Scallion-Miso Mac and Cheese

By Kay Chun

Updated November 13, 2025

Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
Ready In
1 hr
Rating
5(220)
Comments
Read comments

This cozy creamy baked pasta has a unique miso-laden béchamel base and a buttery, crushed Ritz cracker and scallion topping. The triple-cheese sauce combines sharp Cheddar, tangy Gruyère and nutty Parmesan, but feel free to use all Cheddar, if preferred. The mac and cheese gets a kick from spicy Dijon mustard, which cuts through the rich sauce. Pasta shells have great pockets for catching the cheesy sauce, but classic macaroni will also work great. Serve the full-bodied dish with a crisp bitter green salad on the side. 

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 pound medium or large pasta shells

  • Salt and pepper

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 tablespoons melted plus 4 tablespoons unmelted)

  • 3 ounces buttery crackers (preferably Ritz), finely crumbled (1 cup)

  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour

  • 4 cups whole milk

  • 2 tablespoons white miso

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 2 cups/8 ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar, preferably aged

  • 1 cup/4 ounces coarsely grated Gruyère or Comté cheese

  • ¼ cup/1 ounce freshly grated Parmesan

  • 1 cup finely chopped scallions (from 3 to 4 scallions), plus more for garnish if desired

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

118 grams carbs; 159 milligrams cholesterol; 1223 calories; 16 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams saturated fat; 62 grams fat; 1 gram trans fat; 6 grams fiber; 1234 milligrams sodium; 49 grams protein; 18 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions until a few minutes shy of al dente. Drain.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and crackers and mix until well blended. 

  3. Step 3

    Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large Dutch oven, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium. Add flour and cook, whisking frequently, until well incorporated and flour is no longer raw, about 1 minute. While whisking constantly, add milk in a slow, steady stream. Add miso, season with salt and pepper and bring back to a simmer, whisking occasionally and mashing the miso to help it dissolve. Cook, whisking frequently, until mixture is smooth and slightly thickened, 3 minutes. 

  4. Step 4

    Turn off heat and add mustard, Cheddar, Gruyère and Parmesan. Whisk until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

  5. Step 5

    Add pasta to the cheese sauce and mix well. Stir scallions into the cracker mixture, then scatter it over the top of the pasta in an even layer. Bake until golden brown, 20 minutes. 

  6. Step 6

    Serve warm in shallow bowls. Garnish with more scallions and pepper, if desired.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
220 user ratings
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Comments

nick m.

this african american household can offer some ways to improve the blandness to which some have referred. (let me also say that i believe that the ritz cracker-scallop crust to be a genius technique) first: where it says season with salt and pepper, i recommend sprinkling onion and garlic powder LIBERALLY. compliments the creaminess with some needed savoriness to complement the umami of the miso second: learn from the vegans. a tablespoon of nutritional yeast goes a long way in complementing the nuttiness of the gruyere without adding gruyere cost. three, and i cannot recommend this enough: you do not need that much milk. makes sauce too watery. i did two cups milk and one cup of BROTH. flavor was hitting. fourth: maybe this will be tacky to the more refined palate, but combine sharp and smoked cheddar. follow my african american household technique and this recipe will slap, as we say in oakland, california.

cheri

NYT must have some BIG scallions! 4 scallions gave me a scant 1/3 c. Ended up chopping about 8 scallions to get 3/4 c. Made for a very scallion-y topping which I think is the intent. Added some parm to the topping too. Increased miso to a healthy 3 TB bec everything is better with miso! Overall a 5 star dish! A big upgrade from traditional Mac n cheese.

Mama O

@Marc Wortsman maybe GF panko for the Ritz sub

Adam Shaylor

Way too much cheese.

Erin E.

Absolutely delicious! We followed all of nick m's advice; next time will sub something for Ritz crackers which came out soggy. Used ~2 bundles of scallions to get the amount required and left out the mustard which we don't favor. Worked out to be ~7 servings for the two of us and paired extremely well with asparagus roasted alongside.

Amy J

This dish was amazing!! I read the comments beforehand and tweaked it - 2 cups milk instead of 4, 3 heaping tablespoons of miso, about a teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder, an extra tablespoon of Dijon. Holy moly it was fantastic!

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