18 Secrets to the Richest, Creamiest Mac and Cheese
Ever wondered why your mac and cheese failed to perform? Too soft, too thick, too eggy…and you’re tired of trying recipe after endless recipe in search of the right one. Good news for you: I’m a master of the successful mac and cheese and today you’ll learn my 18 proven secrets to the richest, creamiest mac and cheese you’ll ever put in your mouth.
Macaroni and cheese isn’t a hard dish to make, but there are so many versions, cheeses and variations, how in the WORLD do you know which one is right? To get you started, check out my most popular versions:
The creamy classic:
A little kick:
Spicy baked macaroni and cheese
Stovetop:
Three cheese stovetop macaroni and cheese
Something hearty and different:
Baked mac and cheese with tomatoes
Now that you have the basics to choose from, here are the 18 secrets for the richest, creamiest mac and cheese that I put in to play each and every time I make it for anyone. They never fail me, and I know they’ll work for you, too:
- Cook your butter and flour together for about one minute to remove any raw flour flavor before adding the milk or cream to your recipe.
- Undercook your pasta—cook one minute less than the package directions to avoid a mushy mac and cheese.
- Swap rich cream for all or half of the milk in the recipe.
- Cook your pasta in salted water.
- Season every layer of your sauce: the roux, after the milk is added and after the cheese is melted in. Just a little sprinkle of salt is plenty–it will add up. You can even take the total amount of salt recommended in the recipe and just add a bit to each step. That works just fine.
- Choose noodle shapes that will hold on to the sauce—this includes shells, corkscrews, rotini or anything with ridges.
- Add the cheese to the milk and flour mix with the heat off so the mixture doesn’t separate.
- Don’t add all your noodles at once; see how much sauce you have and add more noodles as needed OR Make more sauce than you think you’ll need for a super creamy final product.
- Avoid over baking. Bake only for the time recommended, or when the center is bubbling and you see some golden edges. Cooking it too long will give you a mushy final product.
- Consider a dash of dry mustard powder.
- Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for some heat .
- Spice it up with jalapenos, a little salsa and pepper jack cheese.
- Swap out your cheeses. Cheddar is best but add a melter like fontina, Monterey jack or some parmesan.
- Bake your mac and cheese in a more shallow, wider dish if you want more of that crunchy top.
And speaking of toppings, you might try:
15. Breadcrumbs with garlic and parmesan
16. Crispy panko style crumbs with herbs
17.Add a little melted a butter into your bread crumbs before topping your mac
Now pick your cheeses:
(this is #18 for all of you keeping track)
For the best results, choose at least one flavor cheese and one melting cheese.
Flavor cheeses Melting Cheeses
Sharp cheddar Fontina
Asiago Gruyere
Pepper Jack Mascarpone
Provolone Mozzarella
Bleu cheese Meunster
Gorgonzola Velveeta
Anything smoked Monterey Jack
Romano Swiss
Colby Jack American
So there it is: every tip and trick I keep under my belt to make one of the most loved family favorites. How will you make your mac and cheese unique? Drop a comment here and and let me know what changes you’ve made and how your family likes theirs.
I haven’t made this yet but I’m making for a crowd (80 people) I will make noodles the day before and then the sauce morning of party. My question is we will be keeping warm at party in chafing dish with sterno’s to keep warm. Will this dry out the Mac and cheese too much?
Hey Rose,
Well any pasta that sits out is going to dry out and soak up the sauce to some degree no matter what you do. I think it will still taste wonderful and the sterno method will be okay–it just won’t stay super creamy like it is right out of the oven. Happy Thanksgiving! –Rachel
@Rachel Ballard,
I’m curious as to how Rose’s mac n cheese for 80 turned out. I need to make that much for an event coming up.(Daughter’s wedding shower.) I was wondering if the proportions for ingredients change at all when you you increase the servings.
I haven’t heard how Rose’s turned out but I can tell you it’s been used a lot for large groups with great success. No need to change ratios of ingredients. Just multiply the amounts and it will work out fine. –Rachel
Great tips, thank you. I used to make mac n cheese a lot, and was often disappointed when there wasn’ta lot of the cheese sauce after baking ….. Can you give me a visual or a ratio that will help me end up with a creamy, saucy end product?
Thank you.
