It has taken me YEARS to find this recipe. I have tried many homemade mac and cheese recipes over the years in my quest to find THE recipe. I have tried simply winging it, I’ve tried stove-top, baked, and crock-pot recipes. Yet none of them would convert my mac-and-cheese loving son to the homemade variety. Always, when he requested macaroni and cheese for a meal, he would add a qualifier. You know, the shells and cheese, Mom. Meaning his favorite macaroni and cheese not only was from a box, it was the kind made with Velveeta- the cheese that is not that different from plastic. Every once in a while I would buy the blue box to make a quick lunch for the kids, and while they ate it, they never really cheered or got excited about mac and cheese. Honestly, I would take dehydrated powdered cheese over plastic cheese sauce, but neither one was really a good option…
In my quest last year to remove as much fake stuff from our diet as possible, I stopped buying the occasional box of shells and cheese, but somewhere along the line I decided it would make a fine side dish for whatever I made that day. So I bought some and brought it home. Several hours later I had some very serious and awful digestive issues, and I very clearly knew that it was a direct result of that non-food hitting my system, and I swore never to buy it again. And more importantly, to never feed it to my kids again. I began in earnest to hunt down recipes, but just wasn’t finding something I hadn’t already tried!
I did manage to narrow down that Zander was not a fan of baked mac and cheese. While that will forever be my favorite, as I love the crispy toppings, the crispy toppings did not work for my buddy. He wanted creamy and extra cheesy. Surely this was possible?
Turns out it is definitely possible. Andy was gone one evening for dinner, and the kids requested macaroni and cheese. I don’t even remember what we had with it, but I do recall sitting down at the computer, determined to find THE recipe that would rock our mac-n-cheese world. I spent quite a bit of time on different recipe sites looking at recipe after recipe, trying to determine what would qualify it as perfect homemade macaroni and cheese? And then I saw a picture. I saw macaroni literally drowning in cheese sauce, and I knew at that moment that I had met a contender. Allrecipes came to my rescue with a recipe created by Pam Anderson- I’ve actually made recipes from her before, and they turned out pretty good. I read the recipe, and then I read a ton of reviews to see what other people changed, and decided this was the one. Even better? I had everything on hand.
I followed the recipe for Creamy Macaroni and Cheese pretty closely. For the first time making it, I decided I did not need servings for ten people, and opted to cut the recipe in half. The only real change I made was that I did not use the amount of Dijon mustard called for- I cut that in half again, using just one teaspoon of Dijon mustard. It was the perfect amount. It added a discernible tang, but you could not identify where it came from. The recipe came together quickly enough- I had the sauce made before the macaroni was finished boiling up, and I knew I had a winner if it would maintain its creamy texture.
I loved the magic that using Parmesan and Sharp Cheddar together did- I did use Sharp Cheddar cheese instead of the Extra Sharp called for, as that’s what I have on hand. Plus, here in Wisconsin, extra sharp is pretty sharp, I wanted a kid-friendly mac and cheese. It was cheesy, but not heavy in the least. The evaporated milk kept it creamy without separating at all, and overall, it was the kind of macaroni and cheese that you keep going back for another bite, because you cannot believe how good it is. I found that the half batch was the perfect amount for our family, so that is the recipe I’m going to share at the bottom. As a side dish, this would make about six generous servings. As a main dish, maybe closer to four.
I made this again a week later when Andy was home. This time I added 3/4 of a pound of macaroni to the sauce, and interestingly, I found that it was better with the original 1/2 a pound of pasta. Specifically, as a leftover. My kids actually ate leftovers! This macaroni and cheese, re-heated in a microwave made a perfect lunch from leftovers, and the extra cheesy sauce is what made it work so well. So if you’re planning to eat it all, you can use a little more than the 1/2 pound of pasta if you’d like. Actually, if you prefer a less saucy mac and cheese, by all means, make a full pound of pasta for this amount of sauce. But as written, it’s spectacular the day you made it, and it’s great as a leftover. Now if I can only find some large enough thermoses for the kids, this would be the perfect meal for them to take on the road with them.
I have no picture, as I didn’t really think this was a mind-blowing recipe until I made it for the second time and Zander gobbled it down. I believe I have finally succeeded in beating out that neon orange plastic cheese product.
Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
1 teaspoon salt 1/2 pound elbow, shell or other bite sized pasta shape 1 (12 fl. ounce)can evaporated milk 1/2 cup chicken broth 1 1/2 tablespoons butter 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese freshly ground black pepper to taste 1/2 pound grated sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheeseDirections:
Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add salt and pasta, cooking according to package directions until al-dente. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the evaporated milk and chicken broth together until hot and steamy- do not boil. Use a microwave or a small sauce pan.
Melt the butter in an empty pot over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until fully combined, and then whisk in the hot milk mixture. Continue whisking over the heat until the mixture is thick and bubbly- roughly 3-5 minutes, depending on how your heat is. Whisk in the mustard, black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Once fully combined, turn off the heat and stir in the cheddar until fully melted and combined.
Add the drained pasta to the cheese sauce. Stir together until fully combined- if it’s too thick for your taste, add a small drizzle of milk to thin it a bit. Serve hot.