Craving a comforting, cheesy dish that's perfect for one? These Individual Ramekin Mac & Cheese cups featuring creamy white cheddar shells are the answer! Perfect to serve as a side dish, especially with BBQ!
📋 What's New In This Post (1/31/25) - Updated the post to make it an individual baked mac and cheese in ramekins. Also instructions on how to freeze.
Back to My Mac & Cheese Roots
When I first got married back in 2004, one of the first things I learned to cook for us was homemade mac & cheese. There was a brief period where a doctor recommended that my wife reduce her salt intake, so I wanted to learn how to make more dishes myself, allowing me to control the salt content. I found a recipe on the back of a box of Mueller's pasta. The unique thing about this recipe was that it called for ground mustard powder, which I had never bought before. Over the years, I’ve discovered that when I leave it out a couple of times and then go back to using it, the mac & cheese always tastes better.
As our family grew, I found myself needing to use more pasta to feed everyone, so I had to stretch the cheese sauce further. Some of my kids also don’t like it when I bake the mac & cheese in the oven.
I've strayed from my original recipe over the years, so I decided to go back to basics. I wanted to make a batch that I could enjoy on my own for lunches—something creamy with caramelized cheese on top.
In this post, you'll learn what ingredients I use, how to bake it in individual ramekins, and how to freeze leftovers so you can easily reheat them later in the week when you need a quick lunch option.
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Ingredients
Here is what I use to make my mac & cheese.
- 10 oz shell pasta
- 8 oz white cheddar cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground white peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- 2 cups whole milk
- kosher salt
I always recommend that you buy whole cheese and grate it yourself. You often find added ingredients to shredded cheese bags that can include dextrose. Get some recommendations on the Best Box Graters for grating your own cheese.
I love using all sorts of different types of pasta for mac & cheese. What I love about using shells for mac & cheese is that the cheese pools inside of the shells. You are getting mini stuffed cheese of cheese. So good!
As I mentioned in the intro, mustard powder is a key ingredient to the cheese sauce. Don't worry, it won't taste like you are eating mustard on a hot dog, it just adds depth of flavor to the cheese sauce. For the pepper, I like using white peppercorns because they a little mellower flavor plus it doesn't mess with the appearance of it. I have an entire post dedicated to the different types of peppercorns that you check out.
💡 Top Tips
With your pasta you want to boil in a large pot of water that you heavily salt. It should taste like your swimming in the ocean. This will season your pasta as it cooks.
You don't want to cook the pasta too long. It should be just slightly chewy still, nearly done but not quite. When you bake it, it will then be the perfect consistency. If you overcook the pasta, it will be mushy when it's done baking.
If you don't want to break out a colander to drain the pasta, you can just remove the pasta with a slotted spoon and put it right into the sauce. When we have been in our camper, we have done this because we don't want to use our limited space storing a colander.
I typically make the sauce in one pot while the pasta is cooking in another pot. The cheese sauce is always done first. I just give it a stir before I add in the pasta.
Ramekin Sizes
I wanted to give you idea of how many ramekins you are going to need. Below I list the different sizes and how many you would need. I made them using 3-12oz ramekins, so I am determining the sizes by having about 36 oz of mac & cheese for this recipe.
| Ramekin Size | How Many You Will Need For This Recipe |
| 4 oz | 9 |
| 6 oz | 6 |
| 8 oz | 4 (you will have a little extra with this size) |
| 12 oz | 3 |
How to Freeze Mac & Cheese
I want to share a really cool way to freeze leftovers. I discovered these wonder trays from Souper Cubes, which are made of silicone. I freeze my mac & cheese in their 1-cup tray. Once the mac & cheese is frozen solid, you can pop it out of the tray and store it in a bag. If you want to keep going the reusable silicone route, you can put it into a Stasher silicone bag.
Share Your Thoughts
I hope you enjoy this recipe and will give it a try. If you do make sure to come back and share your experience, it helps me to perfect my recipes. Also make sure to take a moment to see how I make mac & cheese with different types of cheese such as Gouda and Butterkase.
Individual Creamy White Cheddar Shells in Ramekins
Ingredients
- 10 oz shell pasta
- 8 oz white sharp cheddar cheese shredded yourself
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp freshly ground white peppercorns
- ½ tsp mustard powder
- 2 cups whole milk
- kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring a gallon of water to boil in a large pot with enough salt to make it taste like ocean water
- When the water comes to a boil, dump in the pasta and cook until it is almost al dente but still a little bit chewy, so it will be perfect when it comes out of the oven. Drain the pasta and set aside.
Make the cheese sauce
- You can do this while the pasta is cooking.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
- When the butter is completely melted whisk in the flour, white pepper, mustard powder, and kosher salt to taste.
- When the flour is fully incorporated, pour in the milk. Turn your burner to medium, stir often, until the mixture comes to a boil. Let the mixture boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the pasta to the cheese sauce.
- Divide the mac & cheese between your ramekins. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan just in case anything drips out and to make it easier to remove the ramekins from the oven.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the mac & cheese is brown and bubbly on top. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before enjoying.
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