Creamy Mac and Cheese

Creamy Mac and Cheese is a simple recipe made from scratch! Serve as a side with your favorite meal.

You can count on kids being picky eaters, but the other thing you can count on is that kids love Mac & Cheese! The microwave and powdered Mac & Cheese tastes like… powdered Mac & Cheese.  We keep serving it to our kids though, because they need to eat. 

Southern Baked Mac and Cheese

Baked