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In Search Of Yummy-ness » Recipes » Caribbean Recipes

Caribbean Macaroni Pie Recipe (Kid-Friendly)

Updated: July 6, 2024 • Published: May 30, 2011 by Shareba Abdul • 67 Comments

4.4 from 166 votes
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Caribbean macaroni pie is a comfort food staple in the West Indies. This cheesy baked pasta dish is delicious with stewed or barbecued chicken. This recipe is a bit sweet and very plain, making it a kid-friendly version of this classic dish.

If you're looking for a more traditional savoury macaroni pie, check out my Trinidad Macaroni Pie recipe.

Slice of macaroni pie on a blue plate on a tablecloth.

As much as I enjoy a big bowl of creamy mac and cheese, it will never replace my love for Caribbean macaroni pie.

Cheesy and baked until golden, this hearty side dish is was a weekend dinner staple at my house all through my childhood. My mom always made our macaroni pie a bit sweeter than most people do.

She also left out a lot of the traditional seasonings (onions, herbs, mustard etc.), probably because I was such a picky eater.

After making it that way for so many years for me, and then for my brother, this sweet version eventually became our preferred recipe.

Every Caribbean household seems to have their own macaroni pie recipe, to be honest.

Some people like theirs to be spicy, some people use a lot of herbs. It's one of those recipes that you can easily customize to suit your own family.

As I mentioned earlier, if you're looking for a classic savoury macaroni pie recipe, you'll want to check out my Trinidad Macaroni Pie post. That recipe has savoury ingredients like onion, garlic, thyme, etc.

Regardless of how you flavour your macaroni pie, it will always be delicious with a saucy main course.

We enjoy eating it with  stewed or barbecued chicken, but I've heard that some people serve it with fish.

I personally love eating it with stewed chicken, because I can use the pie to mop up all of that delicious sauce.

Two slices of Macaroni Pie stacked on top of each other.

Macaroni pie might be a bit strange to you if you've never eaten it before - especially if you're used to eating creamy macaroni and cheese. The texture is different, because the cheese isn't melted into the sauce.

For macaroni pie, you just shred the cheese and mix it into the cold egg and milk mixture before baking. This gives you chunks of cheese, instead of a creamy cheese sauce.

Don't let this deter you from trying the recipe though - it's tasty!

There are many ways you can make this dish your own. You can try using a different type of cheese, top it with fresh herbs and breadcrumbs or play around with the seasonings.

My aunt makes a delicious macaroni pie with powdered ginger in it!

Once you make the dish a few times, you'll figure out what flavours you enjoy best.

Again, if you prefer a classic macaroni pie, like the one in the Naparima Girls' cookbook, you'll want to take a look at my Trinidad Macaroni Pie recipe instead of this one.

I love the combination of cheddar or marble cheese, white pepper and brown sugar, because those are the flavours that I grew up with.

This is the mac and cheese of my childhood, and I'm not about to mess around with it.

Recipe

Slice of Caribbean Macaroni Pie.
Created By: Shareba Abdul

Caribbean Macaroni Pie

4.37 from 166 votes
A sweeter version of the classic Caribbean baked macaroni and cheese dish.
Print Recipe SaveSaved!
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Total Time 55 minutes mins
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 639
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients 
 

  • 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ⅔ cups evaporated milk, (measure from 2 cans of Carnation milk)
  • 3 ½ cups cheddar cheese, grated, reserve ½ cup for topping
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • salt, to taste

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Boil macaroni in salted water approximately 8 minutes, or according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and set aside. 
  3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy.
  4. Add milk, pepper, sugar and salt and stir until combined.
  5. Stir in 3 cups of cheese, and the cooked macaroni.
  6. Pour into a greased, 9x11 baking dish and top with reserved ½ cup of cheese.
  7. Bake until firm, 35-40 minutes.
  8. Allow pie to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 639 kcalCarbohydrates: 51 gProtein: 33 gFat: 33 gSaturated Fat: 19 gCholesterol: 184 mgSodium: 564 mgPotassium: 543 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 17 gVitamin A: 1050 IUVitamin C: 2.1 mgCalcium: 794 mgIron: 1.7 mg

Notes

Tips:
  • Cold cheese is easier to shred than warm cheese
  • In Trinidad, people use New Zealand cheddar cheese but you can use whatever you have available
  • If the cheese on top begins to brown too quickly, cover it with tin foil for the remaining baking time.

Tried this recipe?

Let me know how it was!

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Comments

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  1. Louise Flowers-Coburn says

    November 08, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    Although I lived the taste my mac cheese pie curdled. I'm not a fan of evaporated milk so used a mixture of this with cows. Could this have been the problem? What can I use instead evaporated milk?

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      November 08, 2021 at 3:38 pm

      Hey Louise, I'm sorry to hear that your mac pie became curdled! I suspect it's because you used regular cow's milk, which can easily curdle when cooked at high temperatures. I've only ever made this recipe with evaporated milk, which can be cooked at high temperatures without curdling.

      I'm not sure what would be a decent substitute for the evaporated milk...

