Mac and Cheese

Michael Eisenwasser

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Creamy stovetop mac and cheese with gluten-free elbow pasta, sharp cheddar, and a lactose-free milk sauce. Garlic-infused oil does the aromatic work.

Prep 10 min

Cook 25 min

Serves 6

Gluten-free

Ingredients

• 12 oz (340 g) gluten-free elbow pasta (Jovial, Tinkyada, or Barilla Gluten Free)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, for the pasta water
• 3 tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons low-FODMAP gluten-free flour blend (or 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch)
• 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) lactose-free whole milk, warm
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder (or 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard)
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 oz (225 g) sharp cheddar, freshly shredded (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup (50 g) grated Parmesan (optional)
• 1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil, to finish
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens or chives, to garnish (optional)

Optional Breadcrumb Topping

• 1/2 cup gluten-free panko or breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

Cook the Pasta

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the kosher salt and the elbow pasta. Cook for 1 minute less than the package directions say; gluten-free pasta overcooks fast and the sauce will soften it a little more.
2. Drain in a colander. If your brand runs very starchy or gummy, rinse briefly with warm water; otherwise skip the rinse so the sauce clings better. Set aside.

Make the Roux and Sauce

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until foamy.
2. Whisk in the gluten-free flour blend (or cornstarch) and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, whisking constantly, until the paste smells toasty but hasn't browned.
3. Slowly pour in the warm lactose-free milk, whisking steadily to keep the roux smooth. Add the mustard powder, fine salt, and pepper.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer, whisking often, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Add the Cheese

1. Take the pan off the heat. Add the shredded cheddar a big handful at a time, whisking after each addition until fully melted before adding more. Whisk in the Parmesan if using.
2. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. The sauce should be glossy and pourable, not stiff; thin with a splash of warm milk if needed.

Combine and Finish

1. Add the drained pasta to the cheese sauce and fold gently until every noodle is coated. Drizzle with the garlic-infused olive oil and stir once more.
2. For stovetop mac, serve immediately in warm bowls topped with scallion greens or chives.
3. For baked mac, transfer to a buttered 9x13-inch dish. Toss the breadcrumb topping ingredients together and scatter over the top. Broil 6 inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely, until the top is golden and bubbling.

Tips & Substitutions

• Stick with rice- or corn-based gluten-free pasta. Jovial (brown rice), Tinkyada, and Barilla Gluten Free all work. Avoid chickpea, lentil, red lentil, and bean-based pastas. Legume pastas are high-FODMAP at standard serves.
• Shred the cheese yourself. Pre-shredded cheddar is coated in potato starch or cellulose to prevent clumping, which makes the sauce grainy. A block and a box grater take 90 seconds and melt far more smoothly.
• Swap heavy cream for extra richness. Replace 1/2 cup of the milk with 1/2 cup heavy cream. Heavy cream is low in lactose because it's mostly fat and is typically low-FODMAP in small serves; this recipe works out to about 1 1/3 tablespoons per serving, which most people tolerate during elimination. Check the current Monash entry if you're sensitive.
• Cornstarch version. If you don't have a gluten-free flour blend on hand, skip the roux. Warm the full amount of lactose-free milk with the seasonings in a saucepan until steaming. Whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold milk (pulled from the measured total) to make a slurry, then pour it into the hot milk while whisking. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until thickened, then whisk in the butter off heat before adding the cheese.
• Skip onion powder and raw garlic. Both are high-FODMAP because of the fructans. The garlic-infused oil stirred in at the end gives you that savory aromatic hit without the trigger compounds.
• For a sharper bite, use extra-sharp cheddar or mix half cheddar and half Gruyere. Both are aged hard cheeses and stay low-FODMAP at 40 g per serve.
• Check breadcrumb labels. Some gluten-free breadcrumbs include chicory root, inulin, onion or garlic powder, or legume flours. Any of those push the topping into high-FODMAP territory. Look for a plain rice- or corn-based panko.
• Make-ahead. Undercook the pasta by 2 minutes, cool, and hold separately from the sauce. Rewarm the sauce with a splash of milk and fold in the pasta just before serving.

Why This Works

Cheddar's lactose is tiny at standard serves. Aged hard cheeses lose almost all their lactose during fermentation. Aged cheddar is typically low-FODMAP at standard serves, and this recipe delivers about 38 g per portion across 6 servings. Parmesan behaves the same way.

Lactose-free milk replaces regular milk. Regular cow's milk is high-FODMAP because of the lactose. Lactose-free milk is the same product with the lactose already broken down at the factory, so it's low-FODMAP at 1 cup per serve. Half a cup of lactose-free milk per portion stays well inside that range.

Butter is almost all fat. Butter has barely any lactose. Monash rates 1 tablespoon (19 g) as low-FODMAP, and 3 tablespoons across 6 servings falls well under that limit.

Gluten-free pasta replaces wheat. Wheat pasta is high-FODMAP at normal serves because of fructans. Rice- and corn-based gluten-free elbows cook up similarly and hold their shape in a baked casserole.

Garlic-infused oil carries the flavor, not the fructans. Garlic's fructans are water-soluble but not oil-soluble, so infused oil captures the aromatic compounds without the trigger sugars. That's why it replaces raw garlic across the low-FODMAP repertoire.

Storage

Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days at 40°F (4°C) or below. Mac and cheese thickens in the fridge; reheat with a splash of lactose-free milk on the stovetop over low heat, stirring until the sauce loosens back up. The microwave works too, at 50% power in 1-minute bursts with a stir between. Freezing is not recommended: the cheese sauce breaks and the pasta turns mealy on thaw.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.