What is your secret to great mac & cheese?

Do it Jamie’s way mmmmm

Basic Baked Macaroni and Cheese I make a similar recipe to this one, but for the cheese I use half low fat cheddar cheese (Trader Joe’s has one that is 75% less fat) and half of a really fabulous sharp cheddar cheese, Trader Joe’s has a few that are really excellent like this New Zealand Sharp Cheddar. I also use low fat milk instead of cream, but if you’re not that concerned about the fat content, then I would just go for the regular cream listed in the recipe.

Also, I sautee about a half a pint of sliced button mushrooms with a little bit of olive oil (1 Tablespoon) and diced onions (½ Cup) until they just start to brown, then I add them to the cheesy roux mixture before I dump it all into the noodles and stir well. And one more thing that I add, is one piece of cooked, crumbled fake bacon from Morningstar Farms and those two extra ingredients really make this a marvelous dish.) If you don’t care whether or not the dish is suitable for vegetarians, then you can just add a piece of crumbled, cooked real bacon.

The addition of the mushrooms and the bacon, plus the really sharp cheddar cheese crank this dish up a couple of notches above other mac and cheese dishes.

The key is to NOT bake it!!!
Cook 1 lb macaroni-It is OK to slightly overcook it.
Dice up a 3 oz slice of pancetta,
Put it in a pot and render out the fat on medium heat. Take out the little pieces of meat with a slotted spoon. Do not over cook pancetta.
Add and melt 4 or 5 tbls butter, until the the bubbles are little
Whisk in 6 tbls flour, 1½ tsps mustard powder, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper until the mixture darkens up and starts to smell good.
Gradually add and whisk 5 cups of milk, Skim or whole, makes no difference. Whisk constantly until it comes to a boil. It has to come to a boil to thicken up properly.
Remove from heat
Add 8 oz cheddar and 8 oz Montery Jack cheese and a tsp of salt. Whisk until cheese is melted
Add the macaroni, and pancetta, stir in and place over medium heat until it starts to steam- 5 or six minutes

Take 6 slices of good white bread and tear in to pieces. Put in processor with 3 tbs cold butter cut into small pieces. Pulse 10 or so 1 second pulses until the bread pieces are about 1/8 inch or smaller
Pour macaroni and cheese into casserole dish. Cover with crumbs.

Broil NOT bake until crumbs are dark brown. 3–5 minutes
Done

Mustard powder in the roux.

1 lb penne
4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or more, I like to be generous and add some extra cheese, usually a creamy mild one)
1 can diced tomatoes packed with herbs/chiles/whatever

cook pasta, drain. in casserole, layer pasta, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cheese, repeat.
Bake at 350 or so until done.

Herbed bread crumbs work nicely on top. That’s my easiest delicious recipe, but I know others for when I’m in the mood for something more complex. Sometimes making a roux is too time-consuming.

Quality ingredients!! Grate your own cheese. Dice fresh tomatoes if you’re into that sort of thing. If you make a roux, be sure to use full-fat milk, cream, butter, etc. Skim milk scalds too easily.

SEASON YOUR PASTA WITH SALT and optionally, bouillon or herbs, while it is cooking! Do not oil your pasta as it is cooking, it will stick to the cheese/sauce better.

1lb of pasta cooked, drained, al dante
2–21/2lbs of American cheese shredded (I buy a block and shred it at home)
2 eggs (I use large or jumbo)
1 12oz can of Evaporated Milk
12oz of Milk (regular milk)
Black Pepper to taste
1 stick of melted butter
Panko Bread Crumbs
In a Bowl with wisk, mix Eggs, Evaporated Milk and regular milk and black pepper to taste together. Put in a baking pan the cooked drained pasta and shedded cheese making sure cheese is mixed through out pasta. Nex pour the mixure of eggs and milk over the pasta and cheese.
Then take the Butter and Panko Bread Crumbs and mix together and put over the top of the and bake 350 for approx. 1 hour, It will turn a nice golden brown when done.

It’s a take off a custard and its very simple to make and can be made with most cheeses, I have done it with many different types. The classic is American Cheese though. Takes me no time to make and I always get alot of compliments on it.

Plenty of cheese and not watery.

My real secret is in the frozen food section of WalMart.

It’s called Stouffers Family Size Mac and Cheese. You cannot beat it…....period.

