OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (2024)

Recipes | Dinners | Pasta | Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe

Pasta

Author by Amanda Davis on Updated on

4.98 from 422 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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OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (1)

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!

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (2)

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.

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (3)

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.

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (4)

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:

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (5)

Making this amazing Panera macaroni and cheese

  1. Follow the directions on the package of pasta to cook al dente.

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (6)

  1. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, whisking constantly.

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (7)

  1. Gradually whisk in the milk; cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (8)

  1. Add cheeses, mustard, salt, and hot sauce, stirring until cheese melts and cheese sauce is smooth.

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  1. Stir in the cooked pasta and cook over medium heat for 1 minute (or until thoroughly heated). Serve immediately.

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (10)

This recipe is one of my new favorites. it’s quick and easy and absolutely delicious. Hope you try it!

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (11)

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!

OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (12)

Panera Mac and Cheese

A delicious, creamy copycat recipe for Panera mac and cheese!

4.98 from 422 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

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

  1. Celeste Thompson says

    OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (13)
    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

  2. 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

  3. Elaine says

    OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (14)
    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

  4. 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

  5. Jake S. says

    OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (15)
    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

        OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (16)
        Turned out great. The white American was a nice surprise. Thanks!

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OMG a Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe! Make it at home! (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in Panera mac and cheese? ›

Cooked Pasta (Semolina Wheat Flour, Egg Whites, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Pasteurized Process Cheese Spread (Cheddar Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Whey, Whey Protein Concentrate, Milkfat, Skim Milk, Sodium Citrate, Lactic Acid, Salt), ...

Where does Panera get their mac and cheese? ›

Panera Bread defended their product to The Washington Post and said the mac and cheese is, "made offsite with our proprietary recipe developed by our chefs." "It is shipped frozen to our bakery cafes - this allows us to avoid using preservatives which do not meet our clean standards," the company said.

What kind of cheese is in Panera mac & cheese? ›

About This. Tender shell pasta in a blend of rich cheeses including our tangy aged white cheddar cheese sauce.

Does Panera use artificial ingredients? ›

Our Food Beliefs serve as a compass, helping us provide meals that are delicious, and made with high-quality, select ingredients. Clean Foods - Clean simply means we don't fill our pantry with the artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, and colors from artificial sources that are listed on our No No List.

How is Panera Mac made? ›

Like at many chain restaurants, Panera's mac and cheese arrive at their stores pre-made and frozen. Workers then set the bag of mac and cheese in a simmering vat of water for 20 minutes, a process called "re-thermalizing," which basically just means they're thawing it and heating it through so it's ready to serve.

What brand of apple chips does Panera use? ›

Apple Chips – You can make homemade apple chips or buy them at the store. The brand that Panera uses is called Seneca Apple Chips. Thinly Sliced Tomatoes – You can also use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes.

Who owns the most Panera franchises? ›

Covelli Enterprises is the single largest franchisee of Panera Bread with nearly 300 stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Florida.

Does Panera microwave their mac n cheese? ›

Panera Mac & Cheese offers a bakery-inspired microwave meal that is perfect to enjoy at your convenience.

What hot sauce does Panera use? ›

Panera Forms Partnership with Yellowbird Hot Sauce.

Does Panera cook from scratch? ›

Historically, Panera uses FDFs to produce all the fresh bread, bagel, and roll dough for the brand, and transport the fresh dough to surrounding Panera bakery-cafes every day, where they are baked from scratch on premises.

Why does my homemade mac and cheese taste bland? ›

Try adding a little more salt first, because that might fix it. If the problem was the cheese you use doesn't have much flavor, then try adding some other flavors, such has mustard or hot sauce. The next time you make it, try to find some more strongly flavor cheese, or adding more cheese.

Why does my homemade mac and cheese have no flavor? ›

Not adding salt to your water leads to bland, tasteless noodles. This, in turn, leads to a finished product that is flavorless even after adding the cheese sauce. You could end up having to overseason a part of your dish to make up for the bland pasta. The worst part?

Why is my homemade mac and cheese so thick? ›

While cream can add a lot of flavor, too much of a good thing is just that: too much. A lot of heavy cream can create too thick of a sauce that doesn't contain enough water content to keep everything saucy. Make sure to use primarily whole milk for your cheese sauce, and if you do use cream, use it sparingly.

Is Panera Bread Mac n cheese healthy? ›

Panera Bread Mac & Cheese

Out of those calories, 580 calories come from fat, making it a high-fat option. The mac and cheese contain 64 grams of fat, including 35 grams of saturated fat and 2 grams of trans fats, which can negatively impact cardiovascular health.

What is mac and cheese made of? ›

Homemade Mac and Cheese Ingredients

Butter and flour: You'll need butter and flour to make a roux for the cheese sauce. You'll also need two tablespoons of butter for the topping. Milk: Use whole milk for the richest flavor and texture. Cheese: This baked mac and cheese recipe calls for Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.

Is Panera Mac & cheese vegan? ›

If you've ever been to Panera, I am sure you have had their signature white cheddar mac and cheese. It's creamy, decadent, and total comfort food. Before I went plant-based, I used to love Panera's mac and cheese, however, since it has dairy, I don't eat it anymore. I knew everyone would love a vegan version.

What is mac and cheese cheese made of? ›

While cheddar cheese is most commonly used for macaroni and cheese, other cheeses may also be used — usually sharp in flavor — and two or more cheeses can be combined. Other cheeses can be used such as Gruyère, Gouda, Havarti, and Jarlsberg cheese.

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