Armenian macaroni and cheese is the easiest baked mac and cheese recipe you'll ever try. It’s sometimes called mock sou boreg (fake water boreg/borek) or poohree macaron (oven macaroni). This easy egg noodle mac and cheese with feta freezes beautifully and is great for entertaining.
(This recipe was originally published in July 2010, but was updated with new photos and content in 2020).
I love macaroni and cheese. Over the years I have made countless variations, both baked and stove-top. One of my personal favorites is Armenian macaroni and cheese. The top and edges are crunchy between the crispy noodles and the bread crumbs, while the cheesy egg noodles beneath are perfectly al dente.
This simple Armenian pasta is flavored simply with Feta cheese and herbs, and bound together with the addition of eggs. Because this cheesy egg noodle casserole is on the firmer side, you can easily cut the squares and then freeze them in a freezer bag for easy reheating at a later time.
Ingredient notes
- Egg Noodles: Both wide and extra-wide egg noodles will work well in this recipe.
- Milk: Any kind of milk from low-fat to full-fat will work fine in this recipe. The eggs do a great job binding the mixture so the fat content of the milk is irrelevant.
- Feta Cheese: In my personal opinion Greek feta is generally pretty dry and salty. I prefer using Bulgarian feta in this recipe. It's slightly softer than the Greek version (better mouth feel), and has a somewhat briny and tart flavor profile. For this recipe, you can use whichever feta you prefer. The drier Greek-style will grate more easily, but you may get a bit more richness and flavor from the Bulgarian feta, which you should crumble instead of grate because it’s softer. If you're vegetarian, make sure you use a vegetarian style feta which doesn't contain animal rennet.
- Breadcrumbs: I’ve tested this recipe with plain dry breadcrumbs and panko. The plain dry breadcrumbs are always the best here. No need to get fancy.
How to make it
This Armenian macaroni and cheese is so simple, it's going to blow your mind. First, grease a baking dish or pan and dust the bottom with dried breadcrumbs. Meanwhile, boil wide or extra-wide egg noodles in salted water until al dente and then drain.
Dump the drained egg noodles back into their pot off the heat. Stir in butter until melted, then grated or crumbled feta cheese, beaten eggs, milk, chopped parsley, and seasonings. It's really that easy! No need to make a white sauce like most other macaroni and cheese. The eggs will help bind the mac and cheese.
Pour the noodles into the prepared baking dish. Spread it out so it's even and flat (PHOTO 1). Then simply top with more bread crumbs tossed in olive oil (PHOTO 2). These cheesy egg noodles will bake for 40 to 50 minutes, and then broil for just a few more to ensure a super crispy layer on top (PHOTO 3). Easy peasy!
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
This recipe can easily be doubled by using a larger pan (the photos in this post are of a double batch). We use a 12-by-18-inch pan when we double this recipe, which is often. The bake time will stay the same.
You could swap out some of the feta for other cheeses. We always make it with 100% feta but you could try adding some mild melting cheeses like mozzarella, Muenster, or Monterey Jack in place of a portion of the feta.
If making this dish ahead, let it cool completely before cutting it into pieces, and then reheat for service (it will cut more easily when cold).
I often make this Armenian macaroni and cheese in bulk and freeze the majority of it. The easiest way to do this is after cutting into squares, place several squares onto a sheet pan or tray, freeze it, and then transfer the frozen blocks to a freezer bag. Alternatively if you are freezing a lot of mac and cheese squares, place them in a large Tupperware and freeze the entire Tupperware.
To reheat leftover or previous frozen/thawed mock sou boreg squares arrange on a greased baking sheet with a little space in between the pieces (so the air circulates around them and heats them evenly) and heat at 400 degrees F until heated through and crispy. In a pinch, we sometimes nuke them in the microwave too, but I wouldn't recommend it for best results.
