When milk is added later in the recipe, it’s this butter-flour paste that helps the cheese sauce to thicken. Basically a roux is a cooked paste made with butter and flour. Step 2, Make a roux with butter and flour. Warm milk helps to make the whole sauce making process go a bit quicker and according to Julia Child, warm milk prevents a lumpy cheese sauce. Step 1, Warm milk in a saucepan or in the microwave. If you want to watch me do it, there’s a quick recipe video above that shows each step. I’m going to walk you through how I make mac and cheese in my own kitchen. For the milk, I prefer whole milk since it makes a creamier sauce, but I’ve used reduced fat milk plenty of times without complaint.

The remaining ingredients are simple: butter and flour (which makes the sauce thicken), milk, spices, salt, and pepper. I wish that wasn’t true, but for now, to make the best mac and cheese, it’s best to shred the cheese yourself. A previously shredded bagged cheese just doesn’t melt the same way as hand grated cheese. No matter which cheese you use for this, if you can, grate the cheese yourself. Okay, now this is where I get on my soapbox for a second. The cheddar turns creamy and smooth and the pecorino adds a pop of salty cheese flavor to the sauce. Cheddar, fontina, gruyere, parmesan, and pecorino are all excellent options, but the combination of cheeses I go back to over and over again is a hearty amount of extra sharp white cheddar (I like Tilamook) and a smaller, but potent amount of pecorino-romano cheese. My Favorite Cheeses For Macaroni and Cheeseĭepending on your mood, the cheese you use in macaroni and cheese can vary. Then when my timer goes off, I drain and rinse the pasta before tossing it with the sauce, which stops the pasta from cooking and gets rid of extra starch that would make the cheese sauce thicker in the oven. (Check the package directions, then reduce it by 2 minutes). I slightly undercook the macaroni by 2 minutes.De Cecco works nicely and I love Rustichella D’ Abruzzo, but it is a bit pricier. When you’re making baked pastas, it’s hard to keep pasta from turning mushy. You probably already know that most cooks will tell you to cook your pasta to “al dente,” which just means that the pasta is tender with a little bite (instead of being mushy). The ingredient list for our mac and cheese recipe isn’t a long one and as you can imagine the type of pasta and cheese you use makes a big difference. The sauce should be well seasoned - not with lots of extra spices and ingredients, just simply with salt, pepper, and maybe a tiny bit of mustard to add a touch of tang.No mushy pasta! We prevent this two ways (I’ve shared them below).After baking there needs to still be enough sauce that’s not absorbed into the pasta so every bite is a creamy one. The sauce to pasta ratio is important to get right.That said, I do think there are a few key elements for the best mac and cheese. There are lots of recipes for macaroni and cheese in the world and to be completely honest, I’d probably love most of them. Wait what am I saying, I do that now 🙂 Mounds of cheese melted into a velvety, creamy sauce and tossed with pasta. As a child, I would take it any way I could get it - out of a box or made from scratch by Mom. I have a mini love affair with mac and cheese.

Homemade creamy mac and cheese