So, who wants to give me an easy and tasty homemade macaroni and cheese recipe?

[NanceXToo]

I mean, we COULD just open a couple of boxes of Velveeta Shells and Cheese like we always do but for some reason I have it in my head that we should try homemade mac and cheese instead.

 

Somebody tell me how. :)

 

Thanks!

[kiana]

This is very close to the way I make it, and I find it delicious: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/homemade-mac-and-cheese/detail.aspx

 

I don't like bread crumbs on top, so I skip that part. If you're not a vegetarian, it's even yummier if you chop in some precooked ham/bacon.

[NanceXToo]

Thank you for the reply! Do you have any preference as to brand of Cheddar Cheese to buy for best taste? (And I confess I have no idea what a "roux" is, going to have to look that one up lol).

[Pam in MA]

That's similar to my recipe as well. I start by sauteing about 1/4 cup of minced onions in the butter because I have a house full of onion lovers here. Also, we like crushed tortilla chips on top. And hot sauce on the side! Yum.

[pink&bluemommy]

This is my recipe:http://thewilsonslivinglife.blogspot.com/2008/12/macaroni-cheese.html

[kiana]

If you haven't made a roux before, it may take some more time but it's a *very* worthwhile skill to learn for yummy cheap cooking. Many of my dinners are a white sauce (also starts with a roux) with whatever I have in the kitchen chopped into it and served over rice.

 

Here's a step-by-step tutorial with photos:

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/culinaryfundamentals/ss/roux.htm

 

For cheese: I use Cabot's seriously sharp, but any sharpish cheddar will work -- if you use too mild of a cheese, the mac and cheese will be super-bland.

[kiana]

That's similar to my recipe as well. I start by sauteing about 1/4 cup of minced onions in the butter because I have a house full of onion lovers here. Also, we like crushed tortilla chips on top. And hot sauce on the side! Yum.

 

Yours sounds yummy :D A variation I really like is to use chopped onions and a bit of garlic in the fat. This went exceptionally well when I used bacon fat instead of butter, too. Of course, now we're talking heart-attack-in-a-bowl, but hey, it was delicious :D

[NanceXToo]

This is my recipe:http://thewilsonslivinglife.blogspot.com/2008/12/macaroni-cheese.html

 

Thanks for the recipe!

 

Kiana, thanks for the tutorial...guess you can tell I am not much of a cook LOL

[PiCO]

I mean, we COULD just open a couple of boxes of Velveeta Shells and Cheese like we always do but for some reason I have it in my head that we should try homemade mac and cheese instead.

 

I recently made this recipe for 40 people:

 

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/velveeta-down-home-macaroni-cheese-50467.aspx

 

It's kind of home-made-lite, because it uses velveeta. But the roux is the key! Everyone thought it was great.

[hmvaughan4]

Mine's very simple, but everyone loves it. I don't do exact measurements of the milk and butter though. I boil a box (one pound) of pasta. Drain. Pour in a 9x13 sprayed pan. Shred a pound of colby cheese. My mom doesn't use that much, but I like cheese! :) Mix in a few tablespoons of butter (cut up). Mix in some milk. I have no idea how much milk I use...I pour it in until I can start to see it through the pasta! Mix in cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Bake covered at 350 for ~45 minutes.

[Pretty in Pink]

Prepare 1 lb. of elbow macaroni 'al dente'. Drain and set aside. Put your pot back on the stove over medium heat.

 

Melt 2 tbsp. butter in the pot. Stir in ~ 2 c. milk (reserving a few tbsp. of milk in your measuring cup for the next step), 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper (more or less to taste on the s&p). To the reserved milk add 2 tbsp. cornstarch and stir until dissolved. Heat the milk mixture until it starts to steam but do not boil it. Cut the heat down to low. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and whisk until thickened. Stir in 16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese.

 

Add noodles to cheese sauce in pot and stir to coat. Serve as is or toss it in a 9x13 pan, top with bread crumbs and parm, and toast under the broiler for a few minutes.

[NanceXToo]

Thanks again for all the responses! I showed them all to hubby and he's off to the store, going to take the info and sort of do his own thing. He actually IS a good cook (much better than I am!); we just never did homemade mac and cheese before.

 

Oh, actually, we did once, using some recipe or other we found online, and found that one to be just alright. Wish us luck, we'll see how it comes out tonight! Going to have it with hot dogs wrapped in cheese and those crescent rolls that come in cans which you then bake...we'll bake the hot dogs in the crescent rolls.

 

I know, totally NOT a healthy dinner, but we are in the mood for it.

 

We'll have salad on the side to try to make up for it haha.

[Truscifi]

Thanks again for all the responses! I showed them all to hubby and he's off to the store, going to take the info and sort of do his own thing. He actually IS a good cook (much better than I am!); we just never did homemade mac and cheese before.

 

Oh, actually, we did once, using some recipe or other we found online, and found that one to be just alright. Wish us luck, we'll see how it comes out tonight! Going to have it with hot dogs wrapped in cheese and those crescent rolls that come in cans which you then bake...we'll bake the hot dogs in the crescent rolls.

 

I know, totally NOT a healthy dinner, but we are in the mood for it.

 

We'll have salad on the side to try to make up for it haha.

 

Sounds awesome to me. Sometimes we just like having a yummy, comfort food type dinner. And it isn't bad as long as it is only once in a while.

