Is Panera mac and cheese your favorite entrée to order at this popular restaurant? If you answered yes, we've got you covered with our copycat recipe. It's rich and creamy, and we think it tastes better than the original. Make it in 40 minutes on your stovetop and enjoy this cozy dish at home!
If you love eating at Panera, you'll want to check out our copycat recipes for their broccoli mac and cheese and 10 vegetable soup.
Quick Look: Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🕒 Cook Time: 20 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 40 minutes
- 🥣 Yield: 7 cups
- 👨👩👧👦 Servings: 7 people (easy to halve or double)
- ⚡ Calories: 656 calories per 1 cup (based on nutrition facts in recipe card)
- 🥄 Method: Cook the pasta, then make a flour-butter roux and whisk in the milk, cream, and cheese until thickened and smooth. Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce.
- 🥕 Dietary Info: Vegetarian
- 🌶️ Flavor & Texture: creamy, velvety cheese sauce with a wonderful depth of flavor that coats perfectly cooked pasta.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Tastes Better than Panera's: This recipe is made fresh from scratch with high quality ingredients, unlike the mass-produced and reheated mac and cheese you'll get at any Panera Bread bakery-café.
- Made with Two Cheeses: The balance of Boar's Head white American cheese with Cabot extra sharp white cheddar brings lots of flavor and cheesiness to this ultra-creamy sauce!
- Unique Pasta Shape: Making mac and cheese with pipette pasta rather than traditional elbow macaroni is a game changer. This type of pasta holds more sauce than elbows and looks beautiful too!
- Great for Picky Eaters: This easy recipe is the perfect main course or side dish for picky eaters or the children at your dinner table. They'll love the simple yet flavorful combo of cheese sauce and pasta!
Featured Comment
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "The sauce for this mac and cheese is delightful, with a little sharpness from the cheese. It's perfect when you're hungry!"
- Beth
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Ingredients
Here's a look at the key ingredients for our Panera mac and cheese recipe.
- Pasta: We used Barilla pipette pasta, which is a bit smaller than what Panera uses. Use elbow macaroni if you can't find pipette pasta.
- Fat: We used salted butter for the roux.
- Flour: We used all purpose flour to thicken the sauce, but you can also use your favorite gluten free flour.
- Spices: We used coarse kosher salt for the pasta, coarse sea salt, white pepper, garlic powder, dry mustard, and a small amount of Tabasco.
- Dairy: We used heavy cream and whole milk to make this extra creamy, along with Boar's Head white American cheese and white Vermont extra sharp cheese. You might need to go a more upscale grocery store to find the white American cheese in the deli section. Ask for a chunk, and you can grate it yourself.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Bread Bowl Version: Make your own bread bowl by buying or making a small round loaf of bread (preferably sourdough). Use a sharp serrated knife to cut a circular opening in the top of the loaf, then pull out the excess bread to hollow out the bread bowl. Add the mac and cheese right before serving to prevent sogginess.
- Different Cheese Options: Use either sharp or extra sharp Vermont white cheddar to make it taste like Panera's. Fontina with mozzarella would be a nice change to make it taste different.
- Gluten Free Version: Use your favorite gluten free flour to thicken the sauce and gluten free pasta (such as Dakota Growers pipette).
- Add Protein: Add crumbled bacon, shredded chicken, chopped steak, or lobster.
- Add Veggies: Add broccoli, carrots, spinach, or green onions.
How to Make Panera Mac & Cheese
Gather all the ingredients. Grate the two cheeses and keep them out so they warm up to room temperature.
Cook the pasta in salted water for 1 minute less than the package directs, then drain well without rinsing. Set aside and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.
- In a large heavy-bottomed skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. While the butter is melting, mix the coarse sea salt, white pepper, and garlic powder with the flour. Add the mixture and whisk constantly for one minute to cook the raw flour. (image 1)
- Lower the heat to medium and slowly pour in the heavy cream while whisking to create a smooth sauce. (image 2)
- Whisk in the whole milk. If necessary, lower the heat, as you don't want the sauce to boil. (image 3)
- Sprinkle in the dry mustard and add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce for flavor. Continue whisking for 5 to 7 minutes until the sauce thickens. (image 4)
- Turn the heat to the lowest setting and gradually add the grated American cheese one handful at a time while whisking. Repeat with the grated Vermont extra sharp cheese. The sauce should be smooth when done. (image 5)
- Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Take it off the heat and allow it to thicken for 5 minutes. (image 6)
- Gradually add the cooled pasta to the cheese sauce. Fold it in with a large spatula or wooden spoon until the pasta is well coated.
- Enjoy while it's still hot!
Panera Mac & Cheese FAQs
For a one cup serving size (small) at Panera, there are 470 calories, 33g carbs, 31g fat, 1045 mg sodium, 7g sugar, and 17g protein.
