Best Simple Macaroni And Cheese Recipes

SIMPLE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 minutes. Drain.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; stir in flour, salt, and pepper until smooth, about 5 minutes. Slowly pour milk into butter-flour mixture while continuously stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbling, about 5 minutes. Add Cheddar cheese to milk mixture and stir until cheese is melted, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Fold macaroni into cheese sauce until coated.

NANNY'S SIMPLE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Boil pasta according to package in salted water.
• For firmer pasta reduce boiling time by a few minutes.
• Drain.
• Grease a deep casserole dish (I use a spray).
• Place a layer of macaroni, enough to cover the bottom, in the casserole dish.
• Add a layer of cheese slices covering the macaroni.
• Very lightly season with salt and pepper (I actually skip this and we add salt and pepper to taste on our individual servings).
• Repeat these layers until you are out of pasta.
• Pour milk over the casserole until the milk almost reaches the top of the casserole dish (It doesn't take much because the dish is already full of pasta and cheese).
• Bake covered for about 45 minutes to an hour in a 350 degree oven.
• You'll know it is finished cooking when the milk is no longer liquid.
• Sometimes I add leftover ham chunks to the layers.
• Cook time and servings are approximate!

A SIMPLE BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water (after it comes to a boil) add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• While pasta is cooking begin to make your roux. Over low heat begin to melt butter. Once butter is melted add flour. Whisk constantly to avoid burning. If rue burns throw it out and start again. You want your rue to be almost a copper brown color. It should take a little over 5 minutes.
• Once you get your rue to the color you want add the milk while continuing to whisk constantly. Salt and pepper your sauce to your liking. When the mixture begins to boil you will notice your sauce will start to thicken. Once it is at the thickness you desire remove from heat immediately and add cheese, reserving about a 1/4 of a cup of cheddar.
• Drain macaroni and return to cooking pot. Combine cheese sauce with your macaroni. Pour macaroni and cheese into a 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs and remaining cheese over top and bake for 35 minutes until a nice crust forms on the top.

SUPER SIMPLE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Melt butter in largish, heavy-bottomed saucepan over low-medium heat.
• Add flour, stirring with whisk or spatula until it bubbles; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
• Do NOT let it brown. [If it browns, save it for brown gravy and start again.].
• Remove from heat and mix in mustard, pepper, cayenne, and Worcestershire; blend well, then add milk APPROXIMATELY ONE TABLESPOON AT A TIME until it is soupy or gloppy. This method prevents lumps.
• Return to medium heat and gradually add the rest of the milk, and the salt.
• Stir or whisk constantly until it comes to a boil (a wooden spatula is a handy tool for this); simmer one minute, always stirring.
• Remove from heat and add cheese; stir occasionally until all lumps of cheese disappear.
• This takes 5-10 minutes, but you can return it to very low heat if necessary.
• Note: Removing it from the heat is not absolutely necessary with Velveeta; but with natural cheese, it is best to melt it this way to avoid clumping and stringiness. Natural cheese will blend much better if it melts into the sauce off the heat, something about how the protein reacts to heat.
• Meanwhile, slightly undercook cook elbows in salted water in large pot and drain and return to large pot.
• Add sauce and mix gently with a lifting motion so the pasta isn't smashed.
• Place in buttered or Pammed casserole dish; I like to use an 11x15 so I get lots of surface area for the crust, but if you don't like crusty mac&cheese use a smaller, deeper pan.
• [At this point, or after mixing in large pot, you can refrigerate it for a couple of days if desired. Let it return to room temp or cook longer. You can also freeze, thaw, and spread in pan.] Top with bread crumbs if desired.
• Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until it's bubbling well and top is browned the way you like it. Mmmm.

SUPER SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS BAKED MACARONI & CHEESE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. Grease a 13x9 baking sheet.
• 3. Mix together all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• 4. Pour mixture into grease baking pan and cover with foil.
• 5. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, stir, and bake for approximately 30 minutes more or until pasta is fully cooked.
• 6. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy! Told you it was simple :-)

SIMPLE CHEESE SAUCE FOR PRETZELS AND MACARONI

Steps:

• In a saucepan on low heat, melt the butter.
• Whisk in the flour, salt, and mustard powder.
• Slowly whisk in the milk, making sure there aren't any lumps.
• increase the heat to medium and stir continuously until the mixture begins to thicken.
• Reduce the heat and gradually add the cheese a little at a time, and continue to stir until smooth and creamy. Makes eight 1/4-cup servings, 1/2 cup would probably work for mac and cheese if you cook 1 cup of macaroni.

SIMPLE STOVE TOP MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• In large saute pan, over medium heat, cook the onions in the butter until softened.
• Add the flour and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add the mustard and cayenne.
• Continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
• Pour in the hot milk, whisk and simmer until thickened.
• Stir in the cheese.
• Taste for seasonings.
• Combine the sauce and the macaroni, along with the parsley.
• Let stand 5 minutes off the heat with the lid on.
• Serve.