Easy-to-make baked mac and cheese

Image by: Ellen Rowe
Rowe’s baked mac and cheese — a warm comfort food you can make right at home.

What’s better than mac and cheese? Try baked mac and cheese.

To follow are recipes that will cure stressful days, make your mouth water and keep you coming back for more.

I’ve put together two recipes: one from scratch and another, a student hack made with Kraft Dinner. Both make about four servings or less depending on how much you eat in one sitting. Store in the fridge or divide into portions and freeze for later. 

From Scratch

Ingredients
3 cups macaroni noodles
3 tbsp butter/margarine
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk (any type)
1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper
1 pinch of cayenne pepper (or more if desired)
1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of crushed Ritz crackers

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Boil macaroni until soft, about 7 minutes. Drain water and keep pasta separate until sauce is ready.

3. Return empty pot to burner and turn stove on low to medium heat. Add butter or margarine, milk and flour to the pot. Mix well. Add all of the cheddar cheese and ½ of the Gruyère cheese (the rest will be used for the topping). Add salt and pepper and stir until almost all the cheese has melted.

4. Return pasta to the pot and mix until the pasta has an even coat of sauce. Add half (1/4 cup) of the crushed Ritz crackers to the pasta and stir until combined. Add the cayenne pepper and seasonings. Mix well. 

5. Transfer pasta mix from pot to an oven safe pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of crushed Ritz on mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Gruyère cheese on top of everything.

6. Bake in oven for 15 minutes then broil until the top is golden.  

7. Serve and enjoy!

Student hack

Ingredients 

1 box of Kraft Dinner
3 tbsp butter/margarine
1/2 cup milk (any type)
1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper
1 pinch of cayenne pepper (or more if desired)
1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of crushed Ritz crackers

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Make Kraft Dinner, following the directions on the box (milk, cheese mix and butter/margarine).

3. Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. 

4. Add half of crushed Ritz crackers (1/4 cup) and mix until well combined. 

5. Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and mix until cheese has melted and combined with noodles.

6. Pour into an oven safe pan. Sprinkle remaining crackers and cheese on top.

7. Bake for 15 minutes and then broil until the topping is golden and crisp.

There you have it: a very easy and delicious ultimate mac and cheese recipe that will impress everyone who eats it.

Tags

baking, Campus cooking, macaroni, Pasta, recipe

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