James Martin's indulgent macaroni cheese is the ultimate pasta recipe (2024)

Recipe for tasty, mood-boosting, low fat macaroni cheese

When coming up with dinner ideas, a delicious pasta dish is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, but how can you make macaroni and cheese more interesting?

This is a challenge James Martin often sets himself on his ITV cooking show, James Martin's Saturday Morning.

The Yorkshire-born chef, 51, has previously appeared on ITV's This Morning where he shares his cooking tips.

On one episode of the show in 2020, James rustled up the perfect family macaroni and cheese recipe.

The deliciously simple macaroni and cheese recipe also used leftovers from the weekend to make it an even thriftier dish.

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(Image: Getty)

The Saturday Morning star said the key is all in the sauce which he started by adding an onion, bay leaf and clove to give it a superior taste. He also recommended using as little flour as you can get away with, suggesting around half of what most recipes say in their instructions.

Next, the TV chef shared a top tip - use a whisk rather than a wooden spoon when making the sauce. This should keep the sauce light while preventing it from thickening up too much before any other ingredients are added.

He then gradually poured the milk into his mixture which thickened the sauce as it came to a boil.

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Chef James Martin added chicken and mushroom to the dish (Image: Getty)

The chef’s quick and easy recipe added roast chicken and mushroom for a fuller flavour and more substantial meal.

To make the recipe you will need:

• 200g macaroni

For the sauce:

• 450ml milk
• 3 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ onion, peeled
• 25g butter
• 15g plain flour
• 300g grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp English mustard
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 50ml double cream

For the filling:

• 200g field mushrooms, sliced
• 25g butter
• 250g cooked and shredded, leftover roast chicken

How to make James Martin's macaroni and cheese with chicken and mushrooms:

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C, Fan 180, Gas 6. Cook the macaroni as per the packet instructions. Drain and cool under cold running water, then drain again.

To make the sauce, gently warm the milk in a pan

Use the cloves to stud the bay leaf onto the onion then pop it into the warm milk to infuse for five minutes

Melt the butter in a large pan and whisk in the flour. Remove the onion from the milk then gradually whisk into the butter and flour mixture. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.

Add half the cheese to the sauce with the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and cream and take off the heat

Preheat the grill to high. Fry the mushrooms in 25g butter for two minutes.

Season the sauce, then pour onto the pasta. Add the mushrooms and chicken and mix.

Spoon into an ovenproof dish and top with the remaining cheese. Place in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated through and golden brown.

The chef is best known for hosting James Martin's Saturday Morning (Image: Getty)

While making the dish, James urged the public to support their local cheesemongers, suggesting topping the recipe with cheddar or red Leicester cheese for added taste.

The award-winning chef also shared a hack for making sure the pasta doesn’t absorb all of the sauce, telling viewers to cook the macaroni first before cooling it under cold running water.

For a vegetarian alternative, you could add vegetables instead of chicken or even fish to give it a different twist.

The full recipe can be found on This Morning’s website where it's been described as "a delicious idea for tonight’s dinner", "perfect for using up leftovers" and James' "ultimate macaroni cheese".

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