Why not make things fun for Halloween with this Halloween Macaroni & Cheese. An easy stove top pasta dish made with fun Halloween shaped pasta in a creamy cheese sauce. All done in 20 minutes and the kids will love to help with this one!
Halloween is just around the corner and I vowed this year I would add some easy fun filled recipes to the Blog. I’ve noticed a lot of your searching for spooky recipes only to find one lonely themed Chocolate Cupcake Recipe from a few years back. That’s about to change with a mini series of Halloween inspired recipes I have coming out through the next week.
They will all be quick and easy recipes that you can make with easy to find ingredients and you’re kids will want to join in on. So, don’t forget to keep checking back through the next week to see if there is anything that inspires you to get into the spooky spirit of things.
Today is the first in the series of Five Halloween Inspired Recipes. Great for lunches, snacks or Halloween parties for the upcoming week.
here’s Everything You’ll Need To Make The Halloween Macaroni & Cheese
- Halloween shaped pasta
- Parmesan cheese grated
- Cheddar cheese grated
- Gouda cheese grated
- Milk
- Butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- Garlic powder
- Oregano
- Parsley finely chopped (option)
- Salt
- Black pepper
REMEMBER, The full recipe and instructions can be found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
What is Halloween pasta Exactly
Okay, so here’s the secret. It’s just regular pasta cut into Halloween shapes. But I’m sure you knew that already. I bought mine at Aldi, but you can use any kind you prefer. Remember, I’m in Spain so the products I find are most likely a little different to your Aldi. I think many supermarkets carry them nowadays. I’ve checked on Amazon and found some Halloween Shaped Pasta . And if you look around, I’m sure you’ll find many more choices.
How To Make This Easy Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
First up, Make the Sauce for The Mac and Cheese
- Make the sauce – In a medium sized sauce pan set over medium heat, add the butter. Melt for a minute and add the flour and garlic powder. Stir well until it starts to bubble and thickens. This takes about a minute to two minutes.Gradually start pouring in the milk and whisk as you pour. The sauce will start to thicken as you pour in the milk. Continue pouring in the milk as whisking until you have used all the milk and the sauce has thickened. This takes about 3 – 4 minutes.
- Cook the pasta – Cook pasta to your liking and according to package instructions. My pasta took 8 minutes to cook al dente.
Drain The Pasta And Add The Sauce
- Drain Pasta – make sure to drain the pasta really well. I like to strain it and shake it around for a minute or so to get out all the water.
- Add the sauce to the pasta – pour in all of the cheese sauce and stir. This is a super creamy and cheesy sauce. Lot and lot of calories and goodness…hahaha
Can I make Any substitutions to This Halloween Macaroni & Cheese
- Cheese – I used a mix of Parmesan, Cheddar and Gouda. Equal parts of all three and this is exactly the same as my Easy Stove Top Mac and Cheese. But you can use just one of those three or whatever type of cheese you have on hand. If using mozzarella cheese make sure to mix it with another type of cheese as it will tend to be stringy.
- Fresh & dried herbs – I used dried oregano in this recipe because I love the flavour. You could choose dried basil if your prefer. And if you have picky kids, you can just leave it out. I like to top all my dishes with a bit of greenery…hahaha. I used a little fresh parsley. Again, you can leave this out or choose your favourite herb.
You Can Even Make This an Oven Baked Dish if You Prefer
Okay, so this recipe is for a stove top version, but you can turn it into a baked Macaroni & Cheese if that’s your favourite. Here’s how to do that!
Oven Baked Macaroni & Cheese
- Prepare recipe – follow the instructions for this Mac & Cheese in the recipe card below
- Prepare baking dish – grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish (or equivalent size) preheat oven to 375 degrees f/190 degrees c.
- Assemble dish – pour in the pasta and top with 1/2 cup of bread crumbs mixed with about 1/3 cup of grated cheese (your choice). Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
- Serve – let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Friends, keep this in mind when your little ones are looking for a fun Halloween lunch for dinner. Why not even serve it to the adults. I love a good Macaroni and Cheese and I ate my fair share of this one, trust me!
Remember, there are more Halloween inspired recipes coming through the next week. My theme is EASY! I know we all love Pinterest and Instagram. And, I also know we can easily become overwhelmed with many of the beautiful (yet time consuming and expensive) Halloween Ideas. I promise, the simple recipe ideas I have coming your way are neither!
Enjoy the Mac & Cheese and I’ll see you in a day or two with the next installment. Spoiler alert, easy fun appetizer! Keep on cooking friends.
Mini Mac and Cheese
Get The Recipe!
Halloween Macaroni & Cheese
Ingredients
- 10 oz Halloween shaped pasta
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1/3 cup Gouda cheese grated
- 3 cups milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- parsley finely chopped (option)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan filled with boiling water, add pasta and cook for 8 – 10 minutes.
- In a medium sized sauce pan set over medium heat, add the butter. Melt for a minute and add the flour and garlic powder. Stir well until it starts to bubble and thickens. This takes about a minute to two minutes.
- Gradually start pouring in the milk and whisk as you pour. The sauce will start to thicken as you pour in the milk. Continue pouring in the milk as whisking until you have used all the milk and the sauce has thickened. This takes about 3 – 4 minutes.
- Remove sauce from heat and stir in all the cheese, oregano, salt, pepper and fresh parsley. Stir until smooth.
- Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour over sauce, stir and enjoy!
- This recipe uses whole milk, but semi skimmed or skimmed may be used. The result will be a slightly thinner sauce.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Thanks For Stopping By & Hope To See You Soon!
Mac n cheese is more than just a main course with my kids. Love the pasta shapes, my Aldi didnt have but I’m sure Ill find something.
Love how you dtessed the table for tjis too, the props are so cool
Thanks Vince. It’s always difficult to find Halloween stuff where we live. But Aldi has been doing great these past few years. I bought a few things to make some easy recipes. When my kids were small, I couldn’t find anything like this. They still liked the pasta though:)