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Do you have a mac & cheese eater at home? Everyone at MOMablesâ„¢ does!Â
If you ask just about any kid what their favorite food is, more times than not, the answer is macaroni and cheese.
I know there was a period of time at our house when it was the requested meal almost daily.
While it’s always easy to pull out a box of the grocery store variety, I’m here to tell you that making your own, homemade version is just as simple.
It doesn’t require a fancy roux to thicken the sauce or even constant stirring. Â You can even change it up by adding peas, broccoli, bacon or ham.
Not only does this mac and cheese make a great lunch at home, but your kids will be envy of their classmates when they pull it out of their lunch box at school.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta, any shape
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups shredded cheese, like cheddar, monterey jack, or colby
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
Directions
- In a large pot, over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- When the pasta has finished cooking, you can begin to prepare the cheese sauce. Start by warming 1 cup of the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and the 2 tablespoons of flour until there are no lumps. When you begin to see steam rising from the milk, whisk in the milk-and-flour mixture. Continue whisking until the milk thickens slightly to the consistency of heavy cream, 3-4 minutes.
- Turning the heat to low, you can begin adding the shredded cheese into the milk. Stir in the salt and dijon mustard. Continue to stir until all the cheese has melted and the sauce is creamy. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. Remove the sauce from heat.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta and 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Stir to coat the pasta evenly. Add the second half of the sauce and any extra add-ins.
- Serve the mac and cheese immediately while still warm. Leftovers will keep for up to a week and can be reheated. If the sauce is a little dry after re-heating, mix in a splash of milk to make it creamy again.
Is there a sub for dijon mustard? I don’t have any in the pantry. Thanks!
Michele, you could also use a teaspoon of dry mustard. If you don’t have that it’s okay to leave it out altogether, it just adds a bit of tanginess and flavor to the mac ‘n cheese.
So if you use it for school lunches, eat kids eat it cold?
Katie, When I send it in my kids lunch I put it in a thermos to keep warm.
Can you use RF milk and cheese?
Made this gluten free by using brown rice pasta and using corn starch in place of the flour. It was really easy and came out super creamy. Thanks for the recipe!
thank you Laura! glad you were able to adjust and your family enjoyed the meal!
Made this for the family the other day and it was a hit! Sent the leftovers in my daughter’s thermos the next day for lunch. That is, once I stopped my husband from helping himself to them!
Thank you Rachel for letting me know your family enjoyed it! It’s hard for me to keep everyone from eating it all too!