Hey Laura, well I guess your request is a bit hard since I don’t really know how much sauce you want. You can check out my baked macaroni and cheese recipe (listed in this post) and increase the sauce ingredients by 1/3 and keep the pasta amount the same. You can also skip baking yours and just broil it for a couple of minutes to get the top brown and the sauce will stay creamier. I hope that helps! –Rachel
Hello. My name is Bobby. Your recipe sounds really good, but really involved with a lot of steps. I’ve thought of using cream with or instead of milk, but l haven’t done it yet…prob some day though, it sounds like it would be yummy. I make my mac n cheese very simple. Basically only about 3 to 5 steps, depending on how you want to break it up. My favorite cheeses to use are Kraft Velveeta bar/block cheese, provolone, chedder and mozzarella, and american cheese, or any combination of any or all of these cheeses. I also use plenty of spread, like Country Crock Churn Style for instance. And some milk…we buy 2%. I let my water come to a good boil then add the macaroni (usually elbow or shells) and boil them for approximately about 8 minutes. ( Don’t tell my family this, but before l add the macaroni l put a teaspoon or three of surgar in the water). Then l drain the water off and immediately add the cheese first to give it a headstart to melting while the macs are still hot. Then add the spread (it melts way better and tastes better than solid butter). I steer it all together adding milk and low heat again if needed. And once it’s all melted, it’s ready to serve. I use guite a bit of cheese and spread for ultimate creaminess. I use even more cheese if l add crispy bacon and/or seasoned ground beef, or Spam, or ham. These are mine and my family’s favorite. When l take any of my ‘famous” mac n cheeses to our church dinners, we rarely have any left to bring back home. Sometimes l make two batches, one for home. And sometimes l combined chilly with my famous mac n cheese. I’m not sure what the difference is, but my family and friends say that l could make a living selling my mac n cheese. Idk, maybe so. But then it wouldn’t be special. I know one thing though. My mac n cheese is heart attack city, but oh is it ever so good, and always a big hit.
Excellent advice. I’m always in demand to bring my macaroni and cheese to gatherings and I’ve tried nearly every combination of cheeses. By far, the one that gets the most raves (I *never* solicit reviews!) is the one that is mostly American cheese and a cup of real (sheep’s milk) imported Romano. I also usually add a touch of nutmeg and I always add not an insignificant amount of powdered mustard.
Ooooh American and Romano. That sounds like a great combination Johnny! –Rachel
Thanks for all your tips! There was ONE that I was unfamiliar with, the rest i figured out myself, or heard somewhere, and you confirmed them all. I am making this now, and I did not want that “gritty” texture that another reader commented about, so I hopped on-line to see what I could find out. Thank you so much.
P.S. That’s the ONE tip I did not know…
Oh very good Karen! Yes keep that temp down and stir a bit longer and you should have a nice creamy sauce with no splitting or lumps. I hope you enjoyed it! –Rachel
So, am I correct…are you saying use two different cheeses in the one dish?
Yes that’s right. You’ll have a much better outcome if you choose one flavor cheese and one melting cheese but my classic combo is cheddar and Swiss, which are both flavor cheeses but they work great for me and it’s what we like. It’s fun to experiment and get something really delicious and you’ll get that with more than one cheese in the pan. –Rachel
I noticed you did not mention substituting canned milk in lieu of 2% or whole milk. What would happen to this dish if one did?
By canned I assume you are referring to evaporated milk Eileen? It won’t hurt it at all. I’ve had lots of people who have used it and it’s been just fine. –Rachel
My Mac and cheese seems to be a little gritty what did I do wrong ?
Hey Donna, I actually have readers who say their was gritty–I assume you mean lumpy or curdled, or the texture was off? Because gritty to me means eating sand. If it’s a texture issue you’re referring to, the problem could be two things (one is much more likely). First, you may have used a pre-shredded bagged cheese. These are coated in powdered cellulose that, when it melts can make that lumpy texture. If that wasn’t your cause it’s more likely that your milk and butter/flour mixture got too hot.
Even if you stirred through the entire cooking time, your mixture simply got too hot and it split. It’s a common problem for some people but it doesn’t affect the flavor. Next time, make sure you don’t stop stirring while that sauce thickens–not even for a moment–and then turn your heat down a tad more. 6 minutes of being patient will pay off with a nice smooth sauce.–Rachel
What do you mean about swapping rich cream for milk? Use rich cream instead of milk?
What type of cream? I’d like more details on this steal please
Hey Dylan–no fear, it’s very simple. It’s only a matter of replacing some or all of the milk in a recipe with heavier fattier dairy if you want to do that. Milk goes in this order from lightest to most fatty: skim, 2%, whole, half and half, heavy whipping cream. You can choose to swap in any amount of any of these in a mac and cheese according to what you like. I use 2% only in mine, but if the recipe calls for 2 cups of milk, I could easily swap in 1 cup of heavy whipping cream if I wanted to or any variation on that. You can find heavy whipping cream also labeled as just “heavy cream” in your grocery store and the amounts you use are totally up to you! You’ll get a much richer, thicker sauce depending on how much you use so feel free to experiment. –Rachel
Can it be cooked in crock pot rather than oven for a sports’ team dinner?
Hey Kay,
You know, I hate slow cooker mac and cheese. Over the hour or two this recipe sits in that sort of lukewarm environment, the pasta will over cook and the sauce will absorb and become thick so you end up with on big overly soft glob. 🙁 So no, I’m not going to recommend a slow cooker for this recipe if you want to maintain its creaminess. –Rachel