One Pot Creamy Wisconsin White Cheddar Shells

This one pot mac and cheese is the EASIEST from scratch mac and cheese recipe you will make! Made with no flour, and 3 kinds of delicious white cheeses, it is rich, decadent, and delicious.  Chances are you will be going back for seconds!

This post was created in partnership with Wisconsin Cheese.  It is a new and delicious take on a recipe our family has been making for years!

Skip straight to the recipe!

If you asked me what my favorite food was when I was 5, I would have enthusiastically told you mac & cheese.  If you ask me what my favorite food is at almost 35, you would get exactly the same answer!  Either I have the palate of a 5 year old still, or macaroni and cheese is really just that good.  I am going to go with the later.

I grew up eating mac & cheese made from scratch.  To this day this is still how we do it in our family, however I have changed up the recipe a lot over the years.  Of course different occasions call for different recipes, for example I make my fancy mac & cheese for Thanksgiving, but the recipe I use the absolute most is a crazy simple one.  Sometimes simple just lets the best flavors shine through.

I am not a huge fan of making a roux (combining butter and flour to make a sauce) so years ago, I came up with the idea to use cream cheese as a base in the dish instead of a roux.  I thought it just might combine with the more solid cheeses to keep everything nice and creamy, and allow me to skip the whole making the sauce part.  Spoiler alert:  It worked!

Now this cheater version of  mac & cheese not only is super creamy, but also is so packed with flavor.  Using real Wisconsin sharp white cheddar and fontina take the creaminess of the cream cheese and kick the flavor up about 1000%.  I always think sharp cheddar makes a great base flavor in mac & cheese, and adding in the smooth flavor of the fontina just puts it over the top!

We took a trip to Wisconsin this past fall and, let me tell you, it was a cheese lovers paradise!  We tasted some of the most amazing cheeses at a local cheese shop and just about ate our weight in cheese curds.  They really know their cheese!

One of the best parts is that you make this whole dish in just one pot, so not only is it quick to make, it is also quick to clean up!

To start you just boil the pasta like normal.  Make sure you drain it when it is al dente because we will continue to cook it while we add the cheese, and no one likes mushy pasta!

Once it is drained, return it to the pan over low heat.  Stir in the butter, cream cheese, and milk and stir it really well, until everything is perfectly coated in creamy goodness.

Then you just start piling on the cheese.  White cheddar.  Fontina.  White cheddar.  Fontina.  You get the picture.  Add in more milk as needed to keep it at the creaminess you want. I mean guys… check out these piles of cheese!

Once you get all that cheese in and everything is melted together, serve it up for a little piece of heaven!

Grab the FULL Recipe here!

If you give this recipe a try I would love to hear about it in the comments!  Nothing makes my day more than hearing from a fellow mac and cheese lover.  You can also tag me on Instagram @easyfamilyrecipes with pics of your recipe.

Enjoy friends!