Basil Ricotta Macaroni and Cheese

Name: Basil Ricotta Macaroni and Cheese
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 8 ounces short pasta (elbows, cavatappi, etc); 1/4 cup soft butter; 2 cups fresh ricotta; Fresh basil; Fresh ground pepper

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Fresh ricotta and sweet basil lighten up this comfort food pasta dinner with this recipe for basil ricotta macaroni and cheese!

Basil ricotta macaroni and cheese with a spoon.

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Why we love this recipe ❤️
What is ricotta cheese? 🧀
Ingredients you need 🌿
Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
How to make this recipe 👩🏻‍🍳
Recipe FAQs 🧐
Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣
Other Macaroni and Cheese recipes we love! 🧀
We want to know what you think! 🤔
Basil Ricotta Macaroni and Cheese

Why we love this recipe ❤️

This light and lovely mac and cheese doesn’t have a speck of the traditional cheddar anywhere…it’s all about the creamy, dreamy ricotta, gently swirled into some buttered pasta, and then scattered with fresh basil and a generous grinding of black pepper.

So, one of the most popular posts on this here website is the one about making homemade fresh ricotta. Yep, right there in the comfort of your own kitchen – it takes three ingredients and about ten minutes, and you will never ever be happy with store-bought ricotta again, so consider yourself warned. (Although I totally support your right to buy ricotta if you want to! 😍)

Once you make it you will want to keep making it over and over again, so your biggest issue will be figuring out what to do with all that glorious ricotta. I have lots of answers for you, and my latest one is basil ricotta macaroni and cheese!

What is ricotta cheese? 🧀

Ricotta cheese is a soft, creamy Italian cheese that has a gentle texture and a lovely mild flavor. Traditional ricotta is made with whey, which is the liquid left over when you cook milk, but it can can also be made from whole milk and buttermilk or lemon juice, which is how I do it.

Ingredients you need 🌿

Ingredients needed to make ricotta basil mac and cheese.

Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝

Pasta: Any short pasta will work – think penne, elbows, bowties and so on!
Ricotta Cheese: This is the time to use the good stuff! Look for fresh ricotta in the fancy cheese section of your grocery store, or make your own ricotta in ten speedy minutes!
Basil: If you don’t have any in your garden, look for it in the produce section of your grocery store.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.

How to make this recipe 👩🏻‍🍳

STEP 1: Cook pasta in heavily salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water and drain. Return to pot.

STEP : Add butter and stir until butter is melted. Add ricotta and stir gently until ricotta is worked into the pasta.

Pour a little pasta water into the pot until you have a very light sauce.

Basil ricotta macaroni and cheese on a plate.

STEP 3: Divide among plates. Grind fresh pepper on top, scatter basil leaves on each plate and serve.

Recipe FAQs 🧐

Can I use low-fat ricotta in this recipe?

You can! However, this pasta is at its most delicious with full fat ricotta.

Do I need to chop up the basil?

If you have big basil leaves it’s a good idea to chop them…if they are small you can add them just the way they are!

Can this recipe be made ahead of time?

Kind of – you can make an hour or two ahead, but don’t wait much longer than that.

Have a question that I didn’t cover?

Pop your question in the Comments section under the recipe card and I will answer pronto!

Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣

These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!

Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
Food Scale: We use this for measuring everything from pasta to meat to flour.
Strainer: This classic is just right for your favorite pasta recipe (one of ours is pasta with egg sauce!)
Large Pot: We have a lot of these, but this one is our fave!

Other Macaroni and Cheese recipes we love! 🧀

We want to know what you think! 🤔

If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.