Macaroni & Cheese Bites

We had an appetizer and dessert party last week at our house and I went in search of a great new appetizer to make. I then saw these Mac & Cheese bites at Woman with a Whisk and fell in love with the idea. I LOVE macaroni and cheese. I’ve always been a huge fan of the blue box but have recently begun to search for great homemade recipes and am loving that more and more. These are so cute and delicious…the perfect little bite. They were great for our party and were also great as a side dish with our lunch the next day. These little bites are pretty easy and don’t take long to make, which is a huge plus. You can pop them in the oven 10 minutes before your guests arrive and they’ll be ready just in time. I halved the recipe and got about 36 bites, so the full recipe (which is below) should yield approximately 72 bites. I also just used the 2 % mexican four cheese blend that I had on hand instead of the sharp cheddar and it worked great.

Mac & Cheese Bites
Source: Woman with a Whisk


Ingredients:

1 lb. elbow macaroni
3 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. flour
1-1/2 cup milk (skim works fine)
3 packed cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for sprinkling on top
2 extra large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

Directions:
Cook the pasta according to the package directions and drain well.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a nonstick mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Cook, whisking occasionally, for about 2 -3 minutes until thickened. Add cheddar and Parmesan cheeses and stir to melt. Remove from heat and stir in egg yolks, salt and nutmeg. Stir in macaroni.

Spoon slightly rounded tablespoons of macaroni and cheese into the prepared mini muffin pan. Each cup should be filled to the top. Pack each one down gently. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 10 minutes until golden and sizzling. Let cool for 5 minutes.
Using a teaspoon, carefully loosen the mac and cheese bites and transfer to a platter to serve.

*If you’re not serving these immediately, simply store on a baking sheet, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate. Reheat at 400 degrees for 10 minutes prior to serving.

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Comments

  1. I just "starred" these in my reader! I will have to make them at my next party! I love Mac and Cheese too!

  2. Perfect timing – I have been craving mac & cheese this week, but not the blue box! These look dangerous…small enough to lose track of how many I'd be eating 🙂 Looks great!

  3. These are so adorable and look like they taste fantastic! I love appetizer and dessert parties!

  4. Jessica @ How Sweet It Is says

    Oh wow, I just found your blog and macaroni and cheesecake are pretty much my most favorite foods! Yum!

  5. Love this idea and such a great way to serve mac & cheese without a fork!

  6. Me and My Pink Mixer says

    What a great idea! I am making these for my next party. Everyone loves Mac & Cheese, so you can't go wrong with these cute little bites!

  7. I can honestly say I wish I didn't know about this. 🙂 My favorite food is mac and cheese and I can see these being quite addictive!

  8. themilkmanswife says

    These are ridiculously cute!! Love this idea!!

  9. Lindsey@pickyeatings says

    This is why I need a mini muffin pan…

  10. Allison (Eat Clean Live Green) says

    What a great idea! So fun for a party 🙂

  11. When you say “if you’re not baking these immediately,” do you mean if you’re not serving them immediately? I want to do the work tonight and reheat tomorrow – so do I bake at 425 then refrigerate tonight, reheat at 400 tomorrow or just put the ingredients together, straight into the refrig, then heat at 400 tomorrow? Thanks!

    • I think I meant to say if you aren’t serving these immediately, sorry for the typo! It’s been a while since I made these but I went ahead and baked them earlier in the day and then reheated them right before serving, but it would probably work well for you to put together the ingredients tonight and then just bake off tomorrow. Either way should work. Hope it turns out great!

  12. Would these work using the ‘revolutionary’ recipe?

    • I’m not sure if it would or not. I would think that it would work, but I’ve never tried it with that recipe. This recipe calls for quite a bit more cheese than the ‘revolutionary’ recipe and then the egg yolk to bind everything together so you may have to play around with that so the bites stay together. Let me know how it turns out if you try it with the revolutionary recipe. Hope that helps!

  13. How much does the recipe yield?

  14. Do you think it would work if I made my own baked mac and cheese and then re-baked them in the mini-muffin pan?

  15. I just found your blog and I love it!

    When reheating, do I need to reheat them in the pan or can I just reheat them on the baking sheet? I’m afraid if I reheat them on the baking sheet then they will just turn into blobs?

  16. Jim Voorhies says

    Thinking of adding bacon, ham, broccoli, or mushrooms and onions to different cups. Also maybe smoked paprika. I wonder, could frozen flaky pastry dough be partially cooked then filled, or just layered in and filled and cooked appropriately.

  17. I made these twice last year and both times they were a hit. One was for a teenaged party, the other for adults. Got good reviews from both demographics. Today, I will again be making them for a gaggle of hungry, teenaged, athletic girls. I’m thinking of adding in some cream cheese to make them a bit more creamy. I’m hoping they stay together. I once had a recipe for mac ‘n cheese using cream cheese – it was the best I had ever made. Sadly, I lost the recipe. It was long before Pinterest saved my life (or is it consumed?). I’ll let you know how it works. Oh, just a side note – last year the girls ate them cold – and still loved them. Now, there’s an endorsement!

  18. Stumbled across this recipe from the ham and Cheese bites i’d saved on pinterest. I made these toniGht (and tested a few of these delicious beauties) to take to tailGate tomorrow. These are Going to be more populaR than me!

  19. mADE THESE THIS AFTERNOON & REHEATED THIS EVENING – A HIT! ANY IDEA HOW LONG THIS WILL KEEP IN FRIDGE OR IF THEY CAN BE FROZEN? i HAD TEX MEX CHEESE (PIZZA MOZZARELLA/CHEDDAR & MONTEREY JACK WITH JALAPENO PEPPERS) IN FRIDGE SO USED THAT & IT WAS GREAT. wILL DEFINITELY MAKE THESE AGAIN. i HALVED THE RECIPE & GOT 36 BITES.

  20. Just wanted to let you know I made these on wednesday & cooked them because i wanted the browning on top but warmed them up on friday in a table top oven they were a little dry but still delicious. I made them again but mixed bread crumbs with the parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top & that created a nice little crunch – people ask me to bring these to their parties & most say they haven’t had mac & cheese in years.

  21. How long would you cook this if you were just making it in a casserole dish vs. mini muffin pan. I just want to make a bunch for my family and reheat as we need it during the week for lunch 🙂

    • I’ve not ever tried that with this particular recipe, I would think around 20 minutes though. If you still want to try it in the muffin tins, they reheat really well in the oven. Hope that helps!

  22. Do you boil the macaroni or does it cook in the oven?