I’ve been searching my whole life (give or take) for a good homemade mac and cheese recipe. The recipes I’ve come up with in the past are decent….but not great.
A couple of months ago, a friend told me how she makes it. I adapted it a bit and now we can’t seem to get enough! It is THE creamiest mac and cheese ever.
Here’s the secret: Cook your pasta in MILK instead of water. The milk makes it super creamy. The starch from the pasta thickens the milk into a sauce. Add your cheese after the pasta is finished cooking.
Uh-huh…comfort food at it’s best.
Creamy Mac and Cheese
- 2½ cups whole wheat pasta
- 3 cups whole milk
- ½ t. sea salt
- 1 cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar)
- Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan.
- Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes).
- Remove from heat. (IMPORTANT!)
- Add cheese and stir until melted.
- Serve immediately.
Be very sure to remove this from the heat before you stir in the cheese. Otherwise you’ll have a gritty mess. :)
You can use any shape of pasta you want. I have found that elbow noodles cook quite a bit faster so I use those when I need a quick lunch.
Every time I make this, we can not believe how creamy and delicious it is. My lifelong search for awesome homemade macaroni and cheese has come to an end. We should have some sort of mac and cheese ceremony.
If you haven’t ever tried cooking your pasta in your milk, you must do this! You can enjoy it for an easy meal as is. Or you can use this base recipe to make:
- Easy Tuna Casserole
- Cheeseburger Macaroni
- Three Cheese Garlic Chicken Pasta
- Baked Three Cheese Chicken Pasta
Life as you know it just got better. Serve any of these with a salad and some steamed veggies. It’s amazing!
