Tomato Mac and Cheese is a cheesy pasta with a crunchy breadcrumb topping. Calling all mac and cheese lovers! For an easy family friendly recipe you will love, whip up a batch for dinner tonight.
Blue Cheese Mac and Cheese, Moroccan Lamb Couscous, Turkey Chilli Con Carne, Ground Beef Casserole, are all delicious dinner recipes you can serve or pair with a side dish like our skin on roast potatoes or horseradish mashed potatoes for a complete meal!
This tomato mac and cheese is a delicious twist on a traditional mac and cheese with a toasted breadcrumb topping. Oven bake mac and cheese with tomato for a delicious pasta bake tonight!
If you love pasta, but want to take your time try the Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese. If you want it fast try the Instant Pot Penne Pasta.
How do you make Tomato Mac and Cheese?
To make Tomato Mac and Cheese we start with simple ingredients.
The photo below shows you the ingredients for this recipe:
- fresh tomatoes
- mozzarella cheese
- garlic
- onion flakes
- parsley
- thyme
- salt
- pepper
- multigrain breadcrumbs
The other ingredient we need is our pasta. There are a few options here. Traditional macaroni works well as does curly noodle pasta (what I use for this recipe) and penne pasta. Pasta is versatile enough for there be multiple types that will work and create various textures in the dish!
Ingredients
These are ingredients which you have likely cooked with before and we just need to add a little love and attention to create a delicious mac and cheese.
For the tomatoes, I use roma tomatoes, you can use these or you can use traditional round tomatoes. Both will result in deliciously fragrant roasted tomatoes. Sometimes when I have had different types of tomatoes, I have used those also. The thing to keep in mind is that there is flexibility in this recipe for the tomatoes to be this, that or whatever you have.
The tomatoes take barely any time at all to prepare as is a simple matter of slicing and roasting them
Instructions
The photo below shows you the steps to take to roast your tomatoes for the mac and cheese sauce:
- chop tomatoes, garlic, place face down in pan and season with herbs (photos 1-4)
How to make Tomato Mac and Cheese steps
The next steps for this recipe are making our sauce from the roasted tomatoes.
After you have removed the tomatoes from the oven, let them cool for a bit.
You can see from the photos below that there are 4 easy steps to follow.
- scooping the roasted tomatoes and seasoning into a jug
- blending this mix using a stick blender
- adding cheese to the blitzed tomatoes
- stirring to combine
I find it really easy to use a small jug that is still large enough to fit the sauce without it splashing everywhere.
You can see in the photos I have a heatproof glass jug and this is a one litre variety. It is a very handy kitchen jug to have!
Old fashioned Mac and Cheese with Tomatoes
Cook your pasta the old fashioned way. In a saucepan on the stovetop. Use a little oil or salt in the water if you like. Keep the pasta al dente as it can loose its structure if you overcook it. Al dente means cooked so still firm when bitten. Usually my macaroni takes about 6 mins to get to this point and 8 mins to fully cook.
As we are cooking the pasta on the stove and then again in the oven, it is better to have it be under rather than over cooked before it goes into the oven. I usually use a slotted spoon over the pan to take a piece and and test it as my preferred method to know when it is right to be removed from the stove.
On the left is the sauce is being poured into the bowl of macaroni and on the right I am using a spoon to stir these together to get dreamy cheesy tomato mac and cheese!
Once you have stirred the sauce with the pasta we move on to getting it into the oven.
How long does it take to cook tomato mac and cheese
It takes about 30 mins all up to cook this recipe. 40 depending on your oven. 30 mins is for the initial roasting of the tomatoes and 10 for baking to allow the cheesy tomato sauce to melt and the breadcrumbs to toast.
If you have a look at the photo below, you will see the final steps needed to get this recipe into the oven:
- scoop the mac and sauce into an oiled baking tray
- sprinkle with a little cheese
- add breadcrumbs
- oven bake
I like to top it with fresh parsley for pops of colour and cracked pepper. YUMMO, am I right?
Can I freeze chicken tomato mac and cheese
You can freeze tomato mac and cheese.
The 2 methods are to make it and freeze it whilst in the baking dish before cooking it OR make it and freeze it after cooking it in the baking dish. It is also super easy to portion out into easily reheatable meals.
For an easy family friendly recipe that you can make on a weekend and reheat during the week, look no further than this tomato mac and cheese.
Being vegetarian it also ticks the Meatless Monday box, so it is perfect for prepare in advance on the Sunday.
Tomato mac and cheese reheats very well. It makes perfect lunches or an appetiser. Serve it to guests at parties or kids for a tasty, simple pasta dish.
Frequently asked questions
- this recipe uses fresh tomatoes
- dried onion provides flavour but saves time and tears!
- thyme is used to roast the tomatoes
- you can use any type of tomatoes
- traditional macaroni or curly pasta are best
Your quick questions answered
- preheat your oven to make the final steps much quicker
- use cooking spray on your baking dish to save clean up time
- you can freeze this dish before or after cooking
- serve on its own or with a simple side salad
- use parsley and cracked pepper to garnish
- This is an EASY recipe
Serve the dish in a large baking tray or in small ramekins for individual servings!
