This Homemade White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Tomatoes is comfort food at its finest, with a silky cheese sauce and roasted cherry tomatoes.
This position was created in collaboration with farms in the village. All opinions are ours.
Do you have a distant relative who will be home for the holidays? As families gather at this time of year, we all look for those perfect dishes to warm tummies and hearts. It’s hard to argue that there’s a better comfort food than good old mac and cheese, right? Alex and I created this sophisticated take on mac and cheese with the luscious combination of roasted tomatoes and white cheddar cheese. It’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser, and you can even sneak in some veggies (well, fruit?).
Also: Try all of our best macaroni cheese recipes!
Why is this the best white cheddar mac and cheese?
Food is the focus when we get together, especially during the holiday season! Many of our recipes here are designed to be healthy and vibrant; others are home cooking made from real food ingredients. These White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese are a real gem. Several friends helped taste test and gave it 5 stars! The sharpness of white cheddar cheese brings sophistication and the contrast of light roasted tomatoes is an unexpected flair.
A nice feature of this white cheddar mac and cheese is that it doesn’t require any cooking time. Just make macaroni and cheese, top with roasted tomatoes and serve! This recipe will be part of our fun menus for years to come. Alex and I couldn’t get enough of that silky white cheddar sauce versus the tangy tomatoes! He’s our goalkeeper.
How do you make a meal out of this? Accompany it with a green salad or steamed broccoli! Head over to the 10 Best Sides to Serve With Mac and Cheese for our favorite recipes.
The search for the best cherry tomatoes
Normally, Alex and I wouldn’t roast fresh tomatoes to accompany a comfort food like this white cheddar mac and cheese. However, Village Farms is a brand of greenhouse grown tomatoes that are more environmentally friendly and grown without the use of pesticides. As these tomatoes are grown in greenhouses, they are available all year round and really taste like the garden at any time of the year.
To add a kick of flavor to our White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, we used Village Farms Cherry No. Added 9 fall in Love Again® tomatoes. The sweetness of tomatoes is the perfect juxtaposition for the spiciness of white cheddar cheese.
How to roast cherry tomatoes
How to roast cherry tomatoes? For this White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, we wanted to roast the tomatoes just long enough for them to hold their shape but not too long for them to dry out. To roast this variety of cherry tomatoes, follow these steps:
- Brush them with olive oil, add a pinch of salt and roast them at 350°F for about 40 minutes. That’s it!
- Frying them cut-side down will char them a little more and give them the vibe of a sun-dried tomato, but they’ll lose their shape more. Roasting tomatoes cut-side up helps them hold their shape while delivering a nice concentrated tomato flavor. You decide!
Rather with cherry tomatoes? Go to 10 Tasty Cherry Tomato Recipes.
Prepare White Cheddar Mac and Cheese on the stove
Aside from the cherry tomatoes, to make this white cheddar mac and cheese, you’ll need your favorite short pasta, unsalted butter, flour, milk, strong white cheddar cheese, and some seasoning. Note that you can use any milk in this recipe. We prefer 2% milk because the added fat keeps these macaroni and cheese flavorful and silky, but any milk will do!
While the tomatoes are roasting, do the following:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese sauce: heat the butter over medium-high heat and stir in the flour. When the butter mixture begins to brown, reduce the heat to low and very slowly add the milk. Add the herbs and spices and continue cooking until the mixture has thickened slightly.
- Remove from the heat and add the shredded cheddar cheese and continue to stir until a thick sauce forms.
- Gently stir the noodles into the cheddar cheese sauce, then transfer to a large serving bowl. Garnish with roasted tomatoes and enjoy!
How to reheat Mac and Cheese
This Mac and Cheese with White Cheddar is delicious right away, but leftovers are delicious the next day, too! To reheat the mac and cheese, we recommend doing this in a sturdy pan with a little milk to keep the noodles from drying out. Also, cover the pan with a lid to seal in the moisture because nothing beats leftover fluffy macaroni and cheese.
Discover the farms of the village:
Check out our White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Tomatoes on the Village Farms website:
This white cheddar mac and cheese recipe is…
Vegetarian. For gluten-free dishes, use gluten-free pasta and gluten-free flour.
The description
This Homemade White Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Tomatoes is comfort food at its finest, with a silky cheese sauce and roasted cherry tomatoes.
- 1½ liters (At 3 cups) Village Farms Cherry No. 9 Fall in love with tomatoes again
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 Pound short pasta (shellfish, macaroni, fusilli, or penne)
- 3 tablespoons butter without salt
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 12 ounces crisp white cheddar cheese
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Fry the tomatoes: Cut the tomatoes in half. In a small bowl, mix them with the olive oil and 1 generous pinch of kosher salt. Place them face up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread evenly. (You can also put some tomatoes face down for a delicious sun-dried tomato effect; they’ll lose their shape and darken a bit, but they’ll still be delicious.) Roast the tomatoes for 40 minutes and set aside then cool for at least 5 minutes. .
- Cook Pasta: Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta al dente (cook until soft but still slightly firm).
- Grate the white cheddar cheese.
- Prepare the Cheese Sauce: In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium-high heat; When it melts, stir in the flour. Heat the mixture for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Immediately when the color begins to turn light brown, reduce the heat to low. Start adding the milk very slowly, stirring constantly, until the mixture is completely smooth, then add more milk. Add the salt, onion powder and garlic powder and simmer over low heat for a further 4 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat, then add the shredded cheddar cheese and continue to stir until melted and a smooth, thick sauce forms (reduce heat to low if necessary to melt cheese completely).
- Finish the dish: add the pasta to the cheese sauce and stir to combine. Then put the noodles in a serving bowl. Garnish with tomatoes and serve immediately.
- Category: main course
- Method: roast meat
- Kitchen: American
Keywords: Mac and Cheese, White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, White Cheddar, Homemade White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, Cherry Tomatoes, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Roasted Tomatoes, Vegetarian
Looking for more comfort food recipes?
Aside from this Homemade White Cheddar and Tomato Macaroni and Cheese, here are a few other comforting recipes:
