Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. Is it because we have fond memories of the Blue Box as a kid? Possibly. Is it the irresistible cheesiness? Most definitely. While the Blue Box was great back in the day, our tastes have matured to move away from the store-bought mac and cheese. If you’ve never had made-from-scratch mac and cheese, you are in for a serious treat. We know parents and kids will agree that the real cheddar cheese in this creamy sauce just can’t be beaten.
Why Our Recipe
- Ready in about 15 minutes (depending on how long it takes you to boil water).
- Can use sharp cheddar or switch things up with other melting cheeses.
White Pepper vs. Black Pepper:
White pepper and black pepper are both the fruit of the pepper plant. They are processed differently which causes the change in color, and end up tasting slightly different. White pepper is hotter than black pepper, but black pepper has a more complex flavor. White pepper tends to have more floral and earthy notes to it.
Pasta Options for Easy Stovetop Mac and Cheese:
Mac and cheese traditionally uses macaroni, but you really can use almost any small, tube-shaped pasta. Cavatappi, shells, farfalle, and penne are all other great pasta options.
Can I use pre-shredded cheese?
Pre-shredded cheeses are mixed with either potato starch, powdered cellulose, and natamycin, or a combination of the three to prevent clumping. These agents have an impact on how the cheese melts. The best mac and cheese uses freshly shredded cheese as it melts better, but pre-shredded cheese can also be used in a pinch. The results may not be as velvety smooth, but it’ll still taste delicious.
More Than Just Cheddar
Classic mac and cheese is made with a good sharp cheddar cheese, but you can also switch things up and use another kind of cheese, or a combination of cheeses. You want to be sure that whatever cheese you use is a good melting cheese. Gouda, brie, provolone, goat cheese, mozzarella, gruyere, fontina, and asiago cheese are all commonly found cheeses that are good for melting. For a fun twist on cheddar, try a sharp white cheddar cheese!
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warmed through. You may need to add a scant amount of water to the saucepan to thin out the sauce.
More cheesy pasta…
Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo
25 mins
Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta
30 mins
Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini
50 mins
3 Cheese Chicken Cavatappi
30 mins
Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.
Simply delicious!!!!!! And it was so easy to make! My family enjoyed it very much! Thank you, Rachel!
I cut this recipe in half and it still made enough to feed a family of 6! I made it according to the instructions and loved it.
Pros: Very creamy, very forgiving of amounts if you have to adjust to taste (will elaborate), easy, quick, nice texture (may be a lil to gritty for kiddos with sensory issues, but it’s mostly unnoticeable to me as an adult w/ sensory issues)
Cons: It was very bland to us, however, we LOVE strong flavours. If you are looking for a milder flavour, this is a good recipe. It certainly had good flavour, I was just looking for stronger flavour.
Elaboration: After mixing in the 8oz of cheese and before adding the noodles, we tested it and added another 8oz of cheese, more onion powder, some garlic powder, etc. We had resigned ourselves to an extremely thick chunky sauce… except it wasn’t! It kept the texture pretty close to before the changes and suited our tastes.
Conclusion: An excellent base recipie and great for picky eaters, ppl learning to cook, and ppl who add an ungodly amount of stuff into their Mac n Cheese!
So easy to make and so delicious! I subbed the onion powder for 1tsp garlic powder, and used fresh cracked pepper instead and it was perfect. Oh, and don’t forget the Tabasco!
In the ingredient list you say ground mustard but in the directions you say ground mustard powder. A slight confusion but the recipe is great and everyone loved it.
Ground Mustard is the powder in general. Stone ground mustard would be the actual mustard usually. But I’m willing to bet stone ground mustard would be very good in this too!
This was a good recipe, however I’d probably put less mustard powder next time as it was a prominent taste once the mac and cheese was made.
Love this recipe, the flavors and ease of making it are superior to all other homemade mac and cheese recipes! I make this whenever I am making mac and cheese. Highly recommend it!
I made this tonight after attempting to make homemade Mac and cheese many times with other recipes and never meeting my expectations. This recipe is the one!! I only had black pepper so I did 1/4 tsp and also didn’t have ground mustard. It was still amazing! We used shell noodles and a mixture of freshly shredded sharp cheddar and Colby cheeses. My little ones and husband love it!
Huge hit in my house. I’ve made this recipe many times !!
I made it tonight but had to guess at the amount of each ingredient since you only said each ingredient not the amount of each ingredient to be used In this recipe! For an inexperienced cook this is culinary suicide! Won’t try any more of your recipes unless you list the amount to be used of every ingredient !
We have the recipe clearly written out and you can even print it with the quantities listed.