A Macaroni & Cheese Recipe That Will Never Fail

(#10) Master 25 New Recipes

1. Stuffed Peppers
2. Risotto
3. Polenta
4. Beef Brisket
5. French Onion Soup
6. Chocolate Chip Cookies
7. Lentil Soup
8. Macaroni & Cheese

The great thing about cooking is getting to a point where you get a recipe, and learn it enough that you feel comfortable improvising with it. After two attempts at macaroni and cheese, I wasn't quite at that point. But on this, my third attempt, I finally get it. There is a formula to making the perfect mac and cheese, and no matter what kinds of pasta or cheese or toppings you like you can make it creamy and delicious every time.

I will include the full recipe below. But here, in a nutshell, is how you make macaroni and cheese using your own improvised recipe:

1. Make a roux.

This involves melting butter and then slowly incorporating flour into it. This is to thicken your cheese sauce. Which leads me to:

2. Make a cheese sauce. 

You cannot make good mac and cheese by sprinkling shredded cheese over pasta. You need a nice thick, cheesy sauce. For this recipe, I used 2% milk, slowly incorporating it into the roux, and then adding shredded cheddar cheese. The beauty is, you can basically add any kind of cheese you want.

3. Add pasta to cheese sauce. Again, use any pasta you like. We use whole wheat elbow noodles. Stir until well incorporated.

4. Pour pasta mixture into a baking dish.

Not all macaroni and cheese recipes require baking it. However, I highly recommend it.

5. Add a topping. Again, not required but highly recommended. This recipe used Ritz crackers which I found to add a delicious buttery and salty flavor to the dish.

6. Bake. Until the cheese sauce is solidified and the topping is golden brown. If you get some crispy edges around the outside, that is just a bonus.

I've been eating this for the past two days, and the sight of it still makes my mouth water!

7. Enjoy! I highly recommend serving a healthy side-dish to curb your appetite and keep you from devouring the entire pan of your delicious concoction. We went for roasted broccoli this time and it was a great compliment.

Trust me, you will soon be able to handle this without a recipe. And in doing so you will feel like a creative genius.

But, until you're ready for that, here's the recipe I used. 

Ingredients:

1 lb whole wheat elbow noodles
1 lb shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk (2%)
1/2 sleeve Ritz crackers

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start cooking the pasta.
2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large pot over low heat. Once the butter is melted, slowly whisk in the flour until it is completely dissolved, whisking constantly.
3. Slowly add the 3 cups of milk, whisking into the flour mixture until there are no lumps.
4. Melt the cheese into milk mixture. Drain the cooked pasta and add to the cheese sauce. Stir until well coated.
5. Add the macaroni and cheese to a greased casserole dish.
6. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in another pan (or, I reused my empty pasta pot). Crumble the Ritz crackers, leaving some larger pieces, and mix in with the melted butter. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the pasta pan.
7. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until the cheese is solidified and the crackers are golden brown.