Community Pick
"world's Best" Macaroni & Cheese
photo by Misti A.
- Ready In:
- 1hr 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- cheese sauce
- 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter
- 1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups 1% low-fat milk
- 14 ounces white medium cheddar, grated
- 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
- 1 ounce asiago cheese, grated
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon dried chipotle powder or 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- pasta
- 12 ounces macaroni
- salt for pasta water
- 2 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 ounces gruyere, grated
- 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon dried chipotle powder or 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne
directions
- Preheat oven to 350; F. Set a large pot of water on high heat.
- Meanwhile, begin the sauce by making a roux: in a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Continue to stir this roux over medium heat for two to three minutes.
- The roux should be cooked and free of the flour flavor but still light in color.
- Gradually add milk, whisking briskly to maintain a smooth sauce.
- Cook the sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching.
- When sauce thickens, add cheeses, salt and spices to the sauce, and stir until all the cheese has melted. I make my sauces in the microwave; turns out great and never scorches.
- Somewhere during this sauce-cooking process, your pasta water has started boiling. The original is made with Penne noodles. Add a generous amount of salt to the water and cook the pasta until almost but not quite al dente (two minutes before the package directions indicate). You want barely undercooked pasta so that it can finish in the oven later. Halt the cooking by draining the pasta and rinsing with cold water. Return pasta to pot.
- Pour sauce over pasta and stir until completely incorporated. The combination should be fairly saucy, almost soupy.
- Dish the mixture into a buttered 9-13 pan and sprinkle with extra grated cheeses and cayenne. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until you have beautiful, browned edges. Those edges will be a welcome and flavorful addition to each serving.
- Let the dish sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. I divided this in 2 containers and froze one.
Questions & Replies
Reviews
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I made this dish about two months ago for a Kickoff Summer BBQ. It got RAVE reviews. It was more decadent than most macaroni and cheese recipes. It is delicious. I would follow the recipe to the "T" the first time, then I would do variations (if you'd like). to the people who change this recipe and then state that it is not the best or not good...you're an idiot.
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This turned out great. I had sharp cheddar, mozzarella and freshly grated Parmesan (instead of Asiago), and I used 2 cups of fat-free Half’n Half and 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, because these were all I had on hand. I made this the day after Christmas, and we had a lobster tail and about 20 large shrimp left over. I added them, plus I added bread crumbs with the cheese sprinkled on top. It was DE-licious!!!!!
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This is a great basic recipe but I like to add a few twists. First, after I melt the butter I saute 2 cloves of garlic and half a small onion in it before adding the flour. Also, I add 2 beaten eggs to the sauce right after I put the cheese in so it's not too hot. Lastly, I sprinkle Italian bread crumbs on top with the cheese and add a little Tony Chachere's for some extra spice. Oh yeah, I dice up some smoked ham steak and add it in too.
see 22 more reviews
Tweaks
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I used orange cheddar instead of white since that was on hand and put the cayenne in the roux instead of on top as I misread that part (for those omitting it because of kids, you don't need to worry, it was hardly noticeable at those amounts) and sprinkled some toasted Panko bread crumbs on top. Next time I'll probably add some sliced scallions.
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Great base and proportions! We changed it up a little based on what we had. For the cheeses we used half old cheddar and half gouda. I added half a tsp of ground mustard, added some chopped ham, and used about 1 tsp salt instead of 1/2, and I also used oil instead of unsalted butter which didn't seem to make any difference for the roux but it might to a super discerning palate ;) my husband didn't notice and he's usually pretty particular. We also used shell pasta instead, which means we didn't need about a cup of the sauce or it would have been too saucy. :) thanks for sharing this!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Sageca
Canada
I love to cook, read recipe books and food magazines,spend time in kitchen stores, grocery stores, gourmet shops, learning new cooking techniques, trying new kitchen gadgets,tasting exotic foods,enjoying a wonderful meal. I've always had a herb garden; now I have containers on my patio with my must have herbs. It seems, everything tastes better with fresh herbs!