Favorite homemade Mac and Cheese recipe?

I don’t follow a strict recipe, but basically it’s this: I make the pasta first. Then I use a can of evaporated milk, put it in a large pot on medium heat with about three tablespoons of butter. Then I start adding various types of cheese. That’s where it depends on my mood that day. I use sharp cheddar, shredded parmesan, asiago, maybe some Monterey Jack, sometimes even a little Pepper Jack. Other days I might add other types of cheese. I add it by handfuls to the milk, constantly whisking it until it’s pretty thick. I also add a lot of Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Salt and quite a bit of paprika during the whisking. You just add enough cheese where the mixture gets creamy, but not stiff. You may have to add a little more evaporated milk as you go. Once it has a nice creamy consistency and you’ve added all the types of cheese you like, pour the cheese mixture over the pasta, sprinkle with more shredded cheese (and some Panko bread crumbs if you wish) and bake until golden brown and bubbly on top. I go with about 350 degrees.

OMG, I just pulled mine outof the oven. I wonder if I can take a picture and send it to you?
One box Dream Fields pasta
Boil al-dente, put in colander, set aside.
cube two 16 oz blocks extra sharp cheese plus about 4 oz more.
Melt about 2 T butter
Add ½ t. Powdered mustard and ½ t black pepper
pour in about 2¼ cups heavy cream and stir.
When it is hot, add your watered cornstarch, stir and allow to thicken just a bit,
Dump in all the cheese. When it melts, add pasta noodles, pour into
a casserole dish and cover with crushed pork rinds
Bake at 350 for about ten mins,
Mmmmm.
Very low carb and VERY delicious.

Two really wonderful secrets: 1) mix your usual cheese with 50% Emmenthaler cheese. 2) top with a mix of 1 cup Panko bread crumbs, ½ cup grated parmagiano reggiano, tossed with 1 stick melted butter, not too hot. Brown in the oven before serving.

@Trillian. I love Dreamfields. It’s a low carbers best friend. :)

@diavolobella Yep, and substituting heavy cream for milk accomplishes a couple things; it reduces the carbs to alomst zero and the taste and texture are more….dare I say “heavenly”?

<Drooling> Keep ‘em coming…these sound great!

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
2 cups milk
4 ounces muenster cheese, chopped into small pieces
4 ounces Velveeta
1 cup heavy cream
Salt
1 pound pasta, cooked to the al dente stage, drained and cooled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a non-reactive saucepan with the onion. When bubbly whisk in flour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring every now and then. Slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking on occasion for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in cheese. Stir vigorously just until cheese has melted. Then whisk in heavy cream to adjust the texture and season to taste with salt. In a mixing bowl combine sauce with the drained macaroni and adjust seasoning. Transfer mixture to a 13×9-inch baking pan and spread it out evenly. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

The original recipe includes cayenne pepper, 8 oz. cheddar cheese instead of the muenster and Velveeta, no onion, ¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes and butter & bread crumbs on top. The changes are mine to get it to taste like my mom’s.

My husband makes awesome mac & cheese, but he doesn’t use a recipe, and uses whatever cheeses we have on hand, so it’s different every time.

Basically: shred a crap-load of cheese (tonight’s batch includes one 10oz block of Muenster, one 10oz block of Baby Swiss, and ¼ block of extra-sharp white cheddar). Meanwhile, saute ½ a large onion in butter with salt and pepper. Boil the macaroni in a large pot til tender. Drain macaroni, and keep it in the colander for a bit. Put onions, about ¼ to ½ cup of half-and-half or milk, and 2 TBSP of flour in the macaroni pot, bring to boil – whisking constantly. Stir in cheese, stirring constantly until melted. Once cheese has melted, add the cooked macaroni and stir to coat. Put the whole mess in a casserole, and bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for about 30 to 45 minutes. Uncover, and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes or so, until nicely browned on top. Deeeelicious!

The secret to mine is a pinch of nutmeg in the white sauce.

nutmeg is so dangerous, people almost always use too much in recipes, then it overpowers, but I admire your courage in using it.

When all else fails, go the store to the frozen food section and pick up a family package of Stouffers Mac and Cheese. you cannot make it any better at home and its well worth the price.

There is none better. try it and see for yourself.

I most definitely can make it at home better than Stouffers frozen! :D

Stouffers is the best of the frozen variety, but that’s comparing apples and oranges. For me it’s not even in the same category as real mac and cheese.