Ina Garten’s ‘Smack’ & Cheese Is Like Traditional Mac & Cheese … but ‘With the Volume Turned Up’

When you’re in the mood for mac and cheese, you’re probably not craving the boxed variety. You want some melty, cheesy, homemade mac, and Ina Garten has got you covered. She has an amped-up mac and cheese recipe that will satisfy your craving and leave you wanting more.

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“I’m making Smack and Cheese, which is traditional mac and cheese with the volume turned up,” Garten said in a clip on the Food Network Instagram page. It’s definitely not your 10-minute boxed mac and cheese, so get ready to have your taste buds blown.

Garten first starts by making a simple bechamel sauce (also called a white sauce) by whisking together flour and melted butter in a saucepan. She then slowly adds in some warm milk and waits for the sauce to thicken to a nice consistency.

Then, take the bechamel off the heat and add in some seasoning: salt, pepper, and nutmeg, which gives the sauce a super savory note. “I think nutmeg brings out the flavor in the cheese,” Garten said, “which brings me to the next thing — cheese. Lots of good cheese.”

She uses shredded Swiss gruyere for some nuttiness and shredded cheddar to give the sauce some sharpness.

All that delicious shredded cheese gets added into the hot bechamel sauce and melts to perfection. Then, in a separate bowl, mix your cooked pasta (Garten used cavatappi, but you can use whichever noodle you prefer) with the bechamel and then toss the mixed Smack and Cheese into a baking dish.

Finally, Garten tops her mac and cheese with slices of tomatoes and freshly made breadcrumbs to give the dish even more flavor and a bit of crunch. The dish gets tossed into the oven until the cheese becomes bubbly, and then you’re ready to serve.

It’s mac and cheese for a party , as Garten said, and it’s definitely going to live at home on your dinner rotation for years and years to come!

Before you go, check out Garten’s best dinner recipes below: