The Best and Easiest Macaroni & Cheese!

My eldest is always a big fan of mac n cheese. Amongst all, he loves the ones served at Kenny Rogers (normally we pick them as one of the side dishes accompanied the chicken meal) and Sweet Chat café.

I’ve always wanted to make my very own mac n cheese version, of course it has to be simple, quick, and yet cheesy and tasty enough so that everyone can just have it at home whenever they feel like to! So the google effort begins for the ultimate (and easy!) mac n cheese recipe, but before that I dropped by at the neaby AEON after last Thursday office hour to buy the cheddar block. Ohhh a block of cheddar seriously was very costly, but it’s ok mama remember you wanted to make the best for the household don’t you? hihi and so I picked up the Bega brand (after all I couldn’t find much choice on the shelf at that point of time) and paid RM13.50 for that 200g block (or was it 250g lupa dah!).

Out of so many recipes you can find on the internet, I finally landed on this page and decided to give it a go at this recipe. I omitted the dry mustard and did not follow the measurement as indicated in the recipe exactly, but the end result is really satisfactory. Everyone loved it!!

Author: Kitchen Treaty

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. (1/2 pound or about 1¾ cups) macaroni or other medium tubular pasta (like penne or conchiglie)* - i used elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt - pakai agak2 jer, make sure you don't underSALT your mac n cheese :)
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard - i omit this
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika plus more for sprinkling on top
• 2½ cups 2% milk - i used lesser...agak2 jer
• 3 cups grated medium cheddar cheese* - i used 1 cup + only

Instructions

1. Boil the pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking, and return to the pan you boiled it in. Set aside. (Mix in a little butter to keep the noodles from sticking if it’s going to be awhile before you make the sauce)
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. Over medium heat, melt the butter.
4. Add the flour, salt, dry mustard, pepper, and ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika. Stir constantly over medium heat for about three minutes.
5. Stir in the milk.
6. Keeping on medium heat, whisk constantly for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
7. Remove from heat, and stir in 2 cups of the cheese, stirring until melted.
8. Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles and toss gently until all noodles are covered.
9. Add half the noodles to a two quart casserole dish.
10. Sprinkle on half the cheese.
11. Add the rest of the noodles.
12. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese, and dust lightly with the smoked paprika.
13. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until it starts getting a slightly dry and a tiny bit brown on top. Serve, topping individual servings with cooked, chopped bacon if desired.

 

 The plain version for kids. I posted this pic on the FB last Friday morning and it triggers lots of comment from my friends. Guess what, this mac n cheese finally led us to the ex-Raudhah BBQ gathering on the Saturday nite at Zarid's...very impromptu & short notice yet we made it! :)

The 2nd round mac n cheese (adult's version) for the gathering. I added in some diced chicken, button mushroom, carrot and holland onion which resulted in a much superb and tasty mac n cheese :)

Please give it a try. Simple and tasty, yet it can becomes a perfect n healthy breakfast bento for ur kids :)