Cheesy, gooey and delicious, this corkscrew mac and cheese is the ultimate cozy dinner or side dish. Perfect to bring to a potluck, and a great way to use leftover ham, you’ll also love that the noodles cook right in the cheesy sauce to save you a step!

A baked cavatappi macaroni and cheese casserole with diced ham being served in a white rectangular dish with a spoon.

Table of Contents

Why We Love Baked Cavatappi Mac And Cheese (With Ham!)

Rich, Creamy Dish – I really love a baked mac and cheese for its richness, creaminess and coziness! This homemade mac and cheese recipe is fun enough for a holiday potluck, but also great to meal prep for the week.
No Boil Method – This method cooks the noodles right in the sauce to make a great meal minus a few extra steps.
Perfect For Leftover Ham – Have a lot of leftover ham from the holidays or dinner? This is the perfect way to stretch it a little further. Or grabbing a few ham steaks are pretty inexpensive, and delicious!
Fun Corkscrew Shape – I’ve used Cavatappi pasta which is such a fun corkscrew shape! It makes big thick noodles perfect for holding that thick cheese cause.

My family grew up with the blue boxed mac and cheese, but I can remember pretty clearly the first time I tried a baked mac and cheese at a potluck. It was gooey, creamy and a whole other level of cheesiness that I had never had before! This mac and cheese recipe captures that cheesy, first bite feeling, and I know your family is going to love it.

Ingredients For Cavatappi Mac And Cheese

Ingredients for a baked cavatappi mac and cheese with ham recipe in bowls on a counter with text labels,

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.

cavatappi pasta corkscrew shape, cavatappi noodles are also sometimes called cellentani. You can also swap out another short pasta shape like ziti or penne
cheddar cheese 1 cups shredded from a block, we like to use sharp cheddar cheese for more flavor.
Monterey Jack cheese 1 cup shredded from a block, you can also swap in other flavors of cheese like mozzarella cheese, gruyere cheese or even gouda cheese.
ham – can use ham steak or about 2 cups diced ham, you can use any leftover ham you have. It’s also easy to adjust to slightly more or less ham depending on what you happen to have.
butter
paprika
garlic powder
salt
black pepper
all-purpose flour
milk – use whole milk or 2% milk for the creamiest pasta
water

How To Make Creamy Baked Mac And Cheese

Prepare a large 9×13 casserole dish by spraying generously with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Shred the cheddar cheese and the Monterey Jack cheese. Chop the ham into bite sized pieces. Add the ham and the shredded cheese to the uncooked pasta in the baking dish and mix in the pan.

An overhead view of uncooked cavatappi pasta in a rectangular baking dish for mac and cheese being mixed with diced ham with cheese in bowl nearby.

An overhead view of uncooked cavatappi pasta in a rectangular baking dish for mac and cheese being mixed with diced ham and a lot of shredded cheese.

Place a medium sized pot on the stove with the butter over medium heat and melt the butter. Add paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the melted butter.

A white saucepan with melted butter inside is surrounded by small bowls with spices to flavor the roux for cavatappi mac and cheese.

A saucepan containing melted butter, spices and flour cooking to make a roux for cavatappi mac and cheese with water and milk in bowls nearby.

Place the flour into the butter and mix with a whisk to make a roux. Continue whisking the butter and flour continuously for one minute over the heat using a timer.
Slowly add the milk and water to the pan while stirring to make the cheese sauce. Bring the mixture to a low boil, then turn down the heat to keep the mixture simmering. Keep stirring occasionally, simmering for about 5 minutes.

A pot with a creamy sauce next to a casserole dish filled with uncooked cavatappi pasta, ham and cheese.

Pour the sauce over the uncooked pasta and ham in the casserole dish.
Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until when tested the pasta is cooked through and the sauce is bubbly. Allow the pasta to sit out of the oven for at least 15 minutes or until the sauce finished thickening, then serve and enjoy. The sauce may look a little liquidy when you first take it out of the oven, but the pasta will continue to finish soaking up the liquid while resting.

A white rectangular baking dish filled with raw cavatappi noodles, ham, and shredded cheese in a milky sauce for baked cavatappi mac and cheese.

A rectangular baking dish filled with baked cavatappi macaroni and cheese topped with diced ham and baked cheese.

Variation Ideas For Cavatappi Mac And Cheese

Add Other Proteins – You can use a combination of meats, or just swap out a cooked protein in place of the ham. Chicken, steak, pulled pork, smoked sausage, bacon, sausage or even ground beef are all delicious. If the meat is particularly oily you may want to drain some of the oil with paper towels before adding it to the dish or it can make everything oily.

Use Up Leftover Ham Lunch Meat – Sometime you have a leftover pack of lunchmeat ham and no one is eating it! I have diced up lunchmeat ham before, crisped it up a little in a pan, and added it to mac and cheese.

Add Vegetables – You can add vegetables to this mac and cheese. I recommend dicing the vegetables small before adding them. Vegetables like diced bell pepper, broccoli cut small, diced onion, corn and diced carrot can be added straight to the pan.

Other vegetables that have more water like zucchini, spinach, mushroom, or any frozen vegetables should be sauteed in a pan before adding them to the casserole dish. This helps keep the vegetables from releasing too much water, which can make the pasta gummy.

Try Adding Dried Mustard – Mustard is another really tasty flavor in mac and cheese. I didn’t add it to this recipe, but sometimes I throw in about a half a teaspoon for a little more flavor.

Bowl of corkscrew mac and cheese with ham with more mac and cheese in a second bowl and a bowl of peas nearby.

What To Serve As A Side Dish With Baked Mac And Cheese

I usually go a little easier on myself when making baked mac and cheese, serving a green salad , a tomato and cucumber salad, or a quick vegetable like steamed broccoli or green beans. You can try a side of honey roasted carrots.

If I’m serving baked mac and cheese for the holidays, I’ll add roast turkey tenderloin or crock pot turkey breast with cranberry sauce, our homemade sausage stuffing, green bean casserole and mashed sweet potatoes.

Sometimes I’ll make this recipe after a holiday with leftover ham from our favorite honey orange glazed ham.