This Panera Mac and Cheese copycat recipe tastes like the original! It’s made with extra sharp white cheddar cheese for flavor and American cheese for creaminess.
Table of Contents
Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe
Hi Folks,
If you’re a fan of Panera’s famous Mac and Cheese, you’re in for a treat! This is THE recipe for Panera Mac and Cheese. I got it from their website when they posted it briefly! It’s an easy stovetop recipe and a must-try in my book.
This is the pinnacle of mac and cheese dishes. It’s rich, smooth, and ultra-creamy. It’s surprisingly quick and easy to make on the stovetop with just a few simple ingredients. I love serving it with my copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup for a complete meal.
Panera Copycat Mac and Cheese ingredients
Per Serving Cost: $2.24
Recipe Cost: $13.44
- 1 pound Lumaconi pasta (I find it at World Market and Target): $3.99
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter: $0.48
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour: $0.10
- 2 ½ cups milk: $1.86
- 4 ounces white American cheese: $2.25
- 8 ounces extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar: $4.49
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional): $0.10
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt: $0.05
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce: $0.12
NOTE: The recipe prices are calculated using grocery store websites. The actual cost of the recipe will depend on the ingredients you already have. Ingredient prices were updated in October 2024.
How To Make Panera Mac and Cheese
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly to prevent burning.
- Slowly pour in the milk, whisking as you go. Increase the heat to medium and continue whisking until the sauce thickens and bubbles, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat.
- Add the sliced American cheese, shredded white cheddar, Dijon mustard (if using), salt, and hot sauce (if using). Stir until the cheese melts.
- Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce. Stir to coat the pasta evenly, then return the saucepan to medium heat. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the mac and cheese is warmed through.
- Serve immediately.
***Make sure you watch the recipe video in the recipe card below!
Panera Bread Mac & Cheese Recipe Variations
- Whole milk works best, but 2% milk also gives good results. Avoid skim milk, as it won’t make the sauce as creamy.
- You can use any type of pasta. To make this recipe just like Panera’s, you need to use Lumaconi pasta. In its place, you can use medium shells, elbow macaroni, and Cavatappi.
- Add 1 cup of chopped and steamed broccoli florets for broccoli mac and cheese.
How To Serve This Panera Mac and Cheese Recipe
Here are some tips for serving this mac and cheese:
- As a main course: This mac and cheese is hearty and filling enough to be served as a main course. You could serve it with a side salad or some roasted vegetables.
- As a side dish: This recipe would also make a great side dish for a holiday meal or barbecue. You could serve it with grilled chicken, fish, or pot roast.
- In a grilled cheese sandwich: This mac and cheese would be delicious in a grilled cheese sandwich. Spread some of the mac and cheese on two slices of bread and grill until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- In a baked potato: Top a baked potato with some of the mac and cheese and then bake for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Storage Tips
SERVE: This is best served immediately after it’s made. However, you can keep it out for about 30 minutes before it needs to be refrigerated.
STORE: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
FREEZE: Because this recipe contains dairy products, I do not recommend freezing it. Once it’s defrosted, the cheese sauce will be grainy.
REHEAT: Place the Panera Mac and Cheese in a saucepan set over medium-low heat. Add 3-4 tablespoons of milk and heat and stir the mixture until heated through, about 3-6 minutes.
Recipe FAQs
As with all mac and cheese recipes, it’s best to use cheese that isn’t pre-shredded because the extra additives prevent the cheese from clumping.
For this recipe, it’s best to use a block of extra-sharp white cheddar cheese and white American cheese from the deli.
I think so, it’s strictly used to enhance the flavor of the dish. It’s such a tiny amount that it will not make the dish spicy.
Yes, you can make it up to 1 day in advance. Just store the cheese sauce and pasta separately. Then, reheat both and combine when you’re ready to serve.
