How do you make the best homemade macaroni and cheese?
By following my recipe! If you watch my Live stream, you know I love macaroni and cheese and that I have my own homemade recipe that is divine. This tasty mac and cheese even won a mac and cheese cook off contest! Really. Lol.
The secret’s in the sauce. We’ve all tasted those boring, plain Jane mac and cheeses where someone just melts cheese and bakes it in the oven with some cheese shredded on top sprinkled with bread crumbs. The flavor is bland, and you wonder about the choices leading up to that point…
Not anymore!
Spice up your homemade mac and cheese sauce with seasonings and the secret ingredient: siracha.
How do you make homemade mac and cheese sauce?
With these simple ingredients: heavy whipping cream and sharp cheddar cheese. To make the sauce tasty and not bland, add in siracha. Add some ground mustard if you have some, but it’s not necessary like the siracha is. People always say cheese tastes better freshly shredded from the block, but I’ve found pre-packaged shredded cheese is just as tasty in this recipe and using it makes the process simpler.
The specific ingredient list for my homemade mac and cheese sauce is: 1 pint heavy whipping cream, 2 packages sharp shredded cheese, lots of siracha, and a bit of ground mustard.
Warm up 1 pint of heavy whipping cream over medium heat. Once warm, add in the shredded cheese a bag at a time. Stirring to melt. Once the cheese has melted add in the siracha. I don’t use an exact measurement—I taste as I go. I like spicy, so I add about 5 tablespoons of siracha. Adjust to your preference. I sprinkle in about 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard and stir, stir, stir! Then I pour the sauce on the cooked noodles and bake.
What noodles do I use for homemade mac and cheese?
Everyone and their mom uses elbow macaroni. I guess because macaroni is in the name, but those aren’t the best noodles for this dish. Try Cavatoppi or Cellentani noodles. They soak in the sauce eloquently and add a scrumptious texture to the dish. I’d never make this with any other noodle!
This simple dinner recipe is a kid-friendly, easy family dinner! The ingredients are minimal and adding in the fresh tomatoes and black beans gives an additional nutrient boost. You can also top the cooked dish with fresh spinach for even more nutrients. I use tortilla chips instead of a fork to eat this mac and cheese—try it.
To begin, start cooking the noodles. Dice the tomato and drain the black beans. Once the noodles are almost finished, start the sauce. When the sauce is done, pour it over the finished noodles and mix in the tomatoes and black beans. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 425F. Easy!
Easy Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 box Cellentani or Cavatoppi noodles
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 1 can black beans
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 2 16oz packages shredded sharp cheddar
- 2-5 tbsp siracha
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard (optional)
- tortilla chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F and begin cooking the noodles. Dice the tomatoes and drain the black beans and set aside.
- When the noodles are almost finished, begin making the cheese sauce. Pour the heavy whipping cream into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Once warm, add in the shredded cheese one bag at a time, stirring to melt. Once melted, add in the siracha and the ground mustard and stir. Taste and add the siracha to desired heat.
- Drain the cooked noodles and cover with the cheese sauce. Mix in the tomatoes and black beans. Pour into a 9×13 inch baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes until the top looks dry and slightly browned in some areas.
