It’s simple weeknight dinner time! This easy cheese pasta is jazzed up homemade mac and cheese, and the whole family will love it.
The BEST Easy Cheese Pasta Recipe
If you’re looking for an easy weeknight meal, this is it! This easy cheese pasta is made with THREE varieties of cheese for ultimate cheesiness, and is ready to serve in under 30 minutes.
Why make pasta with cheese?
- Easy weeknight meal
- Super cheesy flavor
- Use any variety of pasta
- The whole fam will love it!
Cheese Pasta Ingredients
- Cavatappi noodles: we love love love the fun shape of cavatappi noodles, but feel free to use 8 oz. of whatever variety of pasta your heart desires.
- Heavy cream: the heavy cream is used in the roux for this cheese pasta to help make it super duper creamy.
- Shredded gouda and cheddar cheese: cheese is the star of the show for this pasta, of course! We’re using a combination of shredded cheddar and shredded gouda.
- Grated parmesan cheese: grated parm adds a very nice salty and cheesy flavor. Don’t skip this!
- Salt & pepper: sprinkle on to your liking!
Best Cheese for Pasta
There are many different kinds of cheese that are great for pasta. Try mozzarella, parmesan, gouda, or cheddar.
Tutorial
How to Grate Cheese
Whether you have a box grater at home or find yourself in need of grated cheese and no grater, we’ve got you covered on how to grate cheese without a cheese grater!
How to Make Easy Cheese Pasta
Making this cheese pasta is as easy as 1-2-3! Here’s what you need to do:
boil pasta
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook the noodles until al dente and then strain noodles.
We recommend following the directions on your pasta box.
Make the roux
Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the heavy cream and heat for about 1 minute and then mix the cheeses into the warmed cream and mix until the cheese has melted. YUM.
roux tip!
If you make a smaller batch of this recipe, your roux will come together more quickly. Reversely, if you double or triple this recipe, your roux will take a little longer (get ready to whiskkkk!).
Combine pasta & cheese sauce
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cooked noodles and mix to combine. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Tutorial
How to Thicken Pasta Sauce
No matter how closely you follow a recipe, sometimes you end up with a watery pasta sauce. Have no fear, it is very easy to thicken pasta sauce one of these 3 ways!
Easy Swaps
Add a protein: Feel free to top this easy cheese pasta with a protein like shredded chicken, shrimp or sausage links.
Make it gluten-free: swap the all-purpose flour for an all-purpose g/f flour blend (we recommend Bob’s Red Mill) 1:1 and use gluten-free noodles.
Let’s talk cheese: You need 1 cup of cheese for this easy cheese pasta. It can truly be any combination of cheese that you’d like or have on hand.
FAQs
What is an easy cheese pasta?
If you’re looking for an easy cheese pasta recipe, this is it! Our cheese pasta is made with 3 varieties of cheese + your favorite pasta noodle.
What varieties of cheese are good on pasta?
Using cheddar cheese, gouda cheese and parmesan cheese on this easy cheese pasta yields a super creamy and flavorful sauce.
How do you make mac and cheese sauce thinner?
Looking to thin out your cheese pasta sauce? Add additional heavy cream by the tablespoon and stir over low heat until you reach your desired consistency.
Storage
Store this cheese pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Reheating Cheese Pasta
The key to reheating cheese pasta is two fold:
- add a little moisture (milk works great!) since the noodles continue to absorb moisture even after it’s originally cooked
- reheat low and slow to avoid the cheese breaking down and changing texture.
Oven Directions
If you have time to reheat your cheese pasta in the oven, that is a great method!
Simply add a little milk (start with a tablespoon, and go up from there depending on how much cheese pasta you’re reheating!), and stir thoroughly before covering an oven-safe dish and placing in the oven at 350°F.
You’ll need 10-20 minutes of reheating time, depending on how much pasta you’re reheating.
Can you freeze cheese pasta?
We unfortunately don’t recommend freezing this easy cheese pasta. Both noodles and dairy don’t do too well when thawing and reheating.
Easy Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. dry cavatappi pasta or any pasta of choice
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup shredded gouda cheese
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook the noodles until al dente and then strain noodles. Set aside.
- Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the heavy cream and heat for about 1 minute and then mix the cheeses into the warmed cream and mix until the cheese has melted.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cooked noodles and mix to combine. Serve immediately.
