Boxed or microwavable Mac n’ Cheese can be very satisfying in a pinch, but making your own from scratch is almost just as easy and very delicious. This is a recipe that my mom taught me that I have been using ever since I moved into my apartment. I love it because it’s very versatile and you can put your own creative spin on it. This is the basic recipe but feel free to choose a different pasta, different cheese or add meat and vegetables.
What you need
1 package of elbow pasta
1 8 oz. package of shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
¾ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetables and meat optional
Cooking instructions
Cook pasta according to package instructions.
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat and do not allow to brown or burn. Once butter is melted, add flour stirring immediately in order to avoid clumping. Using a whisk would be ideal (they sell them at the dollar tree on Chicago) but if you don’t have a whisk a wooden spoon or any stirring utensil works as well. Just make sure to stir quickly until the consistency is smooth and gooey.
Once the butter and flour are well blended, slowly add the milk to the mixture while stirring. Turn up the heat to medium. The mixture will slowly thicken as the butter/flour mixture combines with the milk. This may take 4-5 minutes.
At this point you should have a white sauce. Once the flour, butter, and milk are all combined, add the package of cheddar cheese. Mix until cheese is melted into the sauce. Once everything is blended together, remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point, you can also add cooked vegetables or meat if you would like.
Drain cooked pasta and mix it with sauce or serve with sauce on top. Enjoy!
Tips
Do not use a whisk or metal cooking utensil with a Teflon pan. It damages the Teflon.
If you want a thicker sauce, double the amount of flour and butter you use. Make sure you have equal parts butter, equal parts flour.
You can use the same sauce minus the cheese to make Alfredo sauce.