Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese
This flavor-loaded Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese is rich, creamy, and bold. You’ll love this reader-favorite mac and cheese that’s the perfect side dish for any occasion! Psst, the crumbled bacon topping takes it to a whole ‘notha level!
Have y’all ever had some smoked gouda cheese before? The origin of gouda traces back to the Netherlands and it is also commonly made from pasteurized or unpasteurized cow’s, goat’s, or sheep’s milk. In addition, gouda cheese has a yellow hue with an edible waxed outer rind.
Its aroma is wonderfully pungent and it has a creamy, nutty, and full-bodied taste. Gouda is one heck of a popular cheese as it’s commonly used on charcuterie boards, in sandwiches, as fondue, etc. So, how one could use gouda cheese is endless.
If you’re new here, I want you to know that I have an affinity for mac and cheese. Seriously, ya girl loves her some mac and cheese, this is exhibit one and exhibit two. It’s just a real kind of cozy comfort dish that I’m digging anytime but especially around those times when you’re in the mood for some delicious indulgence. And we all know that a good mac and cheese just hits way different, ha!
Friends, this smoked gouda mac and cheese is straight-up FIRE. Yeah, I’m tooting my own horn but for a very good reason. You see, it’s super creamy, decadent, flavorful and not to mention it has that bangin’ smoked gouda cheese flavor all throughout. It’s certainly a dish that I make for family/friend get-togethers and it’s on my holiday feast table for sure.
What You’ll Need For This Recipe:
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)
- Pasta: I’d recommend using any kind of short pasta noodle such as elbow macaroni, cavatappi, shells, etc. In these photos specifically, we used a short pasta noodle called lumaconi. I love the shape of them and they have a wide noodle hole (umm, that doesn’t sound weird) that holds cheese sauce well!
- The cheeses: Smoked gouda cheese and sharp white cheddar cheese. While this recipe is all about the smoked gouda cheese, sharp cheddar comes in to provide balance and contrast in flavor against the sharpness of gouda.
- Butter: Listen, if you see a mac and cheese recipe that does not call for butter, run for the hills! Butter is an essential fat needed for richness, flavor, and to keep a level of moisture within the mac. >> #butterbeready 🧈
- Flour: To help thicken the cheese sauce.
- Heavy cream & milk: These are the two liquid components to build the cheese sauce. Both ingredients add a level of richness and creaminess.
- Spices: Smoked paprika, white pepper, ground mustard, garlic powder, ground nutmeg, and salt. Yes, even macaroni and cheese gets seasoned because bland mac is offensive. And a slight pinch of ground nutmeg enhances the overall flavor, trust me on this!
How To Make Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese:
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)
- First, cook pasta according to package directions, al dente, and then set aside. In a large dutch oven or pot, heat butter over medium-low heat. Once butter has melted add in flour and stir until all flour has dissolved in butter.
- Next, add in heavy cream and milk and then stir to combine with butter/flour mixture. Let the mixture come up to a slight boil and then add in seasonings and stir.
- Lastly, add the cheeses and stir until all the cheese has melted, then add in al dente pasta. Stir together to make sure all pasta is coated in sauce and add salt to preference level.
- Then transfer into a lightly greased large baking dish and top with remaining smoked gouda cheese. Bake the dish for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
A Few Notes On This Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese:
- It’s important to note that smoked gouda cheese has a very strong pungent taste on its own, so I’ve added some extra sharp white cheddar cheese to give it a slight balance. Even with it being added, the smoked gouda cheese flavor still rings through, trust me.
- As I always say when it comes to cheese, do NOT buy the pre-shredded kind. Buy your cheese in block form so that you can grate by hand using a handheld grater or shred it in a food processor. Pre-shredded cheese has a coating on it that prevents the cheese from getting ultra-creamy.
- This smoked gouda mac and cheese is best served baked in the oven with extra shredded cheese on top, however, you can enjoy it straight from the stovetop if you prefer.
This Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese recipe is a favorite for a reason. I can’t recommend this comforting dish enough. Be sure to tag @butterbeready in your BBR recipe creations, I sure love to see it when you do. Until next time! 🤟🏾
A few more cozy recipes for you:
- Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
- Creamy Shrimp and Grits
- Authentic Cajun Gumbo
- Pork Tenderloin w/ Dijon Cream Sauce
- Creamy Garlic Herb Chicken
- Wholesome Mini Meatloaf
Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8-10
- Category: Side Dishes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This flavor-loaded Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese is rich, creamy, and bold. You’ll love this reader-favorite mac and cheese that’s the perfect side dish for any occasion! Psst, the crumbled bacon topping takes it to a whole ‘notha level!
Ingredients
- 1 lb short-cut pasta, elbow macaroni or shells
- 16 ounces (two 8-ounce blocks) smoked gouda cheese- grated by hand, divided
- 8-ounces extra sharp white cheddar cheese, grated by hand
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled- for topping/garnish– optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9×13-inch (or similarly large) baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Then generously salt the water and cook your pasta according to package directions, al dente, and then set the pasta aside.
- In a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat the butter over medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk until all the flour disappears. Then slowly add the heavy cream and milk with one hand while stirring with the other hand. Let the mixture come up to a slight boil.
- Once achieved, stir in the spices: smoked paprika, white pepper, mustard, garlic powder, nutmeg, and salt- to taste. Then stir in 8 ounces of smoked gouda cheese and white cheddar cheese. Whisk until all cheese has melted through and turn off the heat.
- Next, add the cooked and drained pasta into the cheese mixture and stir well until fully incorporated, ensuring the pasta is coated in the sauce.
