This is the best macaroni pudding ever!
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A scrumptious, versatile dish with a special, comforting flavor, this macaroni pudding is super easy to make and no special cooking kills are required! Kids and picky eaters will absolutely love this pasta pudding, loaded with delicious sheep’s cheese and egg and flavored with vanilla and lemon!
Macaroni pudding
This simple and easy macaroni pudding is a delicious transition from mac and cheese to a pasta dessert/breakfast idea! You could say this macaroni pudding recipe is your regular mac and cheese but on steroids! Because this recipe is loaded with amazing flavor and texture, you won’t be able to stop eating it all!
This is a great recipe for any family gathering, a weekend potluck or even for holidays like Thanksgiving. I guarantee it’s a crowd pleaser at any moment.
Fun fact about the origins of macaroni pudding
The Victorians used to cook sweet macaroni and cheese with an egg, brandy, milk and nutmeg that added an eggnog flavor to it. The brandy could be replaced with a layer of marmalade in the original recipe. Cooked in a traditional way according to 19th century cookbooks, it might seem “interesting” at most, as our tastes have changed over time. This dish was originally cooked for 45 minutes, resulting in very soft macaroni, but without too much of a cheesy flavor. All in all, not something we would call a dessert nowadays.
My daughter Ellie is a big, big fan of macaroni and cheese, she’d have a serving any time a day, she simply loves mac and cheese. But my niece hates mac and cheese because of…wait for it…the cheese! I mean how on earth could one cook mac and cheese without cheese? She would serve the pasta naked which obviously is not mac and cheese anymore! She does love pudding though, of any kind, with chocolate being her favorite (what a surprise!).
So I thought I should make both my little munchkins happy and make a little macaroni pudding recipe using our favorite cheese mixed with eggs and flavored with vanilla and lemon. The best part is I didn’t need any special skills and the recipe promised to be a success from the very first moment. This is definitely a foolproof recipe that everyone will love eating, perfect as breakfast, dinner for kids or as dessert!
More pasta recipes you will love:
- Easy chicken Alfredo pasta
- Pasta with ground beef
- Tomato chickpea pasta
- Milk soup with pasta
- Creamy baked pasta with ham and veggie
My mom loves to make this recipe with heavy cream or sour cream. She simply adds cream to the egg mixture and makes a larger batch of this pasta pudding using the same amount of pasta and other ingredients listed in this recipe. It makes the recipe even more filling and if using this as a breakfast recipe, adding heavy cream would be a good idea to keep those hungry tummies full for longer.
Pasta pudding
Ingredients:
- I used fresh sheep’s milk cheese, just lightly salted. This ingredient will give the pudding just the right flavor, perfectly balancing out the sugar in the recipe.
- My recipe requires vanilla sugar (available here) and optional, raisins. You can always replace vanilla sugar with a teaspoon of vanilla extract if vanilla sugar is not available in your area. Just don’t overdo it, you want the vanilla to just slightly flavor the pudding.
- I used long macaroni, broken into smaller pieces before cooking. I find that this kind of pasta cooks best in this recipe and also looks fun when the pudding is cut into small pieces or bars.
- Eggs – I prefer free range eggs mostly for the lovely color but also because these eggs are rich and add a deeper flavor to this macaroni pudding.
You can substitute the raisins with other dried fruits or fresh blueberries, cranberries or other fruits you like, to add some variety to the dish.
Also, you can add other flavors like lemon zest, cinnamon, or almond extract. I love the vanilla/lemon combination which is what I used for my recipe.
How to make macaroni pudding?
- Boil the pasta, drain and mix with oil.
- Add grated cheese.
- In a deep bowl beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well
- Add the egg mixture to the macaroni and cheese and mix well. Leave some egg mixture aside for coating the top. Add raisins if you opted for and mix.
- Coat a baking dish with butter and add pasta mix. Top with the rest of the egg mixture
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown
Notes:
- Nuts can be added into composition if preferred.
- This pudding can be served hot, warm or cold. If cut when hot or warm it may break but it’s just as delicious.
- Sprinkle powder sugar or cinnamon for extra flavor.
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Macaroni pudding
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups long macaroni broken into smaller pieces
- 5 Eggs large
- 1 and 2/3 cups sheep's cheese
- 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar adjusts the amount to taste
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup raisins optional
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- butter for coating the baking dish
Equipment
- grater
Instructions
- Boil the pasta, 3 minutes less than indicated on the package. The past will continue cooking in the oven later. Add a pinch of salt and a few drops of oil to the boiling water to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Drain and rinse in cold water.
- Pour the oil over the pasta and stir well.
- Pre heat the oven at 340 F.
- Grate the cheese and mix with macaroni.
- If using, rinse raisins in hot water.
- In a deep bowl beat 5 eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar. Beat well with a fork.
- Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well.
- Add the egg mixture to the macaroni and cheese and mix well to spread evenly. Leave some egg mixture aside for coating the top.
- Add raisins if you opted for and mix one more time.
- Generously coat the baking dish with butter.
- Transfer the pasta to the baking dish, even out using a tablespoon, add the rest of the egg mixture and bake until light brown, 25-30 minutes.
- Leave to cool in the baking dish, then cut into bars with a sharp knife. This recipe can be served hot or warm too but will break a little when removing from the baking dish (in fact, we love it hot, straight from the oven!)
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What is sheep’s cheese?
Amy, it’s cheese made from sheep milk. We prefer feta for this recipe but any white cheese that is a bit salty would do.