High Five Recipe: Creamy Mac and Cheese
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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
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
1/2 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. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.
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.
Everytime 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.
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Which High Five Recipe would you like to see next?! Lime Avocado Dip…or Justus’ Shaved Ice?
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Like you, I’ve been searching for a healthy version for a VERY LONG time and although I make my own healthy versions I’m not totally happy with them so I’m incredibly excited to try this mostly because I totally trust you! =0) THANKS FOR SHARING!
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Laura! You wicked woman! Here I am nearly 30 weeks pregnant. I’m trying to watch my (steadily climbing!) weight gain. It’s late at night. I’m hungry. And now THESE pictures.
I can never forgive you. ;)
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Oh, for next week, how about Justus’ shaved ice? They both sound good, but it’s getting hot around here and shaved ice sounds just about right.
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YUM!! I love Mac & Cheese so can’t wait to try out this recipe.
My vote for the next High 5 is Justus’ shaved ice. It would go well with the 80 plus degree weather we are having here.
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Looks delicious! Thank you for sharing.
My vote for the next High 5 recipe is Justus’ shaved ice. It’s hot in GA and that sounds cool and delicious.
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I always add milk to my homemade mac n cheese, but never thought to cook the pasta in milk! I’ll have to try this!
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Oh my…. Oh my oh my oh my…. That looks incrediably yummy. I may just have to fix that for lunch.
Today.
Yum.
Melinda
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you want to know what is weird? I am sitting down at my computer to take a quick break and eat a little something while the kids do a project. I pull up my fave blog and lo and behold-it is a post about mac and cheese. one of my fave foods. you wanna know what is in my bowl RIGHT NOW? Mac and cheese left over from supper last night. It is healthy and made with whole wheat. But, this looks great…I will have to try this! Thanks, Laura! And, avocado dip AND shaved ice sound like great summer recipes to me:) I hope we get to see both before it is said and done! Thanks!
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MMM I’m going to have to try this. I was thinking a little garlic would be yummy too;)
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HOW do you stay so thin?!?!?!?! I think we’re going to have to have this for lunch today!
Well, it’s still cold in Michigan, so I’m voting for Lime Avacado Dip, but I’m equally interested in Justus’ Shaved Ice, because I’m sure we’ll be making it throughout the summer when it finally does get hot here.
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I’ll be giving this a try. My kids love Annies Arthur Mac and Cheese…and haven’t liked ANY of the many recipes I’ve tried. Maybe this one is it.
I vote for Lime Avocado Dip – already make shaved ices. LOL
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Ok. I just had to try this and it is delicious!!! Thank you it’s definetly a keeper for us. It’s too bad my boys don’t like mac n’ cheese or is it? hee hee.
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Thank you so much for this! I just made Mac N Cheese last night for dinner and while it was good, it wasn’t great. It had a lot more ingredients as well. I will definitely be trying this the next time I make it!
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oooh, thank you, thank you – I too have been scouring the web for a good mac and cheese recipe and I think this one will be it! I will try it very soon.
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I’ve been on that lifelong search too! lol A good mac and cheese recipe has eluded me for so long. I’ll have to check this out.
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How did you know I was thinking about mac and cheese today?! :)
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Yup, it’s on my menu for next week. :) Tasty tasty looking stuff!
And I’m all for the shaved ice! Yay for warmer weather! :)
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That looks wonderful…and easy, too!
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I vote for lime dip! I always make martha stewart mac n cheese – but this looks way easy fr quick lunches- no draining , minimum pots, too easy!
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ok, I made this. Wow. So simple but SO good! I did have to add more milk while it was cooking because it seemed like it was cooking out too fast. But, It is some of the best Mac and Cheese I’ve ever had!
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We have made this twice in the last week. Yummy! I love it when I have all the ingredients on hand. Please keep the High Five recipes coming!
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Just made this but I did it with brown rice pasta which takes longer to cook so I had to use quite a bit more milk but it turned out wonderful!
Have I mentioned lately that I love you?! Thanks for another HEALTHY and awesome recipe!
