Chili-Style: Stir one 15-ounce can chili beans in chili sauce into the pasta mixture.Before baking, top with crushed herb-seasoned stuffing mix. dried thyme, crushed, to the pasta mixture. Chicken and Stuffing: Add 1½ cups shredded roasted chicken and 1 tsp.Crunchier Crumb Topping: Before baking, top with a mixture of 1½ cups cornflakes, 3 Tbsp.Cook for a few minutes stirring constantly. Cheese Sauce: In 4-quart saucepan make roux: melt butter and stir in flour, white pepper, mustard and salt until smooth. Set a large pot (6-quart or larger) of salted water (1 tablespoon salt) to boil. Before baking, top with fish-shape crackers. Butter pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Tuna: Stir two 3-ounce pouches or cans of tuna into the pasta mixture.After baking, top with thinly sliced apple and some additional shredded smoked cheddar cheese. Add 4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled, to the pasta mixture. Smoky Apple: Use smoked cheddar cheese for the cheddar cheese.Substitute ½ cup crumbled blue cheese for ½ cup of the cheddar. Blue Cheese-Garlic: Cook 4 cloves garlic, minced, with the onion.After baking, top with chopped red sweet pepper and snipped fresh basil. Meat Lovers: Add 1½ cups crumbled cooked sausage to the pasta mixture.After baking, top with crumbled feta cheese and snipped fresh oregano. Greek-Style: Add ½ cup pitted, halved Kalamata olives to the pasta mixture.Veggie: Add 2-2½ cups fresh broccoli florets and/or thinly sliced carrots to the pasta water the last 5 minutes of cooking, and continue as directed.

Before baking, top the mixture with ¾ cup soft bread crumbs combined with 2 Tbsp. 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. So there it is: every tip and trick I keep under my belt to make one of the most loved family favorites.

(this is #18 for all of you keeping track) For the best results, choose at least one flavor cheese and one melting cheese.

Bake your mac and cheese in a more shallow, wider dish if you want more of that crunchy top.ġ7.Add a little melted a butter into your bread crumbs before topping your mac.

Cheddar is best but add a melter like fontina, Monterey jack or some parmesan.

Spice it up with jalapenos, a little salsa and pepper jack cheese.

Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for some heat.

Cooking it too long will give you a mushy final product. Bake only for the time recommended, or when the center is bubbling and you see some golden edges.

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.

Add the cheese to the milk and flour mix with the heat off so the mixture doesn’t separate.

Choose noodle shapes that will hold on to the sauce-this includes shells, corkscrews, rotini or anything with ridges.

You can even take the total amount of salt recommended in the recipe and just add a bit to each step. Just a little sprinkle of salt is plenty–it will add up.

Season every layer of your sauce: the roux, after the milk is added and after the cheese is melted in.

Swap rich cream for all or half of the milk in the recipe.

Undercook your pasta-cook one minute less than the package directions to avoid a mushy mac and cheese.

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.

They never fail me, and I know they’ll work for you, too: 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. Three cheese stovetop macaroni and cheese Stir into the macaroni cheese and pour the. Fry the bacon in a frying pan until crisp. 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: Cook for 10 minutes, or until al dente, drain well and add to the sauce. 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. 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.

Make mac and cheese for a crowd