[Mynyel]

Note about the cheese.... If you like a really cheesy taste go with extra sharp cheddar, that is all we use here.

 

You may want to get more cheese than the recipe calls for as well. I always use more than what the original recipe I use calls for.

 

Basically I make a "cheese gravy" sounds gross but it is what it is. A roux is the basis for every gravy I ever make. It is just what you add into it is what creates the flavor.

 

A roux is SO simple. Butter and flour. I usually add the roux after I make about the amount of "gravy" I want. For instance with cheese sauce...

 

I use a mix of milk, usually 2%, but if we are low I just add some water to water it down. I make a lot and freeze the sauce so take it for what it is worth.

 

Add milk to your pot (about as much as you think you want, remember you can freeze leftovers!) warm it up. Make some roux, hard to tell you how much, depends on how much you are making. I don't measure much. Take your whisk and start whisking in some roux, just a little at a time. Wait for it to thicken, then add more if needed. Once it is thicker add your grated cheese to taste.

 

We use the pour-over-the-pasta method, that way I can freeze the sauce without pasta, pasta will freeze to but I just like it this way.

 

Hope this helps a little!

[NanceXToo]

Ok, here's how we did it.

 

We cooked a box of elbow macaroni.

 

We used 1/4 cup of butter and melted it and added enough flour to make the "roux" and then slowly stirred in 1 cup of half and half and 2 cups of 1 percent milk (instead of the 3 cups of milk that recipe called for). We put about a tablespoon of minced garlic from a jar and some salt and pepper into that.

 

We then stirred in two cups of cheese... my husband bought a store brand shredded cheddar and a store brand colby and monterray jack mix, pre-shredded, and we did a bit more than a cup of each, and a bit less than a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

 

Once the cheese was melted and thickened a bit, we poured it over the macaroni, stirred it, and meanwhile we melted 2 more tablespoons of butter and put like 8 crushed Ritz crackers into it and stirred that around a bit, and topped the macaroni and cheese mixture with it.

 

Stuck it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes, and waiting on it to come out now. It looks and smells good, anyway. I'll let you know how it tastes lol. Thanks again for the responses!

 

ETA: I really liked it, my husband really liked it, my brother really liked it, both of my kids liked it (ages almost 11 and almost 6), two of his (meaning my brother's) three kids liked it (8 y/o twins), and the other (5 y/o) didn't DISLIKE it but didn't like it as much as the boxed stuff he's used to eating. So I'll call it a hit and we'll be holding onto the recipe to make again someday! :)

Edited August 22, 2011 by NanceXToo

[KungFuPanda]

You win!!!!

 

Mac and cheese is also a great way to use excess cheeses you have on hand. At my house, the secret ingredient is pepper-jack cheese. It brings the flavor up a notch without making it overly spicy. I also put sharp cheddar and Parmesan in it :-)

[kiana]

Glad to hear it came out well ... and now you know how to make a roux :D

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Glad you liked it! A friend gave me her yummy mac and cheese recipe and I made it all the time, before we were GFDF. There is no sauce to make you just mix a bunch of stuff together with the cooked noodles and bake it. Super yummy and easy. Here is a similar recipe (I lost the original) but we never used parmesan cheese or bread crumbs. 1900 hundred something reviews and a 4.5 star rating! I bought the huge and CHEAP things of sour cream, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese from Costco and made huge batches and froze it in gallon bags (nooldes cooked but unbaked) for freezer meals.

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chucks-favorite-mac-and-cheese/detail.aspx

Edited August 24, 2011 by JENinOR

[Running the race]

Glad you liked it! A friend gave me her yummy mac and cheese recipe and I made it all the time, before we were GFDF. There is no sauce to make you just mix a bunch of stuff together with the cooked noodles and bake it. Super yummy and easy. Here is a similar recipe (I lost the original) but we never used parmesan cheese or bread crumbs. 1900 hundred something reviews and a 4.5 star rating! I bought the huge and CHEAP things of sour cream, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese from Costco and made huge batches and froze it in gallon bags (nooldes cooked but unbaked) for freezer meals.

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chucks-favorite-mac-and-cheese/detail.aspx

 

Printed this out. Looks great!

[NanceXToo]

Last night I even made garlic cheddar mashed potatoes! I'm on a roll! lol.

[ereks mom]

I don't even measure the ingredients, but I'll do the best I can to estimate. When I make mac & cheese, I usually make about 4-6 servings. Here are the step-by-step directions:

1. Bring approximately 1 quart of water to boil over medium-high heat.

2. To boiling water, add:

- 1 1/2 cups of dry macaroni or pasta shells

- approximately 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Return water to boiling, and boil for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is done.

3. Drain water. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add:

- 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

- 4 slices American cheese (or other processed cheese of your choice, such as Velveeta or processed Swiss or a mixture)

- 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (or other shredded cheese of your choice, including colby or monterey jack or a mixture)

Stir constantly until cheese margarine/butter and cheeses are melted and thoroughly mixed with the pasta.

4. Serve immediately, or if desired, reduce heat to lowest setting and let the macaroni & cheese cook for up to 10 more minutes to thoroughly mix flavors.

 

I came up with this recipe on my own in desperation one day when I was out of the boxed macaroni & cheese my kids loved. I have never gone back because this homemade version is SO much better, not to mention cheaper.