This is a complex topic. People here are nostalgic for family recipes, box mixes, and restaurant varieties. There's no one single way to make this dish.

The basic components are just pasta and cheese sauce. It doesn't need to be baked, but its done like that sometimes to make it easier to prepare, or caramelize the top a bit. Some add breadcrumbs to the top before baking, others add some mustard, paprika, or chili to the sauce. It's also not uncommon to see people add hot sauce after serving, since this is usually kind of bland (fatty and starchy) comfort food.

The key is that everyone makes mac & cheese their own way. If you have a savory cheese sauce in the cuisine where you're from, you could probably just use something like that. But I recommend trying this the american way first, just so you know how you want to customize it.

Simple: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238691/simple-macaroni-and-cheese/

Complex: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/old-fashioned-macaroni-and-cheese/#RecipeCard

With garlic: https://www.justataste.com/roasted-garlic-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/

I've never done it, but the garlic version looks great! I checked a few other variations and the consensus is to roast a head of garlic and mash it into the cheese sauce.