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OK, I must be a little dense, but I tried this and ended up with a huge mess of what looks like….blobs of yuckiness…and doesn’t taste any better. What did I do wrong? I tried it with parmesan, but when that didn’t work I tried cheddar and ended up with the same problem. Now I just have lots of ruined ingredients…and a scowl on my face….and no dinner :(
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Awesome, Laura! I was a little bit skeptical, but I was craving mac and cheese after a stressful morning running about, and this recipe popped into my head. I did it using brown rice pasta, and I probably could have used another 1/2 cup of milk, as the noodles were just slightly underdone.
Nonetheless, it was wonderful and creamy, and oh-so-simple. Yay for that! :)
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I’m making this right now. It should be done in 5 minutes…can’t wait!
I just discovered your blog, thanks to a friend, and I can’t get enough. Do you have your own cookbook out??
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I’ve never thought about cooking the noodles in milk. I will definitely try that next time!
My not so secret ingredient for homemade mac and cheese is worcestershire sauce. So yummy!
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I just have to say thank you for this. This is the first “new” thing (and admittedly not too different) that I have made for dinner in a while that I got all thumbs up for–even my hubby’s who is a crazy picky eater! Believe it or not there are some versions of mac n cheese that he won’t eat.
The only question I have for you is how you managed to not burn the milk on the bottom? I did stir a lot, but I had to switch pots half way through and I had to a lot more milk and cook it for about 30 minutes….weird eh?!
Thanks for this recipe though :) We loved it, you are right…so creamy and healthier than our usual mac n cheese recipe.
Otherwise, it was SO yummy!!!!
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I like a tuna casserole I make but it uses a can of creamed soup which, I just realized, has MSG in it. What do you do to replace this can of soup which is found in casseroles?
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I”m so excited to make this. I love mac and cheese and this is SO EASY!!
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Thanks for the recipe! I just made it, using mozzarella cheese. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think I would recomend the mozzarella (that just happened to be what I had on hand). As it cooled down while I was eating it, the cheese kind of clumped up together with almost a grainy texture. Still tasted good, but both the hubby and I think next time we will try a different kind of cheese. I just pulled up a stool and stirred away. I had to add extra milk, but that may have been because I didn’t measure the pasta very well. Overall, pretty easy and yummy! Thank you!
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Thank you for this recipe. I have been looking for a quick and easy mac and cheese recipe. This seems to fit the bill. I just made some and am waiting for the DH’s opinion. I thought it tasted great. The kids are not mac and cheese eaters but maybe this will change their minds.
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Yum – this is the best mac & cheese recipe ever! I made it with brown rice pasta, skim milk and cheddar and it was delicious! I may add a dash of garlic or onion salt next time to add a little more savory to the flavor. This recipe could not be easier! It definitely thickens up when it cools, so it should be eaten right away. Mmmm, my tummy is happy :)
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I tried this the other day and it was AMAZING! Can’t believe how easy and delicious. Who needs Kraft when you’ve got this!! I’ve been telling my family and friends all about it. :)
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Well, your friend is a genius! I just snarfed a pan of this mac-n-cheese, and I, too, couldn’t believe how creamy it was. Almost too thick, so I added a little more milk at the end. (I probably should have used less pasta…I made a third of a recipe and didn’t measure exactly. Next time I’d do 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup pasta, 1/3 cup cheese, & a pinch or two of salt.) I used half parmesan cheese, half white cheddar. OH YUM! Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe!
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I tried this recipe twice… The first time, I think I had a little too much pasta and it turned out a little dry. I made it for the second time last night and it did not turn out well. I think maybe because I had my burner too hot? I don’t know if the milk got scalded and that was the problem? I used cheddar and the sauce was grainy. Like the cheese didn’t melt well. But, I used that cheese again this morning and it melted fine. I think this is a great recipe when it works, but you really have to watch it.
And, what do I get for my supermom efforts? From DH: “Can’t we just have the boxed kind?” Blah.
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I made it and burned the pot, but I think a lower heat and maybe using my cast iron will help next time (cast iron at least would clean out the burn part better)
Suggestion to all who had troubles, if you scald the milk it will not ‘incorporate’ the cheese as well. Also the quality of the cheese will make a huge difference. Though I am by no means an expert, just a suggestion.
To the Tuna casserole question, use the same recipe but add tuna and not cheese (or both), it worked great last night. (with peas)
I think next week I will try it with some onions cooked in the pot first (in olive oil will prep the pot for not burning, unless someone knows something about olive oil and milk?)