More Copycat Recipes:
- Honey Baked Ham Recipe
- Italian Pizza Sauce Recipe
- Movie Theater Popcorn
- Hawaiian Food Truck Garlic Shrimp
- CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe
- Fried Apples
- Chick-Fil-A Frosted Lemonade
- Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes
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Panera Bread Mac and Cheese
Video
Equipment
- Cheese grater
- knife
- cutting board
- pasta pot
- medium saucepan
- whisk
- measuring cups and spoons
- colander
Ingredients
- 1 pound Lumaconi pasta or medium shells
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk anything but skim milk
- 4 ounces (about 6 slices) sliced white American cheese from the deli counter, cut into thin strips
- 8 ozs extra-sharp white cheddar shredded
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard optional
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce optional
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to package directions.
- In large saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly.
- Gradually whisk in 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 sauce is smooth.
- Stir in pasta and cook over medium heat for 1 minute (or until thoroughly heated). Serve immediately.
Notes
- Some people find the Dijon mustard in the recipe a bit overwhelming, so feel free to reduce it or omit it altogether.
- If you’re serving this as a main dish, it will serve 4-6 people. If you’re making it as a side dish, it will serve 8-10 people.
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Nutrition
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Could I replace the hot sauce with buffalo sauce?
You bet, go for it!
This is delicious. We did not eat it all at one sitting and it tasted equally as good the next day. Grandkids love it.
SO glad you all enjoyed it, Mary!
I love, love, love this recipe. I have made it many times for my family. We used to call it “The Panera Mac and Cheese” but now they just call it “Mom’s Mac and Cheese”. I’ve started to 1 + 1/2 the recipe since my boys are now 15 and 18 and along with my husband, they can eat this is up quickly! Thank you for sharing it.
Ha! I love it, Lisa. My family gobbles it up, too. I haven’t had to double to batch…yet! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Oh that looks so good! We love making mac and cheese at home, always such a great comfort food during these cold winter months! I will have to try this one!!!
American cheese (that’s their secret!); just think of it has handy slices of cheese sauce.
This recipes sounds awesome! I wish I had some Vermont Sharp cheese so I could make this today!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I love Panera!!
You had me at Panera! This looks so yummy. I need to try this soon
For people complaining its not creamy enough & has a flour taste the crucial element is a good Roux. To prepare sauce, melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Continue whisking and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Cook until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. People may be making the Roux to quickly making the macaroni runny & flour tasting. It also helps give it a toasted flavor when you spend the extra time. Thanks for this recipe my son thanks you!
Thanks for the comment, Maggie. You are spot on!
Just tried making this (am in Australia so needed to substitute a few things) but i found the cheddar to be WAY to overpowering… my dad liked it but i couldn’t finish… probably going to have to throw most of it out
I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. I make it all the time for my family and we all love it.
Do you think it would be okay to freeze this? Thanks!
Hi Adrienne,
Unfortunately, this recipe will not freeze well because of the nature of the cheese sauce. It will turn grainy once frozen and then thawed/re-heated.
Thanks, and rats! Think I could get away with making a couple days before thanksgiving and reheating from refrigerated? And thanks for posting this!
This one I’m not sure about. Every time I make it I serve it right away and never have leftovers. My gut is telling me probably not because of the way the cheese sets up, sorry. This recipe is a little different from other Mac & Cheese recipes, it’s best served right away.
If you let the milk sit out to get to room temperature before adding it to the recipe, it will create a sweeter product.
Thanks for the tip!
I haven’t tried this yet and I’m excited to see what I think considering Panera mac and cheese is my favorite thing ever. That being said..there’s no way this came off their website at one time and if it did..it was a lie! They get their mac and cheese in bags and it’s full of preservatives and all kinds of stuff. The ingredients are now on the website under the nutritional information. I’m just putting that out there. They do use vermont white cheddar though. I know that.
