isithalal.food · Recipes

Mac and cheese with a rennet-checked cheese

Baked macaroni cheese with a cheddar labelled vegetarian or made with microbial rennet, so the cheese is the one ingredient you've already checked.

British · Main · Easy · 4 plates · 52 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

Mac and cheese is only as Halal as its cheese. Cheddar, gruyère and Parmesan can be set with animal rennet, boxed mixes list 'enzymes' and whey of unstated source, and some restaurant versions add bacon or pancetta.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Cheddar, gruyère or Parmesan: Any of them can be set with animal rennet, which scholars differ on when the animal wasn't slaughtered Islamically. Use a cheese labelled vegetarian or naming microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet. See Cheese and Rennet.
• Boxed mac and cheese: Kraft's US boxes list 'enzymes' and whey without saying where the enzymes come from. Make the sauce from scratch, as here. See Mac and cheese.

Ingredients

Sauce and pasta

• 280 g (10 oz) dried macaroni
• 700 ml (3 cups) whole milk, warmed, plus a little extra
• 50 g (3½ tbsp) unsalted butter, plus extra for the dish
• 45 g (⅓ cup) plain flour
• 5 g (1 tsp) prepared mustard
• 225 g (2¼ cups) mature cheddar labelled vegetarian or made with microbial rennet, grated

Topping

• 50 g (1 cup crumbs) white bread, crusts off, whizzed to crumbs
• 300 g (3 medium) optional tomatoes, sliced

Method

1. Check the cheese first. Pick a cheddar whose pack says suitable for vegetarians, or names microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet. That one choice is what makes the dish Halal on its ingredients. Mix 25 g of it into the breadcrumbs for the topping.
2. Boil the macaroni. Cook the macaroni in boiling water for about 8 minutes, or as the pack says, until just tender. Drain and rinse briefly under hot water so it doesn't stick.
3. Make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a large pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Off the heat, beat in the warm milk a third at a time until smooth, then return to the heat and stir until thick and glossy, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mustard and the rest of the cheese until melted.
4. Combine and bake. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Stir the macaroni into the sauce, loosening with a splash of milk if it is thick. Tip into a buttered dish, scatter the cheesy crumbs and tomatoes over, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until bubbling at the edges. Grill for 3 to 5 minutes to brown, then rest for a minute or two.

Allergens

gluten, milk, mustard

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Ultimate macaroni cheese' (white sauce made with butter, flour and warm milk; macaroni boiled for 8 minutes; crumb topping; oven then grill). We replaced its cheddar, gruyère and Parmesan with one cheddar labelled vegetarian or made with microbial rennet, and dropped the Parmesan from the crumbs. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: cheeses on a board, not the finished dish.