Recipes | Dinners | Pasta | Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe
Pasta
Author by Amanda Davis on Updated on
4.98 from 424 votes
A delicious, creamy copycat recipe for Panera mac and cheese!
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
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For all you fans of Panera Mac and Cheese, I’m about to blow your mind. This is the actual Panera Mac and Cheese recipe that the company had posted on their website some time ago. Thank goodness my neighbor saved it for all of us to enjoy!
I thought my favorite was my stove top macaroni and cheese recipe, but boy this sure makes it hard to decide!
How to Make Panera Mac and Cheese at Home
This creamy, delicious copycat Panera mac and cheese tastes just like the restaurant. Aside from the pasta, please adhere to the ingredients listed below. As with all copycat recipes, if you want it to taste like you bought it there, you have to make it like they do. If you change any ingredients, you will change the recipe.
We even sought out the same pasta Panera uses, just to make it authentic. We found ours at Trader Joes, but there’s a little Italian grocery store by me that sells it too. They are called pipette rigate and have a unique shape that the Panera chefs say hold the sauce the best. If you can’t find pipette rigate, you can use regular elbow macaroni instead.
What you need to make this recipe:
- Pipette rigate (or elbow macaroni)
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Milk
- Sliced white American cheese, cut into strips
- Vermont extra-sharp white cheddar, shredded
- Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt
- Hot sauce
Helpful kitchen tools:
Making this amazing Panera macaroni and cheese
- Follow the directions on the package of pasta to cook al dente.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, whisking constantly.
- Gradually whisk in the milk; cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.
- Add cheeses, mustard, salt, and hot sauce, stirring until cheese melts and cheese sauce is smooth.
- Stir in the cooked pasta and cook over medium heat for 1 minute (or until thoroughly heated). Serve immediately.
This recipe is one of my new favorites. it’s quick and easy and absolutely delicious. Hope you try it!
If you’re a diehard macaroni and cheese fan like I am, you’ll also want to check out my crockpot mac and cheese, my Baked Macaroni and Cheese, and the ever popular Lobster Mac and Cheese. Enjoy!
Panera Mac and Cheese
A delicious, creamy copycat recipe for Panera mac and cheese!
4.98 from 424 votes
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
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Course: Lunch
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
25 minutes mins
Calories: 495
Author: Amanda Formaro
Ingredients
- 16 ounce pipette rigate or elbow macaroni
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cup milk
- 6 Slices white American cheese sliced into thin strips
- 8 oz Vermont extra-sharp white cheddar shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Instructions
Follow the directions on the package of pasta to cook al dente.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, whisking constantly.
Gradually whisk in the milk; cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.
Add cheeses, mustard, salt, and hot sauce, stirring until cheese melts and cheese sauce is smooth.
Stir in the cooked pasta and cook over medium heat for 1 minute (or until thoroughly heated). Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portion | Calories: 495cal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 826mg | Potassium: 275mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 735IU | Calcium: 471mg | Iron: 1.2mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Follow on Pinterest @AmandaFormaro or tag #AmandasCookin!
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Amanda Davis
President at Amanda's Creative Studio, Inc.
Amanda Davis is the entrepreneurial mom of four grown children and four step children. She and her husband, Chef Antoine, love to cook together creating recipes for this blog. Amanda also make kid's crafts and creates decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. She is also a craft book author five times over and product developer as well as the owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can find her on social media by using the buttons to the left!
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Comments
Celeste Thompson says
Made this for my family tonight, it was fabulous! I followed the recipe to the letter. The flavor was exactly like Panera which we love. The pictures of each step were very helpful and appreciated! I will definitely make this again! Thank you Amanda!Reply
Stephanie Taylor says
Can you do this in a crockpot? I want to cook this for my granny’s birthday but I’m preparing a day ahead of time.
Reply
Amanda Davis says
We have not tested that with this recipe. However, should you decide to experiment we would love to hear your results!
Reply
Elaine says
My family loved this! We used Walmart brand individually wrapped white American slices and cabot seriously sharp cheddar. I did a half recipe, and my kids loved it. We didn’t finish it all, but it reheated beautifully with a bit of half and half the next day. Thank you for sharing!Reply
Sandy says
Do you have the approximate weight for the white American cheese? The deli has so many choices for thickness which can change to weight. Thanks!
Reply
Amanda Formaro says
1 slice is approximately 1 ounce
Reply
Jake S. says
Thought the flavor was good if not bland, but the ratio of cheese sauce to pasta was way too high for my family. Maybe we’re outliers, but I would cook 50-100% more pasta with this amount of sauce next time. Thanks for posting the recipe though!Reply
Melanie Hicks says
Jake, I cut the flour in the roux to 3 T f, increase to 3cups of milk,, use 6oz of sharp cheddar instead of 8 and 1 teaspoon of hot sauce!
Reply
Sadia says
Turned out great. The white American was a nice surprise. Thanks!
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