I was wondering if I could make it and put it in a crockpot to keep it warm for a picnic we’re going to, or do you think that it would get gummy? Mimi
Hi Mimi,
I think the Mac & Cheese would definitely get gummy. This recipe is meant to be eaten right away and not sit around. I hope this helps!
I’ve put it in a crockpot now twice (I made a double batch) and it has been a big hit both times!
Fantastic! What settings do you use to cook the mac and cheese in the crockpot?
Dawn! I was about to ask this question – what did you do to cook this in the crockpot? Making this for Thanksgiving and transporting it, could really use some advice on how to go about this!
Thanks!
OK folks I think i’ve discovered the missing ingredient for the Panera Mac and Cheese; I used 11/2 cup of Evaporated milk (12 oz) and 1 cup reg milk to equal the 21/2 cups. I also used Morton salt instead of Kosher salt and used just a SQUiRTof the Dijon mustard. Try this and see what you think!
Its close but my daughter who is the worlds biggest fan of Paneras mac n cheese says its not quit smooth or cheesy enough. Next time less flour n more cheese. Bt it is yummy!
I followed the recipe to the tee, and all I can say is that it tasted far to much of flour. Maybe our Panera’s differ, but this didn’t taste anything like it to me. As a lover of mac n cheese I made up a large batch so I could eat little bits through the week. Neither hubby or I could eat this. I’d say a 1/4 to an 1/8 cup of flour would suffice and get rid of that flour taste that I have never tasted in Panera’s mac n cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not downing you or your recipe… some seem quite happy with it. And I thank you for posting this so I could try it. I, too, think there is most likely a heavy cream to this recipe. I’d say probably half heavy cream and half milk. I also see flecks of black pepper in Panera’s mac n cheese. I’d say the hot sauce is fine, but also some black pepper. I’ll have to go back to Panera’s tomorrow and grab another order and come home and work to recreate it completely. So far, this wasn’t close to me. But with far less flour it might be tasty enough?
I’m not sure exactly what happened, I can only guess. With that said, it sounds like maybe the butter/flour mixture wasn’t cooked? Try cooking it until it reaches a toasted almond color, and even reduce the amount of flour if you’d like. The recipe that’s posted is Panera’s recipe that they put up on their website. Best of luck! 🙂
i think the secret is to replace the milk with cream and it’s ok to use sharp vermont not extra sharp right??
also are you supposed to use the kraft processed white american cheese slices
I use the sliced white American cheese from the deli counter, I don’t recommend the Kraft slices.
I haven’t tried this recipe with the cream, so I can’t say. Also, I do recommend the extra sharp Vermont cheddar. I hope this helps!
My daughter loves Panera’s, so I thought I would give this a try. But the finished product didn’t have much taste. I think it may have still tasted like flour. Should I taste the flour/butter mixture before adding in everything else to make sure that it cooked enough and that it doesn’t taste like flour? I used Tobasco sauce, French’s Dijon mustard, 2% milk, New Zealand grass fed sharp cheddar, and deli white American cheese. I also used salted butter, so I omitted the teaspoon of salt.
I’m sorry this didn’t work for you. Try cooking the butter/flour mixture until it reaches a toasted almond color. You can even reduce the amount of flour if you’d like. The recipe that’s posted is Panera’s recipe that they put up on their website. Maybe try extra sharp white cheddar?
I’m curious how you were able to get Panera’s recipe because I requested it through their Facebook page, and they responded that it is proprietary and could not share it with me. They linked me to other recipes they are willing to share, but not the mac and cheese. :o( My 9-year-old granddaughter requested Panera’s mac and cheese for her birthday dinner, but purchasing enough to feed our entire extended family is cost prohibitive. I was really hoping to make it just like Panera’s.
Years ago the recipe was on their website.
That looks yummy!
This looks amazing. I love macaroni and cheese, but the recipe I have calls for Velveeta, which is not on my current “organic” diet. Thanks for an alternative. Also love the hot sauce addition.