If you’re experimenting with new cheese combinations, start small, especially if you’re using a cheese like smoked gouda or pepper jack that has a strong flavor to it.
#What milk is best for mac and cheese mac
(Fortunately, I figured out the ratio and ended up with a pretty awesome Black and Blue Mac and Cheese, PHEW). Taste as you go. The first time I added blue cheese to a mac and cheese sauce, I dumped in a verrrrrry generous handful of the stuff.
#What milk is best for mac and cheese full
Use a sturdy box grater to shred a block of cheese or go full cheese-ster with the shredding disc of a food processor (more details in the equipment section below!). Shred your own cheese. Ever look at the ingredients list on the back of pre-shredded cheese? It’s usually “cheese,” (of course) followed by a whooooole bunch of other stuff. This is bad for two reasons: (1) preservative chemicals are gross and I don’t like it when they’re all over my food and (2) the chemicals they put on pre-shredded cheese often prevent it from melting smoothly. Your favorite everyday cheeses are just fine! DO, however, look for aged cheddar and parmesan (you know how aged cheddar tastes a lot more like “BOOM! I’M CHEDDAR!” than run-of-the-mill sandwich cheese? That’s what you’re looking for in a cheese sauce).
I’ve highlighted some of my favorites in the below graphic, but the possibilities are endless!Įxpensive cheese does not equal delicious cheese sauce. Don’t blow your budget on an extra-fancy cheese that’s just going to get melted into oblivion and smeared all over a pile of carbs. While you can absolutely pick an old favorite and stick with it – helloooooo, all-cheddar-cheese-sauce! – the best macaroni and cheese often features a combination of cheeses. STEP 2: CHOOSE THE RIGHT CHEESE.Ĭheese-ing up a macaroni and cheese sauce is an art form. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven, so by putting slightly undercooked pasta into the oven you ensure a perfectly al dente end result. If you plan on baking your mac and cheese, cook pasta 3 to 4 minutes LESS than al dente. Don’t worry too much about finding the right pasta name – instead, focus on looking for short, textured pasta with lots of grooves to hold that bomb-diggity cheese sauce you’re about to make.Īlways cook your pasta in very salty water – the salt makes a huge difference in flavoring the noodles! Boil pasta until it’s al dente – Italian for to the tooth – and has a slight bite left to it. Keep in mind that different brands have different names and labels for similarly-shaped pastas. My favorite pasta shapes for mac and cheese are in the graphic below! Avoid long noodles like spaghetti or fettuccine, whose smooth surfaces don’t hold cheese sauce all that well, and opt instead for short, ridged shapes like radiatore or shells. The best pasta for mac and cheese has deep grooves, pockets, and ridges – these features help each noodle catch as much cheese sauce as possible. When selecting your pasta for macaroni and cheese, look for shapes with plenty of texture. While macaroni pasta is probably the most famous mac-to-the-cheese, it’s definitely not the only noodle in the sea (noodle in the sauce?) When discussing mac and cheese, it makes sense to start with the mac. STEP 1: CHOOSE THE RIGHT PASTA FOR YOUR MAC AND CHEESE. Use this guide as a starting point and let your creativity run wild! Have a favorite combination or technique you don’t see here? Let me know in the comments! Note: I’ve included my favorite pastas, cheeses, tips, and toppings here, but this is definitely not the end-all-be-all list of macaroni and cheese variations. So in this post, I’ve put together a macaroni and cheese masterclass that takes you through the eight components of perfect mac and cheese – from pasta shapes to sauce technique to mix-ins and bread crumbs to the kitchen equipment I swear by.
And it’s not just possible: it’s also enjoyable, delightful, quick, easy, and, ummmm, way more delicious than that boxed stuff.
For those who grew up on the ultra-Americanized boxed mac and cheese, the idea of whipping up a luscious cheese sauce from scratch can be a little intimidating.īut with the right techniques, homemade mac and cheese is totally, completely, 100% possible.
It’s also one of the foods I get the most questions about from friends and readers. Mac and cheese is pretty definitively one of the greatest foods of all time. If I was stranded on a desert island and could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, that thing would be macaroni and cheese.
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