This Vintage Macaroni Casserole is an easy, frugal recipe with just 6 staple ingredients. In many vintage British cookery books, meals like casseroles were also known as a savoury or a macaroni pie. This is a useful recipe to have to hand for feeding vegetarian visitors or for meat-free alternative meals. It can also be easily adapted for vegan or dairy-free dietary requirements.
This recipe is adapted from Rose Elliot’s 1972 book “Not Just A Load of Old Lentils” (p.99). The book aimed to provide vegetarians with a wealth of easy, inexpensive, delicious and adventurous meat-free recipes, but also to excite bored meat-eaters with new, interesting recipes.
The macaroni casserole recipe can be found within chapter 4, which is titled – Vegetarian Main Course Savouries. The casserole is intended to be a main meal which utilises cheese as the main protein, which provides an estimated 22g of protein per casserole portion.
Back in the 1970s, vegetarian diets were thought of as boring, as many people tended to fall back on a standby, bland lentil recipe whenever preparing meat-free meals. However, Elliot’s recipes were designed to be exciting.
During the 1960s and 1970s, pasta dishes were becoming more popular in British homes as they provided a frugal means of preparing family meals using a few pantry staples.
This is an extract from Elliot’s chapter introduction describing how to serve the recipes:
‘‘In many cases, these can be presented simply, or, with imaginative garnishing, more elaborately for special occasions – many people do not realise how really colourful and mouthwatering such dishes can be. A few of the ingredients – for instance, toasted almonds are expensive, but contain very little waste if any. Also, not having the expense of meat, perhaps we may be allowed to be a bit extravagant now and again with interesting and unusual vegetables and garnishes” (p.85).
Recipes like this macaroni casserole became popular during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s onwards as inexpensive vegetarian cooking became more acceptable and necessary. Similar old-fashioned recipes were also known as a cheese and tomato macaroni bake.
You’ll only need 6 ingredients for this old-fashioned macaroni casserole – macaroni pasta or elbow pasta, margarine or oil, cheese, onions, a can of chopped tomatoes and cornflakes.
The onions are cooked before being added to the casserole. The casserole is prepared by layering the ingredients.
Cornflakes are sprinkled over the top before baking, but these can be omitted or replaced with breadcrumbs, crushed crackers, or even bran flake breakfast cereal for extra fibre.
I have made a few changes to the original recipe – adding water, increasing the oven temperature, reducing the baking time, and specifying the amount of cornflakes used. I added water, as when testing the recipe, it didn’t seem like there was enough liquid to properly cook the pasta, and I was concerned that the casserole might turn out too dry. The additional water worked well.
Vintage recipes often need to be modified for today’s kitchens, and as ingredients are expensive, I didn’t want to waste them, nor have you waste them.
The flavours of this macaroni casserole are similar to a traditional macaroni cheese, but are distinctly different as the main flavours are cheese and onion with a hint of tomato. Also, it’s not as cheesy or creamy as a macaroni cheese, as it’s more like a pasta bake or macaroni pie filling.
This recipe is a good way to use up old cheese or reduced-price cheese. If you regularly have small odds and ends of cheese, they can be added to a freezer bag for later recipes.
The original recipe states ”This is a handy savoury because it can be left in a pre-set oven”. I haven’t tried this option, but if you do, I would appreciate it if you could leave me a comment as to how the casserole turns out. It will help our community of vintage cooks as well.
For a vegan or dairy-free macaroni casserole, simply replace the cheese with your favourite vegan cheese.
For another British vintage savoury recipe featuring cheese, try this Old-Fashioned Cheese Pudding. It’s simple to prepare, and it makes for a nice lunch or dinner.
Vintage Macaroni Casserole
Equipment
- medium deep ovenproof dish [I used a medium glass circular pyrex ovenproof dish]
- cheese grater
- frying pan / skillet
- heatproof mixing spoon/spatula
Ingredients
- 230 grams macaroni pasta [elbow pasta] [8oz dried and uncooked]
- 2 medium onions [about 300 grams, finely chopped]
- 400 grams can chopped tomatoes [14 oz can]
- 230 grams cheddar cheese, grated [8 oz, any hard cheese will do, can replace with dairy-free cheese]
- 30 grams margarine [1 oz or 2 tablespoons, or oil]
- 375 millilitres water [1 ½ cups]
Garnish
- 30 grams cornflakes, crushed slightly [1 oz or a large handful, can replace with breadcrumbs or crushed crackers]
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉, 180℃, 160°Fan, Gas 4.
Prepare the onions:
- Heat the margarine over a medium heat.30 grams margarine
- Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes over a low-medium heat, stirring frequently until softened.2 medium onions
Assemble the casserole:
- Place a quarter of the macaroni in the casserole dish. Top with a quarter of the onions, tomatoes, cheese and water. Repeat these layers three more times, finishing with a layer of cheese.230 grams macaroni pasta [elbow pasta], 400 grams can chopped tomatoes, 230 grams cheddar cheese, grated, 375 millilitres water
- Sprinkle over the cornflakes.30 grams cornflakes, crushed slightly
- I don't tend to add salt and pepper to the layers as I find a little salt and pepper added once served is enough. Of course, you can season the layers as preferred.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. Check after 40 minutes, as oven temperatures and cooking times vary. I used a fan oven and the casserole was cooked after 45 minutes.The casserole will be ready once the macaroni has cooked and the top is nice and crispy.
Notes
- Salad and crusty bread
- Cooked vegetables such as peas, sweetcorn, corn-on-the-cob, or mixed vegetables
- Roasted vegetable mix
- Coleslaw
- Sausages, meat or vegan
- Replace cooked onion with 2 teaspoons of onion powder mixed through the canned tomatoes.
- Add mixed dried herbs or chopped fresh herbs.
- Add a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes before adding the cornflakes.
- Instead of cornflakes, use slightly crushed bran flake cereal, crushed crackers or breadcrumbs. You want some texture, so don’t crush too much.
- Add chopped bacon or chopped vegan/vegetarian bacon to the layers.
- Add a diced bell pepper and cook it along with the onion.
- Use vegan or dairy-free cheese for a vegan casserole.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- Reheat within a hot oven until heated through and the topping re-crisped. If the top is getting too brown as it re-heats, add a layer of kitchen foil.
- 57 grams of carbs
- 22 grams of protein
- 25 grams of fat
- 12 grams of saturated fat
- 6 grams of sugar
- 3 mg of Iron
- 3 grams of fibre
- 430 mg of calcium
- 7 mg vitamin C
- 294 mg of potassium
- 480 mg of sodium
- 57 mg of cholesterol
- 990 IU Vitamin A
If you got this far, thank you very much for taking the time to read the post and recipe! I would love to hear how you got on with this recipe, so do drop a comment below.
For more vintage recipes, do have a look at our tested British Vintage Recipes.
More recipes are added regularly.
Recipe suggestions are very welcome.