This Is Your Sign to Add Tomatoes to Your Mac and Cheese

Of all the ingredients that get added to macaroni and cheese, few have as successful a track record as tomato. America's Test Kitchen/TCA

Tomato started showing up in mac and cheese on menus at about the turn of the 20th century and continued to appear regularly in cookbooks throughout the 1950s. Recently, the combination has fallen off the radar, but we hoped to revive this once-popular recipe.

To pack in bright tomato flavor, we tried every type of tomato product we could think of—even ketchup and jarred tomato sauce—as we struggled to find the perfect balance of rich red color and bright tomato flavor. In the end, testers preferred canned petite diced tomatoes. But no matter how much tomato we piled into our macaroni, the tomato flavor just wasn’t strong enough.

After numerous tests, we discovered that undercooking the pasta and adding the tomatoes with their juices to the drained macaroni allowed the macaroni to soak up more of the tomato flavor.

Returning the pasta to the heat afterward allowed the noodles to absorb some of the tomato juice. Unfortunately, all that tomato flavor came at a steep price—curdled sauce. To combat the acid in the tomatoes, we added fat in the form of half-and-half (cut with some chicken broth) and a mix of sharp and mild cheddar cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese With Tomatoes

Serves 8 to 10

• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 1 (28-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

For the Macaroni

Adjust oven to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and the macaroni and cook until just al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour diced tomatoes with their juices over pasta and stir to coat. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

For the Sauce

Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Stir in flour and cayenne and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in half-and-half and broth until smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper until cheeses melt. Pour sauce over macaroni and stir to combine.

Scrape mixture into 13-by-9-inch baking dish set in rimmed baking sheet and bake until top begins to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead

Macaroni and cheese can be made in advance. Scrape mixture into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish, let cool, lay plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pasta, and refrigerate for up to two days. When ready to bake, remove plastic wrap, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

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