Will cooking spaghetti and melting cheese make macaroni and cheese?

It won’t be macaroni and cheese, because you need milk and flour, at least, to make a cheese sauce.

Not the greatest idea. You have to make a sauce with the cheese. It will will be more like pasta nachos if you just do that.

shoot, how do i make the cheese sauce?

okay im googling it, but any ideas are accepted!

Mac and cheese recipes

I have tried this before. I wouldn’t suggest it unless you are really drunk and want to eat before passing out while you use your shoes for a pillow.

If you like cheese and pasta then the results aren’t inedible but that’s probably all you can say.

an easy cheese sauce is with milk egg and cheese pasta and bake, it will make the sauce for you and you wont have to add any flour

I’ve made “lazy lasagna” – make pasta, dump sauce – or ketchup in a pinch – a little oregano, top with chesse – micro – et voila. Gourmet it aint – but it’s edible – is that what you were asking?

Yes. There are many recipes and that is the most basic. When I say macaroni and cheese I mean the casserole type with cheese, eggs, and milk. But it you combine cooked pasta and cheese, what else could you call it?

@perspicacious Well you would still call it pasta and cheese but it wouldn’t be making it taste too good, but its all in the person who is eating it I guess

I actually really like grated cheese melted over pasta in the microwave. It’s not as rich or filling as actual mac and cheese, but it’s a pretty darn good substitute.

For actual mac and cheese, start with a white sauce: melt a couple T butter in a saucepan and add ½ cup or so of flour. Stir for a few minutes over med heat. Add 2 C milk slowly, stirring until thick. Add 1–2 C more milk (some people use a bit of heavy cream for even more sumptuousness), stirring more. When thick, stir in 5–6 C grated cheese of your choice – sharp white cheddar is nice, or orange cheddar to be more traditional. For “fancy” mac and cheese you can add ½–1 C of gruyere or swiss. Pour over cooked pasta (a whole box) and enjoy, OR pour into a casserole dish (you may need to use 2) and top with grated parmesan or more cheddar. Bake until crispy on top and edges.

YUM. Now I want some!

Some little kids don’t like tomato sauce. They prefer plain spaghetti or spaghetti with a little margarine or butter melted on top and maybe some grated parmesan. Nothing wrong with that. But it won’t resemble macaroni and cheese.

@sarahsugs Thanks, I followed your recipe. It came out tasting like Alfredo, which was pretty awesome. Of course, Im not so good with getting recipes on the first try, so thanks for your detailed recipe. I ended up having a good meal anyways.

No. Macaroni and cheese is a special magic that occurs when cheese, butter, milk and flour is mixed together and allowed to bake. It changes the texture and the taste.

I love mac n cheese, but if im feeling lazy I cook pasta and layer it.in a bowl with grated cheese, pepper and chives mmmm and sometimes I chuck in bit of ham, delicious. If you arent very good at cooking try dry frying a few mushrooms in a pan and stiring in some philadelphia (a soft cream cheese) a bit.of butter salt and pepper and mix in pasta mmmm!!

@sakura, for that second recipe you mix in pasta that’s already cooked, no doubt. A novice might need that spelled out.

You don’t have to add flour. You can make cheese sauce with just milk and cheese. Especially if you’re using processed cheese, like American or Velveeta. You don’t need very much milk to do it, either.

I love it with Velveeta. I don’t even add milk. Cook noodles, strain and put back in the pan. Add cubes of Velveeta and stir. It is like being in college all over again.

I like pasta with melted cheese but it’s definitely not mac and cheese!

Here is a pretty simple recipe for Classic Macaroni and Cheese Just make sure that when you are making the roux or sauce, that you keep stirring constantly, and don’t let it burn.

I make a variation of this recipe using half low fat cheddar cheese like this one (Trader Joe’s has their own brand) because it has the right texture. It doesn’t have much of a flavor, and that’s the good part, because the other half of the cheese should be the yummiest sharp cheddar you can find, although a friend of mine makes his with Gruyere, which would also be good.

I also sautee about a half a pint of sliced mushrooms (of any kind that you like) in about a half cup of chopped onions and a Tablespoon of olive oil, until they just start to brown. Then I put the schrooms into the cheese sauce and then dump the whole thing over the cooked macaroni noodles and mix well. If you want, you can also mix in one piece of crumbled real or fake bacon (which really adds a fantastic flavor dimension). Then I put Panko breadcrumbs on top before putting the casserole into the oven.

Your method sounds only fit for a starving college student who doesn’t know how to cook. However, I did read a recipe recently in which they took cooked spaghetti, put it into a frying pan, mixed in a beaten egg, some cheese and some salsa and kind of fried it up into a little patty sort of thing. It sounded pretty tasty and it would be very quick. And I just found a recipe that sounds very similar complete with photos on how to make it. Check it out Here

The other thing that you might like to do in a pinch, although I think it sounds way to fattening for my taste, is to get one of those jarred Alfredo pasta sauces, which is basically a white cheese sauce, and just heat it up and pour it over your cooked noodles. Such as Bertolli or Classico

How do you make the spaghetti turn into macaroni, or am I missing something?

@YARNLADY I was using the words macaroni and spaghetti kind of interchangeably. Should have used the word pasta. If he wants to make the “classic” mac and cheese, he can use elbow macaroni noodles, but when I make that particular recipe I actually use penne. I guess you could use spaghetti noodles, just haven’t tried it like that.

The other recipe, where you fry it up in a pan with eggs and cheese would be best if he used spaghetti or fettucini noodles.

You can melt american cheese and a little milk in the microwave in a small bowl. Two slices of cheese and two soup spoons of milk, milk in the bowl first. Heat it only for 15 seconds, stir, see if it needs 15 seconds more. Decide if it needs a little more milk. You can just pour it on the pasta. It isn’t real mac and cheese, but it is just as a good as the box stuff.

Ha, Ha. I always wondered why they use different names for pasta that only varies in shape, but it all tastes the same to me.

@YARNLADY I was thinking of writing a question about pasta regarding that very topic, does it taste differently to you? And, which pastas do you prefer with which toppings? I still might ask it.

Actually, there is a few differences. Dry pasta is typically made without egg, and fresh with egg, they are used for different dishes. The different shapes can change the taste in that, capelini compared to a think spaghetti or fettucine will have more of the flavor of the sauce. Capelini wold have more surface area in each bite.

The names are the shape. Shells (conchiglie) bowtie (farfalle) macoroni is macaroni I guess.

Edit: I just looked up farfalle and it means butterfly it seems. About farfalle, it stays very al dente in the middle, so the flavor is a little different, and the texture. Similar to when a few pieces of sphaghetti stick together while cooking.

@YARNLADY Seems someone already asked the question. You were on the thread. I guess the people on there who argued shape matters didn’t convince you. :)

no itll make cheesy pasta

oops thanks @Jeruba :)

Dude, a box of macaroni & cheese costs less than $1, it might be time to reevaluate your priorities in life.

j/k….but seriously…

@cheebdragon lmao Well, interesting answer I guess. The problem is I am in Brazil, and unfortunately Brazilians never heard of Mac and Cheese. I would love to start importing Velveeta though :)

@robdamel Velveeta is not cheese – it is a processed, cheese flavored product made from milk protein concentrate.

@YARNLADY Yeah i meant importing the Velveeta products- But thanks for the definition.