#Recipe for homemade mac and cheese sauce mac#
That will make the mac and cheese more filling. This won’t reduce the calories or fat, but it will add whole grains and increase the fiber content. Buy organic cheese and cream to avoid added growth hormones. Grass-fed dairy tends to be higher in healthy Omega-3s. Or, stir 1 to 2 cups roasted or cooked vegetables in at the end. Drain and stir into the cheese sauce as directed. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped broccoli florets (from 1 head of broccoli) or 1 cup fresh or frozen peas to the pasta pot when just 2 to 3 minutes of pasta cooking time remain. Your mac and cheese won’t be quite as creamy or rich, but it’s still very good.Īdd veggies! Reduce the amount of pasta to 6 ounces. Half and half is equal parts heavy cream and whole milk. Substitute half and half for the heavy cream.
#Recipe for homemade mac and cheese sauce how to#
That said, here are a few ideas on how to make it more nutritionally redeeming: This mac and cheese is made with real cheese and real cream. Start the one-minute timer once it starts boiling (which might be the second the cream hits the pan) and you will end up with perfect sauce. Letting the cream boil too long reduces the moisture content to the point that the cheese sauce ends up stringy. You won’t have time to measure the ingredients before it’s time to add the next one!ĭon’t overcook the cream. Make sure your ingredients are measured and ready. I buy them at Natural Grocers or my local health food store. I love Montebello’s organic strozzapretti noodles (affiliate link/those are the noodles you see in these photos). Those unnecessary ingredients can prevent you from obtaining a perfectly creamy melted cheese sauce.īetter pasta makes better mac and cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with starch or cellulose to prevent the shreds from sticking together. I prefer sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese for maximum cheddar flavor. The cheese is the predominant flavor here (and rightly so). My simple cheddar-and-cream version is by far the best! I even tried mac and cheese recipes with cauliflower purée or yogurt, and those were not mac and cheese. I tried to get away with using pasta-cooking water instead of cream, and that left me with a stringy mess. I tried some totally unconventional methods, too. I tried mac and cheese with Monterey Jack, too, which offers less flavor than cheddar and produces an excessively gooey texture (that’s right-I didn’t want gloppy mac!). I also tried mac and cheese with evaporated milk, which seemed more like Velveeta than real cheese and left me with a stomachache. No matter the recipe, the béchamel versions turned out somewhat grainy and floury-tasting. NOTES ON OTHER METHODSīefore I stumbled on this technique, I tried mac and cheese recipes with béchamel sauce, both stovetop versions and baked. This mac and cheese turns out perfectly every time as written below. I also adjusted the method, since it was a little unreliable for me. That combination is subtle but makes a world of difference. My changes? Her recipe calls for freshly grated nutmeg, but I found that mac and cheese needs a few other spices to be utterly irresistible: mustard powder, garlic powder and onion powder, and the tiniest pinch of cayenne pepper. I stumbled across her stovetop mac and cheese recipe in her new book, Dinner: Changing the Game. I owe Melissa Clark credit for this technique. It’s really easy to make this mac gluten free.Without the flour, the glorious sharp cheddar flavor really shines through.You won’t need butter or flour for this recipe, and I promise you won’t miss either of them.It offers all the rich cheesy flavor and creamy texture you crave.Homemade mac and cheese for the win!įour reasons to love this mac and cheese recipe: The best part? This mac and cheese could not be easier to make. It’s made simply with cheddar cheese and cream, and a few subtle dried spices to ramp up the flavor. I purposefully used yellow cheddar and noodles that remind me of the boxed variety. Here is my ultimate mac and cheese recipe, which meets all of the above requirements. I wanted it to be creamy and deliciously cheesy-but not oozing with so much cheese that I had to take a nap afterward. But, I wanted to make my stovetop mac and cheese with real ingredients. I wanted a classic stovetop recipe, like the blue box mac and cheese I grew up enjoying. It has taken me that long to find my go-to mac and cheese method. Meet my all-time favorite mac and cheese recipe! This recipe has been in the works for over one year, no exaggeration.