For the same serving size, our copycat recipe has 587 calories, 39g carbs, 40g fat, 583 mg sodium, 5g sugar, and 18g protein. For more nutritional information, please scroll to the bottom of the recipe card.
The restaurant states that it is "a creamy blend of cheeses, including tangy Vermont white cheddar, perfectly nestled in uniquely shaped, tender pipette."
In order for Panera to serve vast quantities and not sacrifice quality, they make their famous recipe offsite and ship it frozen to restaurant locations. It is here that it is warmed up in a thermalizer.
If this statement doesn't sit well with you, learn how to make it fresh at home with our simple, spot-on copycat recipe.
Yes, it is, but they do use rennet in the cheese. If you want it rennet free, don't order this entree from the restaurant, make your own in the comfort of your own home.
Leftovers: Store in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days in an airtight container.
Reheat: Place in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in a little bit of whole milk and gently heat for 3 to 6 minutes until it's warmed through. If you reheat in the microwave, you'll have a greater chance of having the sauce separate.
Freeze: Since this sauce contains lots of dairy, I wouldn't recommend freezing it. The pasta would soften too much, and the sauce would separate once it's reheated.
Serving Suggestions
Panera serves this with your choice of a French baguette, a bag of kettle chips, or an apple. You can also upgrade and have your cup of pasta served in a sourdough bread bowl. Round out your meal with spinach apple salad, roasted sweet potatoes with cranberries, or a copycat Chick-fil-A fruit cup.
If you're looking for other pasta recipes, you'll want to try our recipes for Panera broccoli mac and cheese, Chick-fil-A mac and cheese, creamy bow tie pasta, American goulash, and alfredo basil sauce.
Expert Tips
- Cook the pasta in salted water to al dente; you don't want it to be mushy. Then, drain it without rinsing and let it cool for a few minutes. This ensures the sauce sticks to the pasta beautifully.
- Use the good quality cheese that you grate yourself. (We found Boar's Head cheese in the deli section at Publix and Harris Teeter.) Don't use pre-grated cheese, as it can make the sauce grainy.
- Make sure the cheese is at room temperature before adding to the sauce, as that will help it melt more evenly.
- Don't let the sauce boil, as high heat can cause the sauce to separate and become greasy, and make sure to constantly whisk it to prevent burning.
- Allow the cheese sauce to cool for 5 minutes before adding the pasta; this allows it to thicken up.
Other Panera Recipes You'll Love
Recipe
Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups pipette dried pasta, such as Barilla
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 1¼ cups Boar's Head white American cheese, grated
- 2 cups Cabot extra sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- Tabasco sauce, to taste
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in salted water for 1 minute less than the package directs. Drain, but don't rinse.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat until foamy. While the butter melts, mix the spices with the flour. Sprinkle in the mixture, then whisk constantly for one minute to cook the raw taste out of the flour.
- Reduce the heat to medium and slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Repeat with the whole milk, then sprinkle in the dry mustard and add a few dashes of Tabasco. If necessary, reduce the heat to prevent the sauce from boiling. Constantly whisk for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Turn the heat to low and gradually whisk in the American cheese, one handful at a time until it's all melted, then repeat with the cheddar. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
- Gradually add the cooled pasta. Fold in with a large spatula until it is evenly coated with the sauce.
- Enjoy the mac and cheese right away. It does taste the best fresh rather than reheated.
Video
Notes
- Cook the pasta in salted water to al dente; you don't want it to be mushy. Then, drain it without rinsing and let it cool for a few minutes. This ensures the sauce sticks to the pasta beautifully.
- Use the good quality cheese that you grate yourself with a box grater. (We found Boar's Head cheese in the deli section at Publix and Harris Teeter.) Don't use pre-grated cheese, as it can make the sauce grainy.
- Make sure the cheese is at room temperature before adding to the sauce, as that will help it melt more evenly.
- Don't let the sauce boil, as high heat can cause the sauce to separate and become greasy, and make sure to constantly whisk it to prevent burning.
- Allow the cheese sauce to cool for 5 minutes before adding the pasta; this allows it to thicken up.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Donna Gallo
I need to make this for 60 people. How too I measusure?
Emma Fajcz
Simply quadruple the recipe for each person to have a 1/2 cup serving size. Please note that we have not tested this recipe yielding such large quantities.
Alex
The cheeses used in this recipe really add a lot of flavor, and the sauce is creamy and delicious. The noodles are very yummy and chewy.
Emma
Thanks, Alex!
Beth
The sauce for this mac and cheese is delightful, with a little sharpness from the cheese. It's perfect when you're hungry!
Emma
We're glad you enjoyed this, Beth!