Salsa verde and extra cheese (preferably extra-sharp cheddar).

It’s all in the Béchamel. It’s not too thick, and I add a slightly higher proportion of butter than necessary. And along with a sharp cheddar, I will mix in a good melty cheese, like a Gruyère.

Forget chili cookoffs, who’s up for a Mac and Cheese cookoff? I’m totally starving now.

@unused_bagels I love the idea of putting tomatoes in there. I’ve made mine with broccoli and that’s also a nice addition.

@incendiary_dan Salsa verde! How yummy! You just gave me an idea to experiment with making a Mexican style Mac and Cheese in which I would use the salsa and maybe add some pinto beans. I know that sounds weird, but it kind of reminds me of the flavors of cheese enchiladas which I love.

I’ve cooked traditional mac and cheese with a rue-based cheese sauce BUT my family prefers my mom’s variety:

Cooked pasta layered with sharp cheddar cheese and garlic, pour milk all over until it reaches ½ way up the sides of the pan. More sharp cheddar on top with a mixture of bread crumbs mixed with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for ½ hour.

This may gross some people out, but it is divinely tasty to me. One packet of instant macaroni and cheese, a small tin of tuna fish, a bit of extra shredded cheddar cheese, and a sprinkling of Mrs. Dash seasoning.

Edit: Plus, the way that instant macaroni noodles stand to attention in a bowl while cooking in the microwave is highly entertaining.

My favorite Mac ‘n’ Cheese is Kraft brand. Has been since I was a kid! I love to chop up cheese dogs and put those in too. Yummy!

My secret? Use half Velveeta and half muenster for the cheeses. Otherwise it’s the same as most other white-sauce based, baked mac & cheese recipes. Both of those things melt far better than cheddar does and the flavor combination is just right.

I wholeheartedly concur with @josie‘s approach but I would also add a few cloves of finely minced garlic, along with the flour and spices.

I’d also dial back the flour to 6 tablespoons (or equal to the number of cups of milk you’re using).

I also usually use all cheddar cheese.

You can also add a dash of worschester sauce, and I always use bacon instead of pancetta.

@Qingu Nothing wrong with all cheddar cheese. But it sometimes seems a little “grainy” with all cheddar. The Jack cheese seems to smooth it out so it is more creamy. Like the garlic idea. Do you sautee it first in some of the fat? Seems like otherwise it might be bitter.

I did some buffalo chicken mac and cheese recently. I just remembered that. That was really good.

You cant be afraid of the fat… LOTS of cheese and heavy cream :)

@incendiary_dan How did you make that? It sounds really delicious. Did you use bleu cheese?

@marinelife Just add chopped chicken, bleu cheese (or bleu cheese dressing if that’s what you have), a bit of extra butter, and lots of Frank’s. You could skip the bleu cheese.

Yah, I saute the garlic with the mustard, cayanne, and flour. And it indeed can be grainy with all cheddar, but I find that if you whisk it and serve it quickly it’s not too bad. The boost in flavor is worth it, imo.

I’ve been wanting to experiment with using pepper jack cheese. I might be the only person that would like it, though.

@Kardamom Well if nobody there likes it, feel free to invite me over. My partner and I love pepper jack. :P

Sliced fresh jalepenos. macaroni shells, milk, a little butter, and believe it or not velveeta cheese

J. Alexander’s!

At home I like when there are browned panko or homemade breadcrumbs on top.

Kraft:
Extra butter
Extra cheese
Extra milk
Add pepperoni
(Or canned chicken)

Also, Martha Stewart’s recipe for Best Macaroni and Cheese is amazing. . . can’t find the page though.

@efritz, and extra macaroni?

@Jeruba – No, that would rip a tiny little hole in the universe.

I must be helping to maintain the cosmic balance, then, because when I use a Kraft package I usually add a handful of macaroni noodles—and nothing else extra.

However, I regard Kraft’s “boxmac” (as we call it at our house) as just a convenient substitute for the real thing.

I add extra shells and a little bit of milk to velveeta shells and cheese.

Trader Joe’s makes a decent frozen mac and cheese. It’s a little more “baked” and homemade tasting than Stouffer’s (Stouffer’s is more creamy, not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just like it harder and more like you could cut it into pieces). Trader Joe’s version has several different high quality cheeses. It’s a notch above Stouffer’s, quality-wise, just a matter of whether you like it more baked or more creamy.