toasts (about 12 pieces)
  • 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, softened

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 350
  • Caloriesfromfat 29%
  • Fat 11.2g
  • Satfat 6.3g
  • Monofat 2.9g
  • Polyfat 0.9g
  • Protein 18g
  • Carbohydrate 42.4g
  • Fiber 2.1g
  • Cholesterol 32mg
  • Iron 1.9mg
  • Sodium 497mg
  • Calcium 306mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°.

Step 2

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Add cheeses; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in macaroni and salt.

Step 3

Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Combine crushed toasts and butter in a small bowl; stir until well-blended. Sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Chef's Notes

MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

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Ratings & Reviews

aimrehab's Review

ScienceChick
January 06, 2015
Love this recipe. Very cheesy and the definition of comfort food.

Gmk82282's Review

Jihan07
July 22, 2013
Great recipe! Baked it in my ninja 3 in one cooker and it made a really nice bottom crust. Instead of Melba toast, I used ritz crackers and omitted the butter. Much better recipe than basic Mac and cheese. Family loved it!

nnadiofuvnap's Review

aimrehab
March 25, 2013
Good but not great. There's a little too much flour. Unless you eat it right away, the recipe gets pasty. The cheese combination is good. The sharper cheeses are key. I added some ground mustard (1 tsp.) and white pepper (3/8 tsp.) for tang. Be careful to hold off on the salt until you add all the cheese to the thickened white sauce and taste for salt!

ahbiblybleereg's Review

runs4fd
January 14, 2013
N/A

EllenDeller's Review

Gmk82282
December 31, 2012
Really good, creamy mac and cheese. I use regular Veveeta b/c it costs less (??) and Swiss instead of Fontina for the same reason. Also used 1/2 whole wheat pasta & added some dried garlic and onion to the milk, as well as a tsp. of dried mustard and extra seasoned pepper. Also like to use crushed cheese crackers for the topping (they don't need any extra butter). Good with lots of different sides: kale, green salad, glazed beets, green beans or broccoli. I usually make two vegetables since this is pretty rich.

lollypaul's Review

wellfed59
October 22, 2012
I made both this and the Bacon Mac for my daughter-in-law's birthday dinner, and the Bacon Mac won out by far. I used skim milk and reduced fat cheddar, regular Velveeta (couldn't find the light), and a parmesan/romano/asiago shredded mix, and swiss rather than fontina. I used whole-wheat elbow macaroni, and garlic melba toasts on top. We loved the topping, but cooking it for 30 minutes just seemed to dry it out. Next time? We will make the Bacon Mac with the melba toast topping from this recipe. This was just run-of-the-mill mac and cheese.

MereUbu's Review

Shendock
October 08, 2012
Delicious, creamy, and very cheesy. I didn't feel like foraging for onion melba toasts, so I ran a slice of bread through the food processor, tossed it with a couple of tablespoons of the grated parmesan, and used it as a topping. We also like this in individual ramekins (6 seems like a more realistic number of servings if you're having it as a main dish) for both portion control and prettiness.

Jihan07's Review

KCSeattle
July 19, 2012
This was wonderful. I made a few adjustments. I used fontina cheese, yellow extra sharp cheddar cheese, white extra sharp cheddar cheese and romano cheese (no velvetta.). I added garlic, black pepper and italian seasoning to the cheese sauce. I omitted the melba toast and sprinkled panko breadcrumbs ( no butter.) To top it off I sprinkled yellow extra sharp cheddar cheese on top. I love my baked macaroni cheezy.

KCSeattle's Review

yoadrienne66
July 16, 2012
This is really good! The whole family likes it. I use 100% whole wheat macaroni and it is still really tasty! Really quick and easy.

HashBrown's Review

lollypaul
January 12, 2012
A great mac and cheese recipe for a cold rainy night when you are looking for comfort food with a bit less fat that usual. Made this during a weeknight, wasn't too hard to put together quickly and pop in the over.