Other recipes you may like
- Trinidad Macaroni Pie
- Healthier Veggie Mac and Cheese Primavera
- Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
- Schinkennudeln (German Ham and Cheese Noodle Casserole)
- Homemade Stovetop Mac and Cheese
- Classic American Baked Mac and Cheese
- Chorizo Mac and Cheese with Poblanos
- Krautfleckerl (Cabbage and Noodles)
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Armenian Macaroni and Cheese (Mock Sou Boreg / Poohree Macaron)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces wide or extra-wide egg noodles
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 12 ounces Feta cheese grated or crumbled
- 2 large eggs beaten
- ⅓ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 ¼ cups dry breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or pan with pan spray or butter (alternatively you can use a slightly smaller pan if you want the pieces to be a bit taller). Dust the bottom of the pan with ⅓ to ½ cup of the bread crumbs to evenly coat.
- To a pot of boiling, salted water, add the noodles and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes (depending on the width of the egg noodles), or until al dente.
- Drain in a colander and then return to the pot, off the heat. Add the butter and stir until melted. Mix in the Feta cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, milk and some salt and pepper to taste (do not over-salt as the cheese is quite salty).
- Pour the cheesy egg noodles into the prepared baking dish. Use the back of a spoon to lightly spread and even out the noodles in the dish so they are fairly even.
- Add the olive oil to the remaining bread crumbs and lightly toss with your fingers. Generously spread the bread crumbs over the top of the noodles.
- Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes minutes, or until the pasta has set up nicely and the bread crumbs are light golden. Turn on the broiler and broil for a couple minutes to toast the bread crumbs further, so they are a dark golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before cutting into 12 large or 24 small square pieces and serving.
Notes
- If making this dish ahead, let it cool completely before cutting it into pieces, and then reheat for service (it will cut more easily when cold).
- This baked macaroni and cheese freezes very well. Cut it into pieces, arrange in a Tupperware and freeze, OR place pieces so they're not touching on a sheet pan or tray, freeze, then place frozen pieces in a freezer bag for storage. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating.
- To reheat: Arrange squares on a greased baking sheet with a little space in between the pieces (so the air circulates around them and heats them evenly) and heat in a toaster oven or oven at 400 degrees F until heated through and crispy. The exact amount of time will vary on the size of the squares and how crispy you like them.
- You could swap out some of the feta for other cheeses. We always make it with 100% feta but you could try adding some mild melting cheeses like mozzarella, Muenster, or Monterey Jack.
- This recipe can easily be doubled by using a larger pan. We use a 12-by-18-inch pan when we double this recipe, which is often. The bake time will stay the same.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Susu says
Can you use heavy whipping cream instead of milk?
Victoria says
Hi Susu,
That's a great question! I've actually never replaced the milk with heavy cream. Since it's a lot of milk (2 ยฝ cups) replacing all of it with heavy cream would be A LOT of cream and would probably come out too rich. If you'd like to use heavy cream you should be able to swap out some of the milk with cream, but I can't really say how it would turn out since I've never tried it that way myself.
Karen Walker says
This is delicious and very easy. Highly recommend it. I'm sure other kinds of cheese could be used in place of feta, but I prefer it with feta. The recipe suggested using plain dry bread crumbs, but all I had on hand was panko, so I used that. I love the nice crunch it gave the dish.
Nerses. Cholakian says
Very good
Karen Walker says
I don't know enough about non-dairy milks to answer this question... I recommended this recipe to my friend who can only have rice milk. Do you know if that would work in this recipe?
Victoria says
Hi Karen,
I've never tried it with non-dairy milk, however rice milk (and other non-dairy milks like oat milk or soy milk) should work. It might have a slightly different flavor, but it should still bake up in a similar way to using regular milk. Please let me know if she tries it with the non-dairy milk and how it turns out. Thanks!
Taline says
I like the recipe
Mary Kabakian says
This is excellent for parties, and it freezes really well. We make it often.
AJ says
Definitely making this!! Love the lesson on feta!