For a family meal, it is nice to share a large dish between you. For guests, you might want to offer individual servings as shown in the ramekins above.
The breadcrumbs will toast nicely in the oven and make a great crunchy texture. This contrasts well with the smooth pasta and cheesy sauce.
For serving in the ramekins, you can either portion it out and cook it in them. Or cook the mac and cheese in your baking dish and then portion it into the ramekins.
The mac and cheese will transfer well as it is not squashed down in the baking tray initially so the pasta will hold its shape and be very easily scoopable.
More Easy Pasta Recipes
If pasta bakes are your thing and this tomato mac and cheese makes you want to make them more often, here are some other recipe ideas:
- Beef Bean Pasta Bake (my all time favourite pasta bake)
- Fiesta Tuna Pasta Bake
- Blue Cheese Mac and Cheese (I seriously love this recipe!!)
You will find that you can experiment with the way you prepare this and if you want to make a large batch or smaller servings as shown in the picture above.
Or you might want to warm your belly with some comfort foods, in which case, check out the below dishes.
Comfort Food Recipes
- Chicken Thighs in Creamy Garlic Wine Sauce (one pot recipe)
- Blue Cheese Mac and Cheese (vegetarian recipe)
- Beef Bean Pasta Bake (family favorite)
- Meatball Tomato Soup (one of my favourites)
- Smoked Salmon Spaghetti
What goes well with tomato mac and cheese?
Serve this dish on its on or with a side dish to get the party started. You might like to try:
I love sprinkling cracked pepper all over my bowl of Tomato mac and cheese before eating. Using fresh parsley adds both taste and texture.
Adrianne xx
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📖 Recipe
Tomato Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- Stick blender Note 1
- Baking dish Note 5
Ingredients
Tomato Mac and Cheese
- 1 kg tomatoes
- 2 cups macaroni Note 2
- 4 cloves garlic Note 4
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 tbs dried onion Note 3
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¾ cup mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup parsley fresh if you can
Instructions
Tomato Mac and Cheese Method
- Preheat oven to 200°c/400°F,gas 6
- Spray a baking tray with cooking oil Note 3
- Add a little olive oil to a medium size pan. Slice the tomatoes in half and the garlic into thin slices. Then lay the tomatoes face down in the pan. Add garlic, then sprinkle thyme, dried onion, salt and pepper into dish. Place in oven for 30 mins and turn the tomatoes side up after 15 mins. Note 4
- Once the tomatoes are done remove them from the oven and let them cool for a bit. Then transfer them into a mixing jug. Use a stick blender to blitz them.
- Add ½ of the cheese to the blitzed tomatoes.
- Stir the cheese through the tomatoes to finish making your sauce.
- Cook your pasta in a medium saucepan filled with hot water. Remove and drain from the water when it is al dente. Note 7
- Stir the tomato sauce through the pasta to combine.
- Scoop the tomato mac and cheese into your prepared baking tray
- Top with the remaining cheese
- Sprinkle your breadcrumbs on top and then place in the oven to bake. This will take approximately 10 mins. Remove when the breadcrumbs are toasted and a light golden brown.
Notes
- Note 1, stick, hand held and immersion blender are 3 different names for the same type of blender. Each will work fine, so you can use whichever one you prefer. I use my stick blender for this as the only washing up is the removable blender art and the jug used to hold the ingredients being blended.
- Note 2 this is 2 cups of dried macaroni. You can use traditional macaroni pasta or curly pasta (my preference).
- Note 3 this will be in the spices aisle at the supermarket. Usually in a packet. I love cooking with it as it saves me crying over an onion bowl, plus the flavour is really there. I also find it saves the unusual texture of cooked onions which is fine in some dishes but for this one I prefer smooth mac and cheese texture.
- Note 4 I prefer to use garlic cloves and slice them for this dish. Minced garlic doesn't work as well as it roast the same won't the slices cloves will. Use it if its the only option you have and it will save you a trip to the store but try the cloves the next time you make it and have a chance to grab this from the fruit and veg section at the shop.
- Note 5 I am being conservative in saying 6, it can stretch to feed 8 adults. I used 1 small baking dish, the size I used is: Small baker: 28 x 17.5 x 5 cm (shown in the photos) if you want to double the recipe to make a larger batch you can do that and either use 2 small or 1 large baking dish. My large baker that I do pasta bakes in is the following size: 33 x 22.5 x 5 cm. The ramekins are standard size ramekins.
- Note 6 use tongs to turn the tomatoes over as they will be very hot.
- Note 7 al dente means still hard when bitten, so keep in mind that undercooking the pasta in the early stages is better than overcooking it. We will cook it again in the oven, so it needs to be a little bit less cooked than if you were going to eat it straight away.
Nutrition
Recipe published 21st August 2019, updated 31st March 2020 with some additional tips.
Anonymous says
Trying this bad boy out tonight! Sounds delicious.
Adrianne says
Awesome, hope you love it!! It's cheesy and good!!