Lighter Mac and Cheese: Swapping half of the cheese sauce for pureed cauliflower cuts calories and still tastes incredible. Smoked paprika is also delicious.īroccoli Mac and Cheese: A kid favorite! Stir roasted broccoli or steamed broccoli into the pot before serving. Spiced Macaroni and Cheese: Mustard (Dijon or mustard powder), nutmeg, and a pinch of cayenne pepper are classic additions to the cheese sauce. For more flavor, a bit of parmesan or pecorino cheese is lovely, and for a more adult dish, try blue cheese! Try easy melting Gruyere, Fontina or Monterey Jack. Use a Variety of Cheeses: Cheddar isn’t the only cheese to use. See our recipe for making roasted garlic. For roasted garlic, you can increase to 6 cloves or more. Add either to the butter just before adding the flour. Garlic Mac and Cheese: Fresh garlic and roasted garlic are excellent in this recipe. We shared this Baked Macaroni and Cheese a while back. Here are some of our favorites:īaked Mac and Cheese: Once the pasta and cheese sauce are combined, add it to a baking dish and bake with a little more cheese and breadcrumbs sprinkled on top. This recipe is easy to adapt to other variations.

If it doesn’t pop, add a touch more salt to the pot.

Salt and Pepper: Nobody wants an unseasoned cheese sauce! Make sure that you taste the sauce before serving.

It adds a lovely silky texture, and since it has a little zinginess, it brightens up the flavor a bit.

Cream cheese: The mac and cheese would be excellent with just cheddar cheese added, but to make it ultra creamy, we’ll stir in some cream cheese.

I know it’s extra prep time, but hand-grated cheese melts so much easier into the sauce. Whatever cheese you use, it’s best to grate it yourself. For more cheese suggestions see our notes below.

Cheddar cheese: Whenever we make macaroni and cheese, we reach for sharp white cheddar cheese.

That said, salted butter will work if that is all that you have. We like to use unsalted butter for this and then adjust salt to taste when making the sauce.

Butter and Flour: It’s the combination of butter and flour that thicken the sauce.

Elbow macaroni and shells are great options.

Look for pasta that will hold onto the creamy sauce. Pasta: The shape and size are entirely up to you.To make our go-to macaroni and cheese, you will need the following: We’re going to call this our basic mac and cheese - not because it isn’t incredibly delicious, but because it’s the perfect base for other variations.

Easy dinner with mac and cheese noodles