A baked mac and cheese recipe with fresh tomatoes, this is the ultimate summer mac and cheese! With layers of juicy slices of garden or heirloom tomatoes to cut through the richness of the sauce and add a delicious sweet contrast, this mac and cheese is light and refreshing for the warmer seasons.
This big bubbling pan of mac and cheese is our new family favorite dinner! It is comfort food for summer, and makes it easy to use up a batch of heirloom tomatoes, whatever the colors and sizes.
It’s pretty simple too! Not much more effort than your usual baked mac and cheese here. We just make a traditional roux-based mac and cheese and add a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes to the middle and to the top. The tomatoes in the middle layer soften and release lots of juices which weave their way through the rich sauce, and the tomatoes on the top will roast and sweeten up.
It’s still a pan of creamy comforting goodness, but the freshness and lightness of the tomatoes makes it feel just right for a warm weather dinner. And aesthetically, if you have striking heirlooms to work with, it can look amazing, so consider this when planning your next get together!
Top Tips & Ingredient Notes
- This works with any size, shape or color of tomatoes you want to use. Even cherry tomatoes can be cut into 3-4 slices and added on – this is a good way to fill in gaps on the topping! The only thing that really matters is that they should be the peak summery tasty kind, the kind where the juices are flavorful and not just watery.
- You want a casserole dish with a wide base for this. A 9×13 glass Pyrex works perfectly. Some large casserole dishes are a little deeper but narrower, and you wouldn’t have as much surface area for your tomato layers. It will still be fine, but I like to maximise how much tomato I can cram in here.
- Your choice of cheese can be really basic (all cheddar) or a little fancier (mix cheddar and gruyere, or cheddar and parmesan); just choose cheeses that are flavorful and strong. Grating the cheese off a block instead of using premade is the way to go for the best texture in the sauce.
- I love to use a combination of whole milk and cream, which makes the sauce extra creamy and luscious, but you can use additional milk instead of cream if you want to lighten this up further.
Serving Suggestions
Thanks to the tomatoes, I feel like this can be a standalone meal in a bowl without getting too same-y, but here are some ideas of how to bulk out the meal:
- Frozen peas and/or corn are the easiest option to add extra veggies to the plate, and their sweet summer flavors will work well with this mac and cheese.
- You can roast a pan of veggies in the oven at the same time this mac and cheese cooks if you wish – mushrooms, peppers, and corn on the cob are all great choices.
- Put your air fryer to work making garlic bread or broccoli while the mac and cheese is in the oven.
- Want salad? I think my Vegetarian Italian Salad with Crispy Chickpeas is the perfect match for this dish (you could leave out the cheese in the salad if you wish, to balance things out a little). My Warm Mushroom, Avocado & Arugula Salad would be another great choice. The key is to choose a dressing with a nice tart vinaigrette rather than something creamy.
Baked Tomato Mac and Cheese
A baked mac and cheese recipe with fresh tomatoes, this is the ultimate summer mac and cheese! With layers of juicy slices of garden or heirloom tomatoes to cut through the richness of the sauce and add a delicious sweet contrast, this mac and cheese is light and refreshing for the warmer seasons.
Ingredients
- 15 oz (450 g) dried macaroni
- ½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (60 g) all purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup double (heavy) cream
- 4 cups (325 g) shredded cheese, cheddar or a mix of cheddar and gruyere, jarlsberg or similar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp mustard powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- 3-4 large tomatoes , or a combination of larger and smaller tomatoes – cut into thin slices
- olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 430F / 220C / 200C Fan and lightly grease a 9×13 inch (23x33cm) casserole dish.
- In a large, deep saute pan, melt the butter over a low-medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly until a paste (roux) forms.1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- After a minute or two of whisking, the roux will start to smell toasted. At this point, add the mustard powder, smoked paprika and salt. Whisk to combine.1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- Now turn up the heat to medium and start adding the cream and milk (I usually measure both of them into one jug but if you measure them separately, start with the cream and then move on to the milk). You need to start slow and whisk constantly. Just add a splash at a time to start with, gradually pouring more quickly as time goes on. *The reason for this is to keep the pan's temperature stable – if you add too much cold milk to a small amount of sauce, it won't be able to emulsify into it – that's when lumps will form. At the beginning, there isn't a lot of sauce in the pan so adding more than a splash of milk will bring the temperature down too much. But as you go on, the amount of warm sauce in the pan will get higher so you can pour milk in faster without the risk of it cooling the pan down too much.3 cups whole milk, 1 cup double (heavy) cream
- Once all of the milk is added, continue to whisk for a few more minutes until the sauce has thickened up a little and starts bubbling at the sides. Then turn off the heat and mix the cheese through until melted. Set aside while you boil the pasta.4 cups shredded cheese
- Boil the pasta, and drain it a couple of minutes before the package's stated cooking time is up. Add it to the pan with the sauce and mix through.15 oz dried macaroni
- Pour half of the mac and cheese mixture into your baking dish and layer some sliced tomatoes over the top. You want to make sure each portion will have some tomato in it, but you should also leave gaps between the tomatoes, as pictured.3-4 large tomatoes
- Spread the rest of the mac and cheese over the top, and then add another layer of tomatoes to the top. With this layer, you want to completely cover the mac and cheese and leave as few gaps between your tomato slices as possible. Drizzle some olive oil over the top of each tomato and add salt and pepper to taste.olive oil
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes have roasted and started to brown around the edges. You can use the grill / broiler to finish them off if you want to, but I would not recommend letting them bake for any longer than 20 minutes or the mac and cheese will dry out.
- Let it sit for a few moments until it stops bubbling, then serve immediately.
Calories: 629kcal, Carbohydrates: 54g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 35g, Saturated Fat: 20g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 103mg, Sodium: 689mg, Potassium: 488mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1699IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 428mg, Iron: 2mg