      If you want to use cow's milk, you'd have to make a cheese sauce on the stovetop first so you could gradually warm up the milk, but the texture will not be macaroni pie. It would be more like baked mac and cheese.

      If you don't like the flavour of evaporated milk, you could try making this version of Macaroni Pie instead. It has more seasoning, you so may not taste the evaporated milk at all: https://insearchofyummyness.com/trinidad-macaroni-pie/. I hope this helps!

      Reply
    • Denise says

      September 13, 2023 at 9:44 am

      I've done it with cows milk without it curdling. When I say cows milk, I mean the reg milk you get out the store from the cold section. The trick is to turn the oven down a little and not to over stir it when your mixing it up.
      Other options besides evap are: half and half or use heavy cream combined with reg milk. It will take longer to settle tho once you take it out.
      We cook our mac and cheese similar to this South Carolina.

      Reply
      • Shareba says

        September 13, 2023 at 12:34 pm

        Thank you for sharing your tips, Denise!

        Reply
  2. Emily says

    October 19, 2021 at 4:42 am

    Can’t wait to make this tonight!! Is it big or small cans of evaporated milk?

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      October 19, 2021 at 1:43 pm

      Hi Emily, I hope you enjoy the recipe! I've only seen one can size at my grocery, but the ones I use are 354 ml each. I hope this helps!

      Reply
  3. Meagan says

    July 04, 2021 at 9:42 am

    Easy to make, tastes like my mother in law's. I didn’t add enough salt the first time I made it, so I’m upping the salt this time. I wish there was an approximate salt measurement to use, but other than that it’s a great recipe.

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      July 05, 2021 at 1:21 pm

      Hi Meagan, thanks for your feedback. I'm glad the recipe worked for you, but I apologize for not having a salt measurement. I don't generally add a measurement for salt because it depends on what kind of salt you use. I use sea salt at home, but 1 tsp of sea salt and 1 tsp of iodized salt don't taste the same. That being said, I'll revisit the recipe and see if I can make a suggestion for the salt quantity moving forward. Thanks again.

      Reply
      • Ali says

        July 28, 2022 at 4:22 pm

        Do you make a rue with the milk mixture?

        Reply
        • Shareba says

          July 30, 2022 at 12:33 pm

          Hi Ali, no you don't make a roux. There isn't any flour in this recipe.

          Reply
    • Jen says

      September 11, 2022 at 12:21 pm

      This tastes great! Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
      • Shareba says

        September 13, 2022 at 5:26 pm

        I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it!

        Reply
  4. Breann says

    June 28, 2021 at 2:50 pm

    Trying this tonight, my husband is Jamaican and loves Mac Pie. I always try to be fancy with a roux and it never comes out quite how he likes it. I'll try this recipe and see if simple is better.

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      June 28, 2021 at 4:38 pm

      I hope you both enjoy it!

      Reply
  5. Jessica says

    November 26, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    Oh man, I'm so excited to have found this! My best friend of 28 years is the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant. Her grandparents eventually immigrated too (we're Canadian) and we grew up with her Nana making mac and cheese like this for us! For years we've been wishing we had Nana's receipe, but we didn't know it was a Caribbean thing! I'm so excited to try this now and maybe even porch drop some down the street to my friend 🥰 Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      November 27, 2020 at 12:20 am

      I'm happy to be able to help! This one is the sweeter kid-friendly version. If you grew up eating the more savoury one, I've got that recipe here: https://insearchofyummyness.com/trinidad-macaroni-pie/. I hope one of them works out for you! And I'm sure your friend would appreciate a porch drop - that's such a nice idea 🙂 Stay safe!

      Reply
  6. George R Alexander says

    November 26, 2020 at 1:03 pm

    Fantastic and delicious.

    Reply
  7. George R Alexander says

    November 26, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    I've made this dish several times, and my entire family love it. Since I grew up in Grenada, and was used to my mom's delicious savory version of 'Macaroni Pie', I really appreciate 'your kid friendly' version, which our 3 grandgirls 10,7 & 3 love. The American adults love it also. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      November 26, 2020 at 2:17 pm

      Hi George, thanks so much for your comment. I'm so glad that your grandchildren enjoy this version! Honestly, I was a little anxious about sharing it because I thought people would think it's too sweet. It does seem popular with the little ones though. And yes, Mac Pie is definitely far different than Mac and Cheese!

      Reply
  8. Dave says

    August 29, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    Is this to be eaten alone or as a side

    Reply
    • Shareba says

      August 29, 2020 at 8:55 pm

      You can eat it alone if you want to, but it is often served as a side with stewed chicken, or BBQ chicken. This mac pie is pretty sweet, so if you're new to the dish you might want to try the savoury version instead: https://insearchofyummyness.com/trinidad-macaroni-pie/. It has more mass appeal.

      Reply
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A photo of Shareba Abdul, founder of In Search Of Yummy-ness.

Hi, I'm Shareba!

I’m a home cook with a culinary arts certificate who shares seasonal comfort food recipes and cozy living inspiration.

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