REAL Italian Mac and Cheese

This is a REAL Italian Mac and Cheese made with only Italian cheeses and topped with crispy pancetta to make this a delicious Italian-American comfort dish. This is my grandma's recipe for the most cheesy and creamy baked mac and cheese you will ever have!

If you love Mac and Cheese and you're looking for more side dishes, check out our Lemon Spinach Orzo and Creamy Mushroom Truffle Risotto.

Why This Recipe

In a lot of Italian mac and cheese recipes, I've noticed people use cheddar. Cheddar is just a common denominator in mac and cheese. I wanted to use all Italian cheeses, though, and I recipe tested several times with different quantities of 4 types of Italian cheese: Mozzarella, fontina, provolone, and parmesan. I use a similar combo, minus the fontina, for Veggie Stromboli.

I've had plenty of different types of mac and cheese in my life, whether it be creamy, cheesy, stringy, sharp, mushy, salty, or spicy. Every macaroni and cheese has its merits, and in my wife's words, "you never turn down any mac n cheese."

This mac and cheese, in particular, goes great with some of our other signature holiday dishes like Authentic Italian Porchetta and Italian Cast Iron Pork Tenderloin.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Four Italian Cheeses- To make this an authentic, or as authentic as possible, for an Italian-American dish, we used only Italian cheese: Fontina, Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Provolone.
• Pancetta- Pancetta gives this dish the perfect crispy topping. You could substitute guanciale if you have that. I would avoid bacon in this recipe mainly because its flavor is overwhelming and not something that will feel nostalgically Italian.
• Elbows- I like elbows for mac and cheese al forno (baked) style, but you could substitute penne, small shells, or pipette.
• Breadcrumbs- Topping the macaroni and cheese with Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs is the perfect crispy topping, along with the pancetta.

*Please see the recipe card below for more information about the ingredients.

Cheese Behavior and Swaps

I've tested this recipe several times to get the perfect cheese ratio of each of these 4 cheeses.

• Mozzarella was a no-brainer. You have to have mozzarella in mac and cheese. It is what gives you the cheese pull. Mozzarella is created using a process called pasta filata in which rennet is used to break down the casein proteins and create cheese curds. The pasta filata is the process of placing the cheese curds into hot, salty water, which unravels the protein chain and creates the "cheese pull." The curd is then stretched and compressed to create what we know as mozzarella.
• Provolone provides the flavor, but it isn't the greatest for melting in mac and cheese. So I use a bit less of provolone than mozzarella and fontina. The combination of provolone and mozzarella is the perfect combo in our breads like Italian Sausage Bread and Pepperoni Bread (Stromboli).
• Fontina is one of my favorite kinds of cheese. It's so creamy and mushroomy and is a great cheese for melting in a way that gives the creamy texture.
• Parmesan is the final cheese, and although I used domestic parmesan, it still adds an extra salty flavor to the macaroni, and it is one of my favorites. Plenty of cheese snobs will tell you how bad American Parmesan is. But my number one rule is, "there is no such thing as bad cheese." Quote me on that.

How to Make Italian Mac and Cheese

Follow the numbered steps below to make this baked macaroni and cheese.

Step 1: Add the pancetta into a COLD PAN. Heat the frying pan to medium heat. Fry low and slow until golden brown, about eight minutes. Then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Leave the grease behind.

Step 2: Melt the butter in the saucepan and stir until the foaming stops. Combine the equal parts of butter and flour in the pan, slowly adding the flour a bit at a time.

Step 3: Use a whisk to combine flour and butter until they are completely combined and look like the image in PHOTO 3. When you drag a wooden spoon through it, it should briefly hold the line while slowly flowing back together.

Step 4: Add the milk to the roux and mix well. Bring the milk to a low simmer.

In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the water is boiling, add salt and boil the pasta to al dente. It's important that the pasta is not overcooked because it will cook for 20 more minutes in the oven.

Step 5: Once the milk is simmering, slowly start stirring all of the cheese in a handful at a time. Make sure the cheese is completely melted before adding more. Save half of the Parmesan to sprinkle on top.

Step 6: Strain the pasta water from the pot, and while it is still hot, add it to the pot of melted cheese. Combine well until the pasta is completely coated with the cheese. At first, it will seem like the cheese doesn't want to stick to the pasta, just keep stirring, and it will.

Step 7: Pour the pasta into a baking dish and top with breadcrumbs combined with the rest of the parmesan. Then top with the rest of the pancetta.

Step 8: Place the mac and cheese in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. When you remove it, the cheese should be bubbling up all around the edges of the dish.

This is the most robust Italian mac and cheese on the internet. It's the real deal with a combination of decadent and nutty flavors that will not disappoint.

Serve this for a holiday/party side dish along with some of your other party favorites like Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts, Chicken Piccata, or Italian Meatloaf.

FAQs about Italian Macaroni and Cheese

What to serve Mac and Cheese with

• Mac and cheese always goes great with chicken dishes like Fennel Chicken Thighs, Cast Iron Chicken Breast, or Italian Chicken Cutlets.
• It also needs to be served with a vegetable to balance out all this ooey gooey cheese, like Italian Lacinato Kale, Italian Cabbage, or Garlic Parmesan Green Beans.
• Or top it with a braised meat like Braised Italian Short Ribs or Dutch Oven Barbacoa.

Other Cheesy Italian Pastas

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