The Best Cheeses for Mac & Cheese, According to Experts
Macaroni and cheese
It could be argued that all mac and cheese is good mac and cheese. Even when dealing with the boxed stuff, you’re still eating a bowl of something salty, creamy, gooey, and probably very cheesy. Who among us does not count the boxed stuff among the fondest relics of our youth? (Who else among us might admit to occasionally indulging as adults? Out of nostalgia, naturally.) But for most cheese aficionados, homemade macaroni and cheese is still best.
Whether your ultimate mac and cheese begins with a bechamel sauce, heavy cream, or my own secret shortcut — cream cheese — the possibilities for a custom cheese blend for your custom version are infinite. Believing that the more cheese, the better, both in quantity and types of cheese, we asked a handful of pros for their favorite cheese combination for macaroni and cheese.
All of the pros’ picks follow a tried-and-true cheese formula: some kind of Cheddar, plus something melty, and then something for punch or umami, with maybe a bonus cheese or two to go in a different flavor direction or for plain-old indulgence. Here are five expert-approved cheese combos for the dreamiest mac and cheese, ripe for your next potluck occasion, or just a weeknight treat.
Familiar & Fancy
Mozzarella, Sharp Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, TruffleToma
Mozzarella, Sharp Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, TruffleToma
To start, Lisa Ali, Tastemaster of Santa Monica’s Gelson’s Markets, offers some sound advice for ensuring a quality outcome. “Fresh grated cheeses off the block are best, not in the bag,” she says. Of course if packaged shreds are what you have on hand, go forward in convenient mac and cheese joy, but if you’ve set your sights higher, freshly grated hunks are recommended.
Ali offers a mostly straightforward, foolproof approach for a decadent but familiar mac and cheese. Sharp Cheddar is a usual suspect in a mac and cheese preparation, which not only brings the tang but can also bring the nostalgic orange color depending on your Cheddar source. Then, “Part-skim mozzarella melts and stretches, bringing all the cheeses together,” Ali says, which also provides an important visual for hedonist mac and cheese: stretch. Finally, “I like the smoky smoothness smoked gouda brings to the mix,” she says.
You could stop there and tuck in with a classic bowl made from the above three, but when you’re feeling like you deserve a little something extra? “Why not add just one more?” says Ali. Point Reyes’ classic Toma, studded with truffles “adds a gourmet umami flavor note I love,” she says. “It’s like you ordered from a restaurant.”
Artisan Specialties with Surprising Flavors
Stelvio DOP, Prairie Breeze, Belper Knolle
Stelvio DOP, Prairie Breeze, Belper Knolle
From classic to imaginative, Courtney Johsnon, ACS CCP, bronze medal winner of the 2025 Mondial du Fromage, and owner of Seattle’s Street Cheese, suggests a fridge-clean-out mac and cheese that combines the familiar with the inspired. “My favorite mac and cheese combos are constantly changing as I tend to use mac and cheese to clean out the cheese drawer,” she says.
The trio she suggests, while inventive, still follows the triangulation logic that more classic blends also achieve. “Stelvio DOP — a pasteurized, Alpine cow's milk from Italy — adds richness and excellent meltability from a mild but brothy cheese,” she says, “whereas Milton Creamery's Prairie Breeze, a craveable domestic Cheddar, adds a slight sweetness and nuttiness to balance the flavor.”
For a big finish, “I use Jumi's Belper Knolle to add texture as an un-melted cheese with bonus seasoning from the cheese's pepper coating and internal garlic.”
Monger Favorites
Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound, Fontina, Appenzeller Black Label
Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound, Fontina, Appenzeller Black Label
Solange Comer, cheese caterer, and founder and owner of The Cultured Slice notes that the mac and cheese blend topic is one that definitely resonates with retailers. “I would have customers come in all the time asking for what the best recommendations would be for a mac,” she says, “plus grilled cheese and even fondue.” (It perhaps goes without saying that everything mentioned here for mac could also go the distance for the other two.)
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar (aged by Jasper Hill) “gives you that quintessential bite and a good base,” says Comer. “It’s so savory and melts beautifully. Fontina is a classic and also the perfect melter,” she says. To add depth of flavor, “I know most people use a gruyère, and that's a great choice,” she says, “but for a little something different I would choose an Appenzeller Black Label or if you can find it, the Purple Label is incredible,” with its bespoke and heavily-guarded secret blend of aromatics on the rind and extended aging.
Punchy Italian
Pecorino Fiore Sardo DOP, Taleggio di Grotta, Provolone del Monaco, Caciocavallo
Pecorino Fiore Sardo DOP, Taleggio di Grotta, Provolone del Monaco, Caciocavallo
One need only look as far as cacio e pepe to understand that the Italians have a way with noodles and cheese, especially since they can create a masterpiece using only one at a time. But there’s nothing to stop you going full Italian with a quattro formaggi blend for your mac and cheese.
“Pecorino, which puts the cacio in cacio e pepe, provides the aromatic backbone,” says Alessandro Viola, founder of Malta’s maker of Italian prepared foods, Tat-Taljan “with natural smoky notes, elegant savory flavors, and a depth that avoids the flat effect typical of sweeter mac and cheeses.”
But since we’re not stopping there, “taleggio adds decadent creaminess and a hint of tang that rounds out the pecorino without overpowering it,” he says. Since cacio e pepe is divine, but not stretchy in nature, however, “provolone adds elasticity and texture, but with a much more complex character than a simple Cheddar or fontina,” he says, and as a final “ecco!” on the concoction, “a touch of caciocavallo serves as an aromatic accent with a light spiciness, a long finish, and a profile that ties together all the other cheeses,” he says. “The result is a more mature, structured mac and cheese, with a balance of creaminess, savory flavors, and aromatic complexity rarely found in classic versions.”
All Classics
Cheddar, Gruyère, Havarti, Parmigiano Reggiano
Cheddar, Gruyère, Havarti, Parmigiano Reggiano
A United Nations of cheese comprises a final, classic combo for dreamy mac and cheese. “I always start with an equal part blend of sharp Cheddar, Gruyère, and Havarti for our mac and cheese,” says Tonda Corrente of Orlando’s “Speakcheesy” La Femme du Fromage. “That’s our blend for everything; it’s cost effective and gives the right amount of flavor and creaminess.” Cheddar and Gruyère (or their brethren) are well represented in the recommendations here, but Danish Havarti also provides some silky creaminess and a sweet, buttery flavor.
“Once we make our mornay with the blend, we always add Parm or Grana Padano as well for just that extra savory kiss,” says Corrente.
And if you’re feeling smoky, blue, or smoky and blue, “You can make a smoky mac with smoked gouda, Smokin’ Goat, or Idiazabal,” she says. “Smokey Blue is also really good as a little garnish.”