Panera Bread Macaroni and Cheese has to be one of my favorite side dishes at the Panera Bread Bakery. It is rich, creamy, and irresistible. You can make some yourself with this recipe.

If you are lucky, like me, you live near a Panera Bread. If you don’t live near one, you have to drive far, or you can recreate this recipe at home. I can help you make a bowl of their delicious macaroni and cheese. What makes this recipe unique is that is it so creamy. A lot of macaroni and cheese seems to barely have enough cheese. Here the pasta is enrobed in white cheddar cheese. You might wonder what makes this so creamy.

This Panera Bread Macaroni and Cheese recipe is made by using a combination of white American cheese, and sharp white Cheddar cheese. This combination works well. As there is no cheese like American cheese that melts into a rich creamy sauce, but the sharp American cheese is what makes this delicious.

You can buy white American cheese in the deli section of your local grocery store. Walk up to the deli counter and ask them for about a pound of the cheese. You can let them slice it any way you like. You are going to melt the cheese so sliced or not it doesn’t matter. I like to use about a pound of the American white cheddar and about 1 cup of sharp white Cheddar. That isn’t the real secret to the recipe; it is the Dijon mustard.

Mustard has a way of enhancing the flavor of the sharp cheese. Mustard gives it a little extra punch. I like to use a good two teaspoons for this recipe. I also thin the cheese sauce a bit with whole milk. So all of the ingredients are common and easy to find.

I cook up a whole box of pasta shells. If you can’t find pasta shells you can use any other type of pasta that you like. Macaroni tastes just like the shells. I hope you give this recipe a try. If you like Panera Bread recipes, be sure to check out these copycat favorite recipes.

More Panera Bread Copycat Recipes

Panera Black Bean Soup

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup

Honey Walnut Cream Cheese Spread

Panera Bread Baked Potato Soup

Panera Bread Bistro French Onion Soup

