You Have to Bake Macaroni and Cheese in a Baking Sheet
Baked macaroni and cheese is different from stovetop macaroni. Instead of a creamy, sticky pasta and cheesy sauce, you get a mass of tender noodles held together by elastic cheese strands and topped with a crispy fried filling. It is this filling that makes baked pasta so special.
Get a pan for your Mac:
If you prefer crispy, toasty bits over sticky innards, you can go all the way and maximize the appearance-to-inside ratio. The best way to do this is to throw out the deep baking dish and turn on the baking sheet.
This brilliant trick comes from one of my favorite food sites, AllRecipes . Instead of baking the pasta in a deeper dish, they spread it out in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet, so each piece has a golden crisp:
The increased surface area when spreading pasta and cheese sauce on a baking sheet means that the pieces of pasta combined with milk and cheese can be exposed to the heat of the oven in one even layer. It makes macaroni and cheese where every bite will be crispy.
There’s even a recipe you can follow, but you can apply this method to just about any pasta, even this stovetop version . Once you’ve cooked pasta, all you have to do is spread it out in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet (line it with aluminum foil) and then sprinkle with more cheese, breadcrumbs, or any other crispy crumbs. you desire, such as Cheetos . Drizzle with a tablespoon of melted butter and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the top is browned and bubbling, about 15 minutes. Serve hot and crispy.