There is no doubt these Baked Mac and Cheese Bites will wilt a family favorite! Whether served as little appetizers or as a fun side dish…they will be the star of your next gathering!
Mmmmm…macaroni and cheese…something that most of us have been dreaming well-nigh since we were kids. There is nothing increasingly satisfying than a trencher of that linty cheesy goodness. And we’ve come a LOONNGG way since the original undecorous box.
Lots of flavors, pasta shapes, and plane vegan mac and cheese options! It’s a new frontier for “macs for everyone”, and these “bites” just requite us one increasingly way to enjoy everyone’s favorite food.
I’d been thinking well-nigh these baked mac and cheese bites for months. Wouldn’t it be fun to use our Christmas Tree Pasta and create little bite-size apps for our holiday gatherings?
But I was torn considering Christmas dinner could really be perked up with a little cup of Christmas mac.
Most family occasions undeniability for casseroles and repletion food, so a macaroni and cheese side dish seemed like a no-brainer.
So, in an struggle to satisfy both my creative thoughts, I decided to test and create both options. (Yes, we are having these on the 25th. And yes, I’ve served them multiple times so far this holiday season!)
Homemade Mac and Cheese Bites
The unconfined news is that this homemade mac and cheese bites recipe is easy. And full of flavor. And just so darn cute. And they can be made ahead.
It checks lots of boxes for a rented mom who wants to melt but doesn’t have a ton of time.
The first step is making the crust. Three simple ingredients to create a sort of “base” for the bites. We need these little guys to stick together and there is nothing largest when Ritz crackers, butter, and cheese are involved.
I find that my husks works out weightier when I use my Cuisinart to whirl the crackers virtually until they are crushed fine. Takes well-nigh 1 minute and when widow to the melted butter and mixed with the shredded cheddar, you will have a tasty husks perfect for these bites.
One other note: I buy the once shredded packaged cheddar cheese and use a pocketknife to chop the cheddar shreds into plane smaller pieces surpassing mixing them into the crust.
This makes for a increasingly resulting husks texture and is easier to work with expressly with the mini muffin tins.
How to Make Mac and Cheese Bites
For this time of year, Christmas Tree shaped pasta seemed like the perfect choice. But my mind has once wandered to Game Days and the thought of little football or basketball pasta bites! Or Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and all the upcoming holidays.
It’s uncounted fun considering any of our pasta shapes could work. Soccer party – yes! Dinosaur Birthday Party – so fun! Just use your imagination.
Or, if you don’t have any Pastabilities shapes in your pantry, just use plain ole elbow macaroni. (It hurts me but do it 
).
The soft herbed cheese I used was the Boursin brand. They make multiple flavors like garlic and herb or shallot and chive. Both work for this recipe.
And other flavors and brands can be substituted like Alouette among many others. Just segregate a savor philharmonic and experiment.
The recipe is pretty foolproof. The seasoned cheeses add just unbearable savor and creaminess to the recipe making these bites nonflexible to resist. So much increasingly savor than your regular mac and cheese!
How to make mac and cheese bites just takes a few steps. Making a quick “roux” with butter and flour is the first step for the cheese sauce. This will act as a thickening wage-earner and help the overall consistency of the bites.
You’ll add the milk and protract to whisk until you have a slightly thickened base. After you add the cheddar cheese and the other ingredients, and you have a smooth cheesy sauce, you are ready to add the pasta.
When your cheese and pasta are combined and you are ready to fill the cups, I’ve learned that using your fingers and pressing lanugo on the mixture helps fill the cups and gets rid of any holes or gaps in the muffin tin.
Our pasta pieces are a bit worthier than regular elbow macaroni, so we need to take a little increasingly care. This will ensure a full cup with a increasingly uniform shape when you serve these homemade mac and cheese bites!
If you are making the side dish “bigger” bites, then your yield will be well-nigh 18 cups. I love the size of these on a plate, as it’s the perfect value of mac for an individual serving.
Mac and Cheese Appetizers
For the titbit little bites, you’ll make approximately 4 dozen or 48 little bites…plenty for any party! And they will disappear quickly as I’ve witnessed here at home over the past few weeks – the perfect finger food.
