A Panera mac and cheese recipe at home is medium pasta shells in a white cheddar sauce built on a butter-and-flour roux, finished on the stovetop in about 30 minutes. Panera publishes its ingredient list and nutrition but no method, and that list holds items the home recipes leave out, so a copycat matches the idea and not the formula.
I built the working version from where two popular copycats overlap. I haven’t made this exact batch, so treat the amounts as a starting point you can adjust!
What Panera publishes about its Mac & Cheese
Panera’s product page describes tender shell pasta in a blend of rich cheeses, including a tangy aged white cheddar sauce. It lists egg, milk and wheat as the allergens, so check it if you’re cooking for anyone avoiding those.
The sizes differ a lot, and you’ll see it in the numbers. A cup is 490 calories with 32 grams of fat, 1,150 milligrams of sodium and 16 grams of protein. A bowl is 980 calories with 64 grams of fat, 2,300 milligrams of sodium and 32 grams of protein, and the bread bowl version is listed at 1,140 calories.
So what separates a cup from a bowl? Portion size, going by the numbers: the bowl is about double the cup on nearly every line, though the page lists nutrients and doesn’t say how many ounces either one holds. It also notes that items may vary by café and that customizing an order can change the numbers.
What’s in Panera’s ingredient list
Panera prints one ingredient statement for the dish. It starts with cooked enriched macaroni made with water, semolina wheat and egg whites, then water, cheddar cheese, cream, soybean oil, milk, concentrated skim milk, whey, skim milk and salt.
Next come butter, whey protein concentrate, milk fat, sodium citrate, cream powder, milk protein concentrate, dried cream and enriched flour. The list closes with modified corn starch, guar gum, xanthan gum, lactic acid, sodium alginate, enzymes and calcium lactate.
You won’t find amounts in it. The familiar parts are all there: cheddar, cream, milk, butter and flour. But soybean oil, whey, sodium citrate, modified corn starch, guar gum and xanthan gum appear in neither copycat below!
The Panera mac and cheese recipe I’d start with
This uses amounts that sit inside what the two copycats print. I Heart Naptime counts 8 servings from a pound of pasta, so 8 ounces should serve about four.
- 8 ounces medium pasta shells
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard (optional)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups freshly shredded sharp white cheddar
- Boil the shells. Cook them in salted water until al dente, then drain.
- Make the roux. Melt the butter over medium heat, whisk in the flour, salt and pepper, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until bubbly.
- Add the dairy. Whisk in the cream and milk a little at a time, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Melt in the cheese. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the cheddar and mustard until smooth.
- Toss and serve. Fold in the shells and eat right away!
If your sauce comes out thick, a splash of pasta water thins it, and more milk or cream works too. Want it thicker? Add more cheese. Shred it yourself from a block, because One Sweet Appetite says pre-shredded cheese often has additives that keep it from melting smoothly.
Two copycats, scaled to the same pot
One Sweet Appetite and I Heart Naptime print different batch sizes, so you can’t compare them directly. The third column is my arithmetic, halving I Heart Naptime’s one-pound recipe to match the 8-ounce one.
| Detail | One Sweet Appetite | I Heart Naptime, as printed | I Heart Naptime, halved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasta | 8 oz medium shells | 1 lb medium shells | 8 oz |
| Butter and flour | 2 tbsp each | 1/4 cup each | 2 tbsp each |
| Dairy | 1 1/2 cups half-and-half | 1 cup cream, 1 3/4 cups milk | 1/2 cup cream, 7/8 cup milk |
| White cheddar | 1 1/2 cups shredded | 3 to 4 cups grated | 1 1/2 to 2 cups |
| Seasoning | 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper | 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp ground mustard | 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp mustard |
| Time | 5 min prep, 20 min cook | 10 min prep, 20 min cook | Same |
Scaled to one pot, they are nearly the same recipe. Butter and flour match, the dairy lands within about an eighth of a cup, and the cheese amounts overlap at 1 1/2 cups. I Heart Naptime adds ground mustard and an optional dash of hot sauce, which you can skip if you’d rather keep it plain.
Both recipes also use shell pasta and white cheddar, the same two pieces Panera’s description names. What neither has is anything from the second half of Panera’s list.
Storing and reheating
Both blogs say leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. To reheat a portion, One Sweet Appetite adds a splash of milk and warms it on medium-low on the stove, stirring now and then, or in the microwave on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway. My pasta leftovers guide covers the general rules, and what goes with mac and cheese has pairings.
You can copy the idea of Panera’s bowl at home, but only the restaurant’s own list shows what’s actually in its sauce.
FAQ
What is Panera mac and cheese made of?
Panera describes tender shell pasta in a blend of cheeses with an aged white cheddar sauce. Its ingredient list starts with enriched macaroni made with egg whites, then water, cheddar cheese, cream, soybean oil and milk, and ends with starches, gums and enzymes.
How many calories are in Panera mac and cheese?
Panera’s product page lists a cup at 490 calories, a bowl at 980 and a bread bowl at 1,140. The cup has 1,150 milligrams of sodium and the bowl has 2,300.
What is the difference between the cup and the bowl?
The bowl is about double the cup on nearly every listed nutrient, including calories, fat and sodium. The page doesn’t give volumes, so the numbers are the only size comparison it offers.
How do you make a Panera mac and cheese recipe at home?
Cook medium shells, make a butter-and-flour roux, whisk in cream and milk, simmer 3 to 5 minutes, then melt in freshly shredded white cheddar off the heat and fold in the pasta. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes.