This Hairy Bikers macaroni cheese recipe from Mums Still Know Best is a Cheddar and tomato béchamel bake at around 610 calories per serving. And it takes just 45 minutes for four, so you can have it on the table any weeknight.
Si and Dave call this “a classic” and say “every home should have one,” which tells you how simple they wanted it to be. And their version bakes fresh tomato slices on top rather than a bare cheese crust, so you get a tang that cuts the richness.
The make-or-break step is cooking the flour in melted butter for a full 30 seconds before any milk goes in. Since that short fry removes the raw flour taste, your béchamel comes out clean and smooth instead of pasty.
Hairy Bikers Macaroni Cheese Recipe
Description
An easy six-ingredient bake from Si and Dave built on a proper roux-based sauce with mature Cheddar stirred through, then finished in a hot oven until golden and bubbling.
Ingredients
For the Macaroni Cheese:
Instructions
- Boil the pasta: Preheat your oven to 200°C/Gas 6, then bring a large pan of water to the boil. Then add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until just tender before draining in a colander.
- Make the roux: While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Then stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds while stirring constantly.
- Build the sauce: Gradually add the milk while stirring, then bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 3 minutes until thick and smooth, and stir in two-thirds of the cheese before seasoning with salt and pepper. Then cook for 2 to 3 minutes more until everything is melted through.
- Combine: Return the drained pasta to the pan and stir in the hot cheese sauce until well coated. Then tip into a buttered ovenproof dish and spread to all the corners.
- Top and bake: Sprinkle half the remaining cheese over the top, then arrange the tomato slices and finish with the rest of the cheese and a twist of pepper. Then bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and the cheese is lightly browned.
FAQs
Which Hairy Bikers cookbook has the macaroni cheese?
Two books have it, though the recipes are completely different. And Mums Still Know Best gives you the classic béchamel from their BBC TV series, while One Pot Wonders skips the roux entirely since the pasta cooks directly in milk and water where the starch thickens the sauce on its own.
The One Pot Wonders version adds smoked bacon, garlic, wholegrain mustard and cherry tomatoes, so it tastes nothing like the simple Cheddar classic. But if you want the nostalgic version then this page has you covered, while the one-pot bacon version is worth trying when you want something faster.
Can I add bacon to this macaroni cheese?
Si himself says so in the book: “Si likes to add bits of fried bacon too, so give that a try.” So just fry some smoked lardons in a dry pan until crisp, then stir them through the pasta before pouring in the sauce.
If you want bacon woven into the whole dish from the start, the One Pot Wonders version uses 100g diced smoked bacon cooked with onion, garlic and thyme before the pasta even goes in. That method is completely different though, since everything simmers together in one pot with no separate sauce at all. And for a full comfort food spread, this goes well with the cauliflower cheese on the side.
Is this the same as the James Martin macaroni cheese?
No, and people mix these up all the time because both appeared on BBC programmes. But James Martin’s “ultimate macaroni cheese” uses blue cheese, Caerphilly and pancetta with a grilled breadcrumb top, while the Hairy Bikers version here uses just mature Cheddar with fresh tomatoes baked in the oven.
The same goes for Jamie Oliver’s version, which uses its own combination of cheeses and a different method entirely. So if you are after the Hairy Bikers recipe specifically, this page has the original from Mums Still Know Best with their exact quantities.
What cheese works best in macaroni cheese?
Si and Dave answer this directly in the headnote: “Don’t be pedantic about the cheese and take the opportunity to use up all those little hard scraps in the fridge.” So mixing odds and ends together often gives a more interesting flavour than using one single block.
Keep at least half of your 150g as mature Cheddar since it provides the backbone of flavour, and add whatever you have: Red Leicester for colour, Gruyère for nuttiness, or a small handful of Parmesan to sharpen things up. But soft cheeses like Brie won’t melt into a béchamel properly, so stick to hard varieties. And for another way to use up cheese, the cheese and onion quiche is a solid option.
Can I make this macaroni cheese ahead?
You can assemble everything up to the baking stage, then cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. But add 10 to 15 minutes to the oven time when baking from cold, since the dish needs longer to heat through from the centre.
Reheating leftover portions is trickier because the sauce tightens as the pasta absorbs moisture overnight. So splash a little milk over each portion before covering with foil and warming at 180°C for about 20 minutes, which loosens things back to a creamy texture. And this same reheating trick works for the roasted vegetable lasagne and any other baked pasta dish.
