Mac and cheese is our favourite consolation meals. And whereas we love the nostalgia of that orange mac n cheese in a blue field, typically you need the actual deal. Our recipe is made with actual cheese, and it doesn’t that rather more work than making it from a field! We promise, it’s price it!
Make it a meal and serve with these scrumptious Crockpot Ribs and a few Coleslaw.
Why My Recipe
- Takes just some extra minutes than the boxed stuff—and tastes 100 instances higher.
- Made with actual cheese for an excellent creamy, flavorful sauce.
- Persist with sharp cheddar or combine it up together with your favourite cheeses.
This recipe is ideal for busy weeknights, choosy eaters, or anybody who simply desires a bowl of traditional mac and cheese made proper. Sharp cheddar offers you that traditional taste, however it’s also possible to mess around with different cheeses relying on what’s in your fridge. It’s quick, straightforward, and far more scrumptious than something that comes from a field.
Ingredient Notes
- Elbow Macaroni: Traditional and dependable, however you may swap in shells, cavatappi, penne, or another comparable small pasta form.
- Salted Butter: If utilizing unsalted butter, simply add an additional pinch of salt to the sauce.
- All-Function Flour: This helps thicken the cheese sauce. Be sure you whisk it properly with the butter to keep away from any lumps.
- Onion Powder: Provides taste with out precise onions. Don’t skip it. It makes a distinction.
- Floor Mustard: This enhances the cheese taste. You need to use 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard as a substitute.
- Salt: Begin with 1 teaspoon and regulate to style after including the cheese.
- White Pepper: Retains the sauce wanting clean with out black flecks, however you should use black pepper whether it is what you have got.
- Milk: Entire milk offers the creamiest outcome, however 2% or 1% nonetheless works nice.
- Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Freshly shredded melts finest. See our cheese swap observe for extra concepts.
Utilizing Pre-Shredded Cheese
We get it, typically grabbing a bag of pre-shredded cheese is simply simpler. And sure, it would work on this recipe! Simply know that pre-shredded cheeses are coated with anti-clumping brokers like potato starch, cellulose, or natamycin. These components can mess a bit with how easily the cheese melts, so your sauce may not prove fairly as silky.
For the creamiest, dreamiest mac and cheese, freshly shredded cheese is the way in which to go. But when pre-shredded is what you’ve bought, go forward and use it. Your mac and cheese will nonetheless be scrumptious.
Different Cheese Choices
Sharp cheddar is a traditional for a purpose, however you don’t must cease there. This recipe works with all types of cheese, so be at liberty to get inventive together with your cheese selections. Simply follow ones that soften properly. Nobody desires a bizarre, clumpy sauce.
Gouda, gruyère, fontina, provolone, and mozzarella are all nice choices. Even brie or goat cheese can work if you wish to be fancy. Need to follow cheddar however change it up? Attempt a pointy white cheddar for one thing just a bit completely different. Combine and match to search out your favourite combo!
After I wish to get actually fancy, considered one of my favourite mixtures is cheddar, goat cheese, brie, and smoked provolone, which I exploit in my gourmet mac and cheese.
Chef’s Secret: Sizzling Sauce
Right here’s a trick straight from professional cooks. Add a splash of sizzling sauce to your cheese sauce. It doesn’t make it spicy, we promise! We’ve served it this strategy to actually a whole lot of children and we’ve by no means had a grievance about it being spicy. It simply bumps up the cheese taste and makes all the pieces style a little bit higher.
For this recipe, you may add about 4 dashes of Tabasco or 2 tablespoons of Frank’s Purple Sizzling if you pour within the milk. It’s a small step that makes a giant distinction, particularly for those who’re utilizing milder cheeses. Give it a attempt to you would possibly by no means skip it once more. My children can all the time inform if I do!
Storage & Reheating Directions
Retailer leftovers within the fridge in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days. Be certain that it’s absolutely cooled earlier than sealing it up.
Reheat in a saucepan on the range over low warmth till heated via. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk to a serving to convey again some creaminess.
Reheat within the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between to assist it warmth evenly. You’ll be able to add 1 tablespoon of milk to a serving to assist convey again a number of the creaminess.
Extra mac and cheese goodness…
Watch the video under the place Rachel will stroll you thru each step of this recipe. Typically it helps to have a visible, and we’ve all the time bought you coated with our cooking present. You’ll find the whole assortment of recipes on YouTube, our Facebook Page, or proper right here on our web site with their corresponding recipes.
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