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How about some cheese today? This creamy brie four cheese mac and cheese with buttery ritz crackers is melt in your mouth GOOD.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

And pasta!!

It is kind of perfect after the day I had yesterday, or really the day the site had. Not real happy with my VPS host, Bluehost. We are not even going to talk about it except to say is that I am really sorry the site was down ALL day yesterday. So frustrating and just plain terrible. Ugh. Sorry if it caused you guys any inconvenience.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

This mac and cheese is my apology.

WATCH HOW-TO VIDEO HERE:

I’d say it’s fair game. I mean just look at it. So creamy and buttery, and did I mention there is four cheeses and one of the cheeses is Brie?!?! Yes, Brie. In mac and cheese. It’s so good. And I would totally add some blue cheese crumbles if you are into it.

That would be good. I should have done that.

The Brie actually does not add a ton of amazing flavor. The flavor comes mostly from the sharp cheddar, fontina and havarti (my favorite cheese to add to mac and cheese!!), but the Brie does add amazing creaminess. Oh so creamy! I think you are going to freak. It is the best mac and cheese I have ever made. And eaten.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Oh, and did you guys notice?

My casserole dish? It is not glued together anymore. It is actually all in once piece and totally not toxic.

Yay!

Now I can eat all the mac and cheese. Not just the center. Thank God.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

The only reason I made mac and cheese was because I am currently loaded with fancy and delicious cheeses. Definitely not a problem at all, I love it!

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Here is the thing though, my grocery store pretty much just sucks. It is not very good and has very limited selections. BUT it does have a new killer cheese section. Guys, it is awesome and I love it, but you know, cheese is expensive…..

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

So I piled up on pretty much all the discounted cheese (AKA the old cheese). I bought ten eight-ounce wheels of Brie for ten dollars. Now that is a good deal. Especially for me since cheese takes forever to go bad up here where I live. It’s the one thing the elevation is good for (that and no bugs – too high for the little suckers, just a few tiny ants up here)!

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Cheep (fancy) cheese equals really good mac and cheese.

So does buttery Ritz crackers, best mac-n-cheese topping ever.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Just like any mac and cheese recipe, this one is super easy. Make it ahead and everyone will love it. It is the perfect cozy meal for weeknights or the weekends. I am pretty sure it would be an awesome Thanksgiving side as well.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

A little mac and cheese can never hurt.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Oh, and don’t mind my holiday Ritz crackers and Christmas bowls. I am just a tad too excited about them and had to share.

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Creamy 4 Cheese Brie and Buttery Ritz Cracker Mac and Cheese

Author: Tieghan Gerard
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting time 5 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 1012 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Ingredients

  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
  • 1 clove garlic minced or grated
  • 1 1/2 cups crushed Ritz crackers about 1 sleeve
  • 1 pound elbow pasta
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 3 cups warm milk I used 2%
  • 1 1/4 cups sharp white cheddar cheese shredded
  • 1 cup fontina cheese shredded (add an extra 1/4 cup...if you want!)
  • 1 1/4 cups havarti cheese shredded
  • 4-6 ounces Brie rind removed and chopped (I surely used 6 ounces)
  • 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta until al-dente. You want it to have a bit of bite. It will finish cooking in the oven. Drain well.
  • While the pasta boils add 3 tablespoons butter to a medium skillet and melt. Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds then throw in the crushed Ritz crackers and toss to coat.
  • Toast the crumbs for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Once the crumbs are lightly toasted remove form the heat and set aside.
  • In the same pot you boiled the pasta, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let cook/bubble for 1 minute, stirring once or twice to avoid burning. Gradually whisk in the milk and raise the heat up to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently until the sauce has thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in all of the cheese, mustard powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese is fully melted. Stir in the pasta and transfer to the prepared baking dish.
  • Evenly sprinkle on the toasted cracker crumbs and place the baking dish on a baking
  • sheet.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.
  • Remove from the oven and let sit five minutes (yeah, right). Dig in!!
View Recipe Comments

Creamy Brie Four Cheese Mac and Cheese with Buttery Ritz Crackers | halfbakedharvest.com

Ok, now let’s just go grab some giant bowls!

This post was originally published on November 21, 2013
4.04 from 358 votes (341 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Mac and cheese seems like the simplest dish, but it takes some thought, practice, and commitment to get it just right. Looks like you did it!! Can’t wait to try it out.

    Reply

  2. This is just too good to be true! I can’t stand that I can’t reach out and taste it right now!!

    Reply

  4. Can I just say that you tell one killer story? Your photos and your narrative weave together so well–it’s like the literary manifestation of this amazingly smooth mac n cheese recipe you’ve posted. Such poise! 🙂 I’m really loving the recipe, photos, and your gorgeous style. Bookmarked for sure, so glad you could share this beautiful recipe with us!

    Reply

  5. I could drown in that bowl right now. I even just bought some Brie too, so this is perfect timing! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  6. Bluehost shut down my site for a day in the past too Tieghan, I had to switch servers immediately! Sorry you’ve been experiencing issues.

    I love this mac & cheese. Brie is my favorite cheese. Actually, I can’t choose. I love all cheese! And I certainly love 4 cheeses with my mac n cheese. How many times can I say cheese in this comment? Anyway, now I’m starving!

    Reply

    1. Sally, what did you switch to? I use this thing called Mac CDN and it allows me to not have to shell out big money for my own server, but still have the heavy traffic. It works amazing…..except when blue hot goes down. I am switching ASAP. What do you use?

      And thank you about the mac and cheese!

      Reply

      1. I use Servint. Quite pricey, but they handle all of my technical issues and they can hold high traffic days without slowing my site down. Look into them!

        Reply

  8. Oh my goodness.
    So first. This mac and cheese looks unbelievable in a totally good way.
    Second. I can totally sympathize. My grocery store sucks too.
    Third. Your Christmas bowls are adorable. End of.
    And fourth. YOU HAVE NO BUGS WHERE YOU LIVE?! I AM JEALOUS FOREVER.
    Haha, seriously. That must be like heaven.
    Pinning! I so wish I could have a bowl of this for dinner. But I can’t. Because as sad as it is, I’m cheese intolerant. It’s so messed up, but true.
    Oh well. I can gawk at your awesome pictures, anyway. ha.

    Reply

  9. This looks insanely delicious! Perfect side dish for Thanksgiving.
    (and PS, you have WAY too much traffic for Bluehost! I’m on Media Temple and it’s been great)

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Jackie!!

      I am actually using this thing call Mac CDN that works amazingly and allows my site to handle heavy traffic, but I am still hosting through bluehost VP. I have not had any problems since I started using mac CDN, but when bluehost is down I am down. Total bummer.

      Reply

  14. My site was down all of yesterday, too. Annoying! But on the brighter side, this mac n cheese looks sooo good. Gooey and cheesy just how I like it!

    Reply

  15. Oh my word. This looks INCREDIBLE. Anything with cheese is good with me, so FOUR cheeses makes me want to literally dive into this headfirst. Love it!

    Reply