Pasta water is important! It holds all of the necessary starch from the pasta and helps your sauce and noodles bind together. After the 2 hours, give the mac and cheese a steady stirring and you’ll see the cheese sauce come together. Cook on low heat for 2 hours, stirring after the first hour. The noodles will warm it right back up, don’t worry. The milks, seasonings, and cheeses then give a good stir. Letting your sauce rest for those 8 minutes or so let’s it thicken just slightly, which will make it the perfect consistency.
Want to use something other than cheddar? Try one of our 7 best cheeses for mac & cheese. It will help burn some calories you are about to indulge in. Use a decent quality sharp cheddar and grate it yourself. The added preservatives keep it from breaking down and you’ll end up with a grainy sauce. Pre-shredded cheese is an enemy to creamy mac. If you pour your milk in all at once you will for sure end up with flour clumps that no amount of whisking can get rid of.Ĭheese is an obvious ingredient to mac & cheese but don’t skirt past it because of that. Stop every half cup or so and whisk to make sure the flour isn’t clumping. When adding your milk, pour it in a thin steady stream whisking it in as you pour. The flour and butter should be a deep golden and very thick. Let your flour cook in the butter for a minute or two before very slowly adding your milk. It’s easy to want to add your milk directly after whisking in your flour but that won’t give it the proper time it needs to thicken your cheese sauce. So that you don’t have to overthink things I went ahead and tested 11 versions and here’s what I learned along the way: Eat it from the pot, eat it with a spoon.
The kind you can bring to a friend who is under the weather, to a potluck, one you can make for a dinner party or for a night in by yourself. The no fuss straight forward good macaroni and cheese. The kind that brings back childhood memories. I wanted to skip baking and make the creamiest, dreamiest stove-top mac & cheese. At its best it’s creamy and smooth, simple and straightforward, and makes you question whether you need a fork or spoon.
Provolone (for that extra gooeyness factor)įeel free to mix it up.An ideal mac & cheese shouldn’t be complicated.You can use any combination of your favorite cheeses. Next, you add all the other ingredients into that same heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, and stir until you get a creamy cheese sauce. You’re going to boil the pasta until just before al dente (about 6 minutes) and drain. What I love about this stovetop macaroni and cheese recipe is that it’s pretty forgiving. And if you prefer keeping the stove off, I’ve also got this Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese as well as these Instant Pot Mac & Cheese recipes. The best part is, you can ditch the blue box version and everything cooks up on the stovetop.įor a truly ONE POT version where the pasta cooks with the cheese, you can check out the recipe for my One Pot Macaroni and Cheese. This Stovetop Creamy Macaroni and Cheese is a simple recipe that’s ready in under 30 minutes. For my kids, nothing screams comfort more than a creamy bowl of mac & cheese.
With fall in full swing, that means bring on all the comfort foods. Photos updated October 2017 from original June 2014 post Pin for later and follow ME ON PINTEREST for more delicious recipes This easy mac and cheese is ready in under 30 minutes! Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese is creamy, delicious, and packed with 4 amazing cheeses.