What is almost every child’s favorite lunch? You guessed it…Macaroni and Cheese. And, which type do they really like? You guessed it again…the one from the box! They are right…it is pretty good. But, just in case you don’t like to use boxes, like me, here is another quick way to get creamy, tasty macaroni and cheese with all natural ingredients. And, your children will enjoy this one too. It is so creamy, they may not even realize that it didn’t come from a box…except, it is not quiet as orange.
Ingredients:
4 ounces of uncooked Pasta (shells or twists work well)
2 tablespoons Butter
3 tablespoons Half-n-Half
1/4 cup Pasta Water
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 squirt of Yellow Mustard
2 pinches Pepper
1 pinch Garlic
Salt to taste
Begin by cooking your pasta according to package directions. Mine took 12 minutes…so I put away dishes, loaded the dishwasher, and worked on a load of laundry…oh, and measured out my ingredients. 🙂 Once your pasta is cooked, ladle out 1/4 cup of the water before draining. Then drain away the rest of the water.
While your pasta is draining add your butter, half-n-half, and mustard to the hot pan.
This mixture will thicken quickly. Add in half of the reserved pasta water and your garlic (if desired) and pepper.
Then, add your hot noodles and stir.
You will see the sauce begin adhering to the pasta. It is time to remove this mixture from the heat and toss your cheese into your pasta and stir until melted.
This mixture will likely be a bit thick or lumpy. If it is, do not fear…add in your last bit of pasta water and stir. It will loosen right up.
Now it is time to taste for salt level. You want to wait until this point since you have already salted the pasta water and it might not need more salt. If it does need more, add it now.
Time to serve! Enjoy! This will serve two for lunch or 4 as a side dish for dinner. You could make it extra special by placing your mac in a baking dish and adding buttered bread crumbs and a little more cheese on top and baking. This would be delicious too, but then…I couldn’t call it quite as “easy”. 🙂
Blessings!
This is by far the easiest mac & cheese recipe I have ever seen. Can’t wait to try it out on my grandkids and Frank!!
Hey could I do this with milk instead of half and half you think? Is this the mac and cheese you served us when we were there?
Yes, milk works fine too. It just looses a little richness. It is very similar to what we had when you were here.
The kiddo isn’t the only one in this house who prefers boxed mac & cheese (and it MUST be the blue box – no other brand will do). I’ve tried several non-boxed versions and it has only resulted in an aversion. I look forward to trying this one and seeing if the trend may be broken 😉
Thank you for trying it Susan! :). Don’t worry…I will understand if the box wins for you :).