• Cart
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Chronicles
    • The Lovely Archives
    • Family
    • Ina
    • Journals
    • Hurley House
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Cart
  • Events
  • Hospitality
    • Cooking
    • Hosting
    • Household Management
    • Celebrate
    • Basics
  • Lovely Living
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Favorites
    • Hobbies
    • Parenting
    • Personal Care
    • Reflections
  • Recipes
    • Appetizer
    • Main Dish
    • Sides
    • Dessert
    • Breakfast
    • Beverage
  • Chronicles
    • The Lovely Archives
    • Family
    • Hurley House
    • Ina
    • Journals
  • Shop
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • Closet
    • Cookbooks
    • Gifts
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Library
    • Needlepoint
    • Organization
    • Party
    • Table
  • Learn
  • Blog
  • About
  • Events
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

  • Hospitality
    • Hosting
    • Household Management
    • Cooking
    • Basics
    • Celebrate
  • Lovely Living
    • Fashion
    • Favorites
    • Hobbies
    • Parenting
    • Beauty
    • Personal Care
    • Reflections
  • Recipes
    • Appetizer
    • Main Dish
    • Sides
    • Dessert
    • Breakfast
    • Beverage
  • Events
  • Learn
  • Shop
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • Closet
    • Cookbooks
    • Gifts
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Library
    • Needlepoint
    • Organization
    • Party
    • Table
  • About

Macaroni and Cheese

August 22, 2019 · In: Recipes, Sides

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Some posts need a lot of words to convince you to try a recipe . Other posts need only a well-known title and a drool-worthy photograph. This is one of those posts.

Who doesn’t know and love Macaroni & Cheese? If there’s such thing as a classic American comfort food, this might be it. I have been perfecting this recipe for years, road testing it on my children, and it has received five gold stars from the Sasser youth.

The truth is, even bad Macaroni & Cheese is good. Even the stuff made from a box with the powdered neon orange β€œcheese” is good. My point is, I don’t have to sell you on Macaroni & Cheese.

What I do need to sell you on, and what I hope won’t keep us from continuing to respect one another, is the fact that the secret to really delicious, really creamy, really top-notch Macaroni & Cheese is a very low-brow ingredient. I’m talking about Velveeta.

I won’t even pretend to call it cheese. It’s not. It sits on the shelf and requires no refrigeration. It’s not cheese, really. But it is the secret to the macaroni universe, and I want you to know if there was another way, I would have found it.

There is not another way. Embrace the Velveeta. Your Macaroni & Cheese will thank you.

Macaroni and Cheese

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 pound elbow macaroni
  • 4 cups whole milk (do not even think about using low-fat or non-fat milk!)
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 12 ounces American or Velveeta cheese, cut into large chunks
  • 8 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1/4 cup Kosher salt to the water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package. You want the pasta to be completely cooked, but with a bit of a bite, which for most standard elbow pastas is around 9 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
  • Meanwhile, heat the milk. You can do this is a small pot on the stove, or you can do it in a large glass measuring cup in the microwave. You want the milk to be steaming, but not boiling. Set it aside once it is hot.
  • In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Cook the butter and flour, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Continue whisking and slowly add the hot milk, whisking to remove any lumps. Continue whisking and cooking until you see a few bubbles pop on the surface and the mixture is thick and smooth.
  • Off the heat, add both of the cheeses, the Kosher salt, and the pepper. Stir until the cheeses are completely melted. Sometimes if my cheese is quite cold, I have to return the pot to the stove briefly (over low heat) to facilitate complete melting.
  • Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce, and stir well. Pour into a 9X13 baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly.

Notes

To make the macaroni and cheese ahead, refrigerate the completed dish before baking.Β  Add 5-10 minutes to the total cook time.

By: Katherine Sasser Β· In: Recipes, Sides Β· Tagged: pasta

you’ll also love

Spaghetti Pie
Mashed Potatoes
Frittata

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Next Post >

Ina In A Year: Week 47

Primary Sidebar

Search

Featured Posts

Winter Cookbook Club: Week Four

Winter Cookbook Club Week 3: Winter Squash Soup

Winter Cookbook Club: Week 2

Latest on Instagram

katherinesasser

katherinesasser


What if you just showed up in the world?
What if you just showed up in the world?

I took a spring break field trip to Dallas with my
I took a spring break field trip to Dallas with my friend Nicole, and our sole purpose was to eat lunch at Loro.

Did we order half the menu for only the two of us? We did. 

Was every bite totally worth it? Absolutely. 

A true friend will order way too much food with you simply for the experience of sharing it together. πŸ’—

My sports fantasy? Playing tennis, but only becaus
My sports fantasy? Playing tennis, but only because the outfits are the absolute cutest! I call it aspirational tennis, and a round up my favorites is on the blog today. 🎾

In an effort to get inspired to add a touch of spr
In an effort to get inspired to add a touch of spring to my home, I did an internet deep-dive to create what I think is a beautiful collection of inspiring images designed to spark my inner home-decor maven.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
The result is a game-plan for small ways I am planning on fluffing my home for spring without redecorating every room.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
Too good to be true?  Hardly!  All the details are on the blog...

Embracing all the spring!!
Embracing all the spring!!

No, we didn’t travel with the dog. Yes, we did t
No, we didn’t travel with the dog. Yes, we did travel halfway with toddlers. Yes, we broke down on the side of the highway and rode in a tow truck. Apart from that drama, it was lots of food, coffee, band, shopping, hanging, filling out Oscar ballots, and watching Lillian master the hoverboard.


Load More...



Follow on Instagram


Browse by Category

Hi, I'm Katherine

Hi, I'm Katherine
hello!

I share lifestyle content through the lens of hospitality. If you are interested in learning about the beauty that creating space can bring, you've come to the right place!

Read More

Connect

Recent Posts

Elevated Ranch Dip

Springing The Home

Archives

Follow Along

@katherinesasser

What if you just showed up in the world? What if you just showed up in the world?
I took a spring break field trip to Dallas with my I took a spring break field trip to Dallas with my friend Nicole, and our sole purpose was to eat lunch at Loro.

Did we order half the menu for only the two of us? We did. 

Was every bite totally worth it? Absolutely. 

A true friend will order way too much food with you simply for the experience of sharing it together. πŸ’—
My sports fantasy? Playing tennis, but only becaus My sports fantasy? Playing tennis, but only because the outfits are the absolute cutest! I call it aspirational tennis, and a round up my favorites is on the blog today. 🎾
In an effort to get inspired to add a touch of spr In an effort to get inspired to add a touch of spring to my home, I did an internet deep-dive to create what I think is a beautiful collection of inspiring images designed to spark my inner home-decor maven.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
The result is a game-plan for small ways I am planning on fluffing my home for spring without redecorating every room.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
Too good to be true?  Hardly!  All the details are on the blog...
Embracing all the spring!! Embracing all the spring!!
No, we didn’t travel with the dog. Yes, we did t No, we didn’t travel with the dog. Yes, we did travel halfway with toddlers. Yes, we broke down on the side of the highway and rode in a tow truck. Apart from that drama, it was lots of food, coffee, band, shopping, hanging, filling out Oscar ballots, and watching Lillian master the hoverboard.
Let’s layer some patterns, shall we? (Are you te Let’s layer some patterns, shall we? (Are you team cross body or team tote? Not sure I made the right choice.)
Pistachio Bundt Cake is my new favorite spring des Pistachio Bundt Cake is my new favorite spring dessert, and I’ve been making it on repeat. It couldn’t be any easier, and the full recipe is on my blog!

Copyright © 2023 Β·