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We had this tonight and my daughter liked it (she’s nixed all other attempts)! I’ve tried many recipes to replace the boxed versions and this recipe is finally one we can keep. I love that it uses ingredients I already have on hand, tastes great and is easy to make. My daughter loved helping make it from shredding the cheese to stirring the noodles. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
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I am new to your blog but have tried this recipe twice now and have to say that it is amazing! So quick, easy, and delicious! It is a new favorite; thank you.
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Just wandered over from moneysavingmom, and I am so glad I did!!! I have been hunting for an easy (fewer than 3 cheeses and no heavy cream) AND yummy M&C recipe for years. I am making room for this in my menu plan this week. Thank you!!
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Hooray! You fixed the link(I’m visiting from money saving mom). Mac and cheese is sooooooo my go to comfort food during the winter. I can’t wait to give this a try.
Christine
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I just discovered your site and I love it! I must say I have NEVER thought about cooking my noodles in milk before—I will have to try this next time. I have a delicious Mac and Cheese soup recipe—all six of us love it, for it to be healthy someone would have to tweek it though. When we lived up north and snow stayed on the ground, for MONTHS at a time, I would prepare this soup a lot. I consider it the ‘ultimate comfort food’! LOL! Here is the link to the mac and cheese soup recipe http://tinyurl.com/yjls8js
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I just made this tonight and even though I followed the recipe exactly the sauce turned out kinda grainy… the flavor was awesome though so I think I might try it again and cook it on a lower temp for a little bit longer and hopefully that will help with the graininess!
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Laura you’re a genius! I’ve made creamy mac and cheese before but it’s taken hours (i exaggerate, but you get the point) to get rid of the floury taste in the bechamel. Not to mention if i want M & C, i’m NOT in the mood for ‘cooking.’ You bypassed the flour thing by boiling the noodles directly in the water! Thinking outside the norm!! Chef Batali frequently puts a scoop of pasta water in his sauces to thicken it up – this is similar. TYVM for sharing and i’ll be checking this site again.
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I am a new comer to your site, & loved it! You have some great recipes & tips. I tried the creamy mac & cheese. Noodles worked great in the milk. You do have to stir constantly to keep the milk from scorching. I also lowered heat some. I did have the grainy consistency that some mentioned. I am wondering if the cheese I used was the cause? Is the white better to use than tradition yellow which is what I had at the time. I will try again!
Thanks for a great site. I look forward to browsing through it a lot.
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Laura Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I think the grainy thing can be a result of the variety of pasta and yes, the variety of cheese. I’m not sure white is better for the recipe to succeed (just for health since white doesn’t have food coloring!). ALso, it’s super important to remove the pan from the heat before adding the cheeese, although you probably did that part! :
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I am going to try this tonight…what a great idea! You can make yummy mac n cheese from leftover pasta too. Toss the cold pasta with some flour, add some milk and heat on medium. Stir frequently to prevent scorching and to know when/if more milk is necessary. Once heated through, add some grated Parmesan and sliced American cheese. Turn off heat and cover to let American melt. Stir before serving. My guys like to add some garlic or onion powder because they are weird, um, I mean creative. Of course the amount of flour and milk changes based on how much pasta you start with, so you just have to eyeball it.
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It’s wonderful but what, NO BUTTER!? I made it & towards the end of the pasta being done, I added 3 T. of butter, yes! It was very yummy.
Thank You,
Debra
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I just made this again (for like the 20th time) and I did an alfredo version that rocks! I crushed one clove of garlic and added it to the milk and noodles and instead of cheddar I used parmesan – OMG! It is SOOO good, topped it with some fresh basil and grilled chicken and it rivals any restaurant alfredo I’ve had! LOVE it, thanks again!
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I just tried it and it was delicious and creamy, but then got a little grainy as it cooled. So, it sounds like everyone else’s, but I used skim milk.
I’ll be trying it again adding garlic–and I’ll be trying Sommer’s idea for an alfredo version as well. I will not be adding butter–it is not needed.
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I made this the other day and I’m sorry to say I thought it was pretty awful. The milk seemed to separate when I cooked the noodles in it, and just a minute or two after mixing it up it was hardening into one big gluey glob. Disappointing.
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Laura Reply:
August 30th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t work for you. :(
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