I tried baked macaroni-and-cheese recipes by Ina Garten, Ree Drummond, and Martha Stewart, and the best used butternut squash

Erin McDowellJan 13, 2024, 16:43 IST

I compared Ina Garten's, Martha Stewart's, and Ree Drummond's recipes for baked macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider; Roy Rochlin/Getty Images; Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images; yler Essary/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, and Ree Drummond all have recipes for baked macaroni and cheese.
Stewart's recipe uses four kinds of cheese and yellow onion, while Garten's calls for tomato.

Celebrity chefs Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, and Ree Drummond all have their own recipes for baked macaroni and cheese, so I decided to put them to the test.

Stewart's recipe kept things classic with four kinds of cheese and sautéed yellow onion, while Garten's instructions called for tomato. I thought Drummond's was the most fall-appropriate with the addition of roasted butternut squash and caramelized onions.

Here's how the recipes compared.

Up first was Martha Stewart's creamy macaroni and cheese.

The ingredients for Martha Stewart's creamy macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

I started off by melting a few tablespoons of unsalted butter in a pot on the stove.

Butter melting in a pot on the stove.Erin McDowell/Insider

After the butter had fully melted, I added the yellow onion to the pot and gave it a good stir. The delicious smell of butter and onions quickly filled my kitchen.

Onions and butter in a yellow pot on a stove.Erin McDowell/Insider

While the onions were cooking, I set about the somewhat grueling task of grating all the cheeses.

The shredded cheeses for the mac and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

Next, I cooked the macaroni noodles.

The cooked macaroni noodles in a colander.Erin McDowell/Insider

After the onions had reached the point of being translucent, I added in the flour.

Onions and butter mixed with flour on the stove.Erin McDowell/Insider

I then added 3 cups of whole milk. The mixture was now starting to resemble a cheese sauce.

The cheese sauce on the stove.Erin McDowell/Insider

By the time I poured the noodles into the larger pot and added the cheese sauce, I had been prepping and cooking for about an hour.

Macaroni mixed with cheese sauce.Erin McDowell/Insider

You can make the mac and cheese in individual pans or in a larger 1 1/2-quart baking dish.

Macaroni-and-cheese dish before being put in the oven.Erin McDowell/Insider

After half an hour in the oven, my macaroni and cheese was done, and it was delicious.

The finished mac-and-cheese side in a Pyrex dish.Erin McDowell/Insider

Ina Garten's recipe for baked macaroni and cheese calls for fewer ingredients.

The ingredients for Ina Garten's macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

The recipe calls for a whopping 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

The butter melting in a pot on the stove.Erin McDowell/Insider

While this recipe does call for fewer ingredients, it does require an extra pot.

The flour and butter mixture.Erin McDowell/Insider

I then added the hot milk into the flour-and-butter mixture.

Cheese sauce on the stove.Erin McDowell/Insider

After adding in the two kinds of cheese, my sauce was beginning to thicken.

The cheese sauce.Erin McDowell/Insider

The cheese sauce in the Garten recipe was slightly thicker and had a distinct "cheese pull."

The macaroni and cheese in a pot.Erin McDowell/Insider

Garten recommends topping the macaroni and cheese with breadcrumbs and tomato slices before putting it in the oven.

The finished Ina Garten macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

The dish smelled heavenly, but I thought it could have been a little cheesier.

The finished Ina Garten macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

Ree Drummond's recipe for butternut-squash macaroni and cheese takes less than an hour to make.

The butternut squash.Erin McDowell/Insider

After cutting the squash in half, I removed the seeds with a spoon.

The butternut squash drizzled with olive oil.Erin McDowell/Insider

While the squash was roasting, I started cooking the onions.

The onions sauteéing in a stainless steel pan.Erin McDowell/Insider

I used a fork to scrape out the insides of the squash, which was easy because it was so soft.

The mashed butternut squash in a bowl.Erin McDowell/Insider

After the squash was done and set aside, I prepared the sauce in the same skillet I used to cook the onions.

Butter melting in the skillet.Erin McDowell/Insider

Once the butter was melted, I added in the flour, cheddar cheese, and butternut squash.

The sauce for the butternut squash macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

Once the sauce was done, I added the cooked macaroni and onions and stirred it together.

The macaroni and cheese with the onions on top.Erin McDowell/Insider

I then prepped the breadcrumbs, which were supposed to be sprinkled over the top of my macaroni and cheese.

The breadcrumbs.Erin McDowell/Insider

I sprinkled the breadcrumbs over the top of the macaroni and cheese and then baked it for about 20 minutes.

The finished butternut squash macaroni and cheese.Erin McDowell/Insider

I thought this was one of the most flavorful recipes for macaroni and cheese that I've ever made, and definitely my favorite out of the three.