- Transfer the mac and cheese into the prepared baking dish, and top with remaining 8 ounces of smoked gouda cheese, covering the entire surface.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350°F or until the mac and cheese is golden and bubbly throughout.
- Allow the dish to cool for 15 minutes and serve warm. Garnish the mac and cheese with crumbled bacon, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please read blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.
Recipe by: Quin Liburd- Butter Be Ready
Photography by: Ashley McLaughlin
110 Comments on “Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese”
I’ve gotten so many compliments on this mac and cheese. It’s so good. I found smoked gouda with bacon and used it in this recipe. Wow. I added some seasoned panko on top for crunch. Thank you so much for sharing. Will be making this again and again.
Hi April- This mac is one of my top faves…love the touch of panko you added, so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Loved the recipe, but the yeild number seems off. It has 6 servings per one recipe. I was having twleve people so ended up doubling it. It turns out 1 recipe would have been more than enough to feed 12. Needless to say we had a lot of mac and cheese left. However we froze some, pulled it out to thaw, reheated in the oven with shredded gouda on top and it was great.
This is the best mac and cheese I have made and the smoked gouda is such a great addition. Can this be frozen?
Hi Margie- Glad you enjoyed the recipe…yes, you can freeze this mac 🙂
Family Loved it and gave it a score of 10+.
With my cooking and experience level being around a 4.5, I will say it took me 3x longer start to finish.
8/10 would make again! It made quite a bit.
I made this for lunch today to have for today and tomorrow for work for our family of 4. My son doesn’t like smoked cheese very much so I used 1 cup smoked Gouda 1 cup Med Cheddar and 1 cup Sharp White Cheddar cheese. I thought the 1 stick of butter to 4 Tbs for the roux was a bit off but I went with it. And as I suspected the sauce was way too thin. (Unless it was supposed to thicken in th oven) I ended up adding 1/2 cup more of Med cheddar to make it thicker. I used 4 cups of elbow noodles also a bit too much. I like my Mac n Cheese saucy. I poured 3/4 of the pan into a casserole dish the rest in th pan was eaten as is and I will say it lacked a lot of flavor have to go back in and add 1/4 tsp of all of the rest of the spices to the pan. I will have to fix the casserole dish later once it cools.
I will say that if I followed it by adding all of the Smoked Gouda that could have been the problem for lack of flavor so that on me and I did have the thing that affects your tastes awhile back so maybe they aren’t back fully, who knows.
Hi Maria- The finished sauce is supposed to that a thicker consistency as opposed to a loose one. As always, while you can opt to deviate from a written recipe, I recommend making a recipe as it is written to avoid any unfortunate outcomes in terms of consistency, taste, etc. Thanks for taking the time to leave this review 🙂
OMG. Have been looking for a mac n cheese recipe we actually like. This one fits the bill!!!
A keeper for sure!
I would love to try this. What do you think about substituting Colby-Jack for the cheddar?
Hi there- I don’t see why that would be an issue! 🙂
I had never made a smoked Gouda Mac n cheese & found this gem of a recipe. She ain’t lying yall, this Mac n cheese was FIRE! My kids loved it too! It’s creamy & flavorful. Definitely adding this to my recipe rotation! Quin you’ve got something special with this Mac!Â
Hi,
Can you make this ahead of time and store it to heat it later? If so, at what point in the recipe do I do that?
Hi there- Sure thing- prep the recipe as written and cover well then refrigerate overnight, then simply bake as directed on the following day. Hope this helps! 🙂
Very delicious! Everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing! I used and shredded sharp cheddar as a substitute for white cheddar because that was what I had, but other than that followed recipe exactly. Thanks again!
Hi Quin – This is a delicious recipe made exactly as written. Only because I am such a fan of smoked Gouda, I may double it next time and reduce the extra sharp white Cheddar but that’s just me. You did a great job on this!
I am curious if when you describe as “fire”, does and mean spicy? I can eat just a little kick.
Hi there- No, this dish is not spicy at all, it was just a word to describe how incredible (in taste) the mac is 🙂
The  Best.. added a bit of Gruyère cheese because I had it and it was wonderful.  Thanks.
What would be the best way to travel with it as far as keeping it hot and easy to serve for a 15 minute trip? Just keep it in a Dutch oven pot or slow cooker?
Hi there- All the above, and then I’d also recommend one of those insulated warming bags for transporting hot foods (you can check Amazon!). Hope this helps! 🙂
made this for our Thanksgiving meal and it was delicious!!! I find it hard to find mac n cheese recipes that don’t get too dry and this one came out moist and bubbly.
So glad I found this recipe. Creamy, flavorful and crowd pleaser.Â
I am always trying new Mac and cheese recipes and this one is one of the best I’ve had. I did cut the recipe in half just for my household of two. I will be making this again! I paired with your Best Ever Pork Tenderloin with creamy Dijon sauce which was heavenly!
This recipe is incredible! I don’t see how I can possibly go back to boxed mac ‘n cheese after this! I’d never had smoked gouda cheese before, so portion-wise, I used 2/3 sharp cheddar and 1/3 smoked gouda. I used penne pasta. I also added crumbled bacon. At the end of baking I added toasted panco, to add some crunch. My husband loved this recipe too. I’ll make this again for sure!
Wow! This is the BEST smoked Gouda mac and cheese I’ve ever had! The creamy texture and the smoke flavor makes this dish.
Just found this recipe and can’t wait to make it as written. Already dreaming of making it with smoked salmon added in!