WATCH: These Delicious Macaroni Dishes Are Made With Kitchen Staples

Raid your kitchen for ingredients that can you put together and make it into one of these delicious macaroni recipes. From a classic macaroni and cheese to a festive and fruity Filipino macaroni salad, these are the pasta recipes you need in your life. 

This is macaroni salad + fruit salad mashup, and it’s delicious!

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

1 Pinoy Fiesta Macaroni Salad Recipe

This macaroni salad is not your typical macaroni salad! This version surprises with its sweetness and savory combo, courtesy of the sweet pineapple and kaong, and cubes of cheese stirred in.  

Pinoy Fiesta Macaroni Salad Recipe Posted in: Recipe

The shape of the pasta shells cup the perfect amount of cheesy sauce.

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

2 Basic Mac and Cheese Recipe  

It’s hard to go wrong with a classic combination of cheese and pasta. In this instance, we want to make sure that you know exactly how to make it right so that your experience with this classic dish is perfect. 

Here’s the recipe: 

• Makes 4 to 5 Servings
• Takes 15 minutes

• Pasta
• 2 1/2 cups dried pasta shells
• Water, as needed
• 1 tablespoon salt

• Cheese Sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 370-ml can evaporated milk
• 1 235-gram pack cheddar spread

• 1 Boil enough water to submerge pasta in later. Mix in salt. Cook pasta for 7 minutes and drain.

• 2 Make a roux: Melt butter in a preheated pan on medium heat. Add all-purpose flour and mix well with a whisk. Keep mixing until mixture turns slightly browned. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting and add milk. Whisk until well-incorporated. Bring heat back up to Medium and keep whisking until mixture thickens.

• 3 Once the mixture is thickened, lower heat back to the lowest setting. Add cheese and whisk until combined.

• 4 Take off the heat and mix in the cooked pasta. Serve immediately. 

This mac and cheese version adds garlicky mushrooms to the cheesy mix. The panko gives it a delicious crunch, too! 

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

3 Garlicky Mushroom Mac and Cheese Recipe 

If you love garlic mushrooms, then be prepared to fall in love with this version! Oyster mushrooms are used in this recipe instead of the usual button mushrooms but it still delivers on the flavor and texture that you want. It’s a great pairing with the cheese! 

Here’s the recipe: 

• Makes 5 to 6 Servings
• Takes 55 minutes

• Garlic Mushroom Mixture
• 3 120-gram packs oyster mushroom
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce (patis), or to taste
• Salt, to taste 

• Pasta
• 2 1/2 cups dried pasta twists
• Water, as needed
• 1 tablespoon salt

• Cheese sauce
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 370-ml can evaporated milk
• 1 235-gram pack cheddar cheese spread

• Topping
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/8 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• ½ teaspoon ground Spanish paprika

• 1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).

• 2 Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until very lightly browned and aromatic. Add oyster mushrooms and sauté. Sprinkle in sugar and fish sauce, and sauté. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms have softened. Set aside.

• 3 Boil enough water to submerge pasta in water. Mix in salt. Cook pasta for 5 1/2 minutes or at least a minute less than prescribed on the pasta packaging. Drain pasta and set aside.

• 4 Make a roux: Melt butter in a preheated pan on medium heat. Add all-purpose flour and mix well with a whisk. Keep mixing until mixture turns slightly browned. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting and add milk. Whisk until well incorporated. Bring heat back up to Medium and keep whisking until mixture thickens.

• 5 Once the mixture is thickened, lower heat back to the lowest setting. Add cheese and whisk until combined. Add mushroom garlic mixture mix until well combined.

• 6 Take off the heat and mix the cooked pasta into the cheese sauce.

• 7 Place pasta into a baking pan. Cover the top with mozzarella first, then the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and finish the topping with paprika.

• 8 Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cheese has melted, sides have bubbled, and there are bits of browned Panko breading. Serve hot.

This amount of mac and cheese is perfect for a party.

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

4 Super Cheesy Macaroni and Cheese Recipe 

If the cheesiest and more decadent macaroni and cheese dish is what you’re after, this is the mac and cheese recipe you need to learn to make. This combines three different cheese to achieve the flavor and texture that you’ll only find when you combine gooey mozzarella, sharp cheddar, and spicy Monterey Jack together into one cheese sauce.   

• Makes 10 to 12 Servings
• Takes 55 minutes

• Pasta
• 500 grams dried elbow pasta
• Water, as needed
• 1 tablespoon salt

• Cheese sauce
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 370-ml cans evaporated milk
• 1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded 
• 1 cup Monterey Jack, shredded
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

• Cheese mix
• 1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded 
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded 
• 1 teaspoon parsley, minced

• 1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).

• 2 Boil enough water to submerge pasta in later. Mix in salt. Cook pasta for 6 1/2 minutes or at least a minute earlier than prescribed on the pasta packaging. Drain pasta and set aside.

• 3 Make a roux: Melt butter in a preheated pan on medium heat. Add all-purpose flour and mix well with a whisk. Keep mixing until mixture turns slightly browned. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting and add milk. Whisk until well-incorporated. Bring heat back up to Medium and keep whisking until mixture thickens.

• 4 Once the mixture is thickened, lower heat back to the lowest setting. Add sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses. Whisk together until combined and smooth. Mix in prepared mustard and white pepper.

• 5 Take off the heat and mix in the cooked pasta into the cheese sauce.

• 6 In a bowl, toss together cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

• 7 Spoon half of the pasta mixture into your baking pan. Flatten the surface. Sprinkle this layer with half of the cheese mixture evenly. Add the rest of the pasta into your baking pan and flatten. Top with the rest of the cheese mixture and sprinkle with minced parsley leaves.

• 8 Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges have crisped, bubbled, and browned, and there are brown spots all over the topping. Serve hot.

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Thinking about what to cook next? Join our Facebook group, Yummy Pinoy Cooking Club, to get more recipe ideas, share your own dishes, and find out what the rest of the community are making and eating!

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