You’ll only need well-nigh 2-3 teaspoons of filling for these succulent mac and cheese appetizers. Take some time to thoughtfully fill each one! I’ve got a few increasingly notes unelevated to ensure your recipe success.
Easy Mac and Cheese Zest Recipe Tips
- Do not try and take the bites out of the pan too early! They need their rest, or they will fall apart!
- To emphasize the Christmas theme, or whatever occasion you are celebrating, use some of the leftover cheesy mixture in the pan as “glue” to help stick the uneaten pasta pieces on top of the bites!
- You can make bites 1-2 days superiority and refrigerate. Place on a plate or sultry sheet and imbricate tightly with plastic wrap. Reheat bites in 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.
- Mini mac titbit bites take less time, approx. 8 minutes.
- You can freeze bites up to 4 weeks. Bring to room temperature surpassing reheating in 350-degree oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on size.
- To add some holiday verisimilitude to bites, I diced some red and untried peppers and sautéed them transiently with a teaspoon of olive oil. Then I sprinkled over the tops and on my platters too. Pretty!
- In lieu of peppers, paprika can moreover be used to garnish macaroni bites!
We’ve got our plates full of macaroni and cheese here at Pastabilities. Whether it’s an easy weeknight dinner with our boxed Organic Mac and Cheese in fun shapes for kids, our recipes for Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese, Healthy Butternut Mac and Cheese or this latest Baked Mac and Cheese Bites, we know you’ll find lots of ways to make this philharmonic work for your family!
For increasingly happenings at Pastabilities follow us on Instagram @worldofpastabilities or on Facebook @pastashoppeusa. We’d love you to share your fun at the table with us! Enjoy friends and Happy Holidays!
PrintBaked Mac and Cheese Bites
Print RecipeFun and succulent mac and cheese bites! Perfect as a side dish or an titbit for any holiday or occasion! Use your imagination and let the fun eating begin!
Ingredients
For the crust:
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed (a little over 1 cup)
6 T. butter, melted
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
For the macaroni filling:
14 oz. bag of Christmas Tree Pasta (or any fun shape!)
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
¾ cup milk
2 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
5 oz. of Boursin garlic and herb cheese, or any savor or herbed cheese
¼ cup sour cream
2 large eggs, room temperature, and lightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste (just a pinch)
Red and/or untried peppers, diced for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
This recipe will make 18 regular muffin size bites for a side dish, or approximately 4 dozen mini bites for an appetizer.
Whichever direction you decide to go, spray the muffin tins with cooking spray.
For the crust, whiz the crackers in a Cuisinart until finely crushed.
Melt 6 T. butter and add cracker crumbs and ¼ cup shredded cheddar in a bowl. Stir until well combined.
For the regular muffin tin, you’ll place 1 T. of the mixture into the marrow of each muffin cup.
For the mini muffin pans, add only 1 teaspoon to each cup.
Press the mixture lanugo firmly until it is packed and note that some of the mixtures may go up the sides of the cup. This will provide a solid wiring for the bites.
Get your pasta ready! Melt pasta equal to package directions, but make sure to take off the heat well-nigh 1 minute early, so the pasta is al dente.
Drain pasta, rinse with unprepossessed water, and toss with 2 T. olive oil.
Set whispered pasta and reserve well-nigh ¼ cup of pasta shapes to use as a garnish on top of the bites (I like to set whispered the colored ones!).
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt 2 T. butter, then add flour and whisk until combined.
Add milk and whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken well-nigh 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Add cheddar, Boursin cheese, sour cream, and tamed eggs. Stir until cheese is melted and the mixture is thoroughly combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add pasta to the mixture and gently combine until all pasta is coated.
For a regular muffin tin, add a heaping ¼ cup of mixture into each cup, on top of the crust. For a mini muffin tin, you’ll only use well-nigh 2-3 teaspoons of filling for each bite.
Using your fingers, printing the mixture lanugo into each cup to help fill the gaps virtually the cup.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish each zest with one or two pieces of reserved pasta.
Let mac and cheese bites rest for well-nigh 10 minutes to ensure they will hold together.
Run a sharp pocketknife virtually the whet of each cup and gently remove the bite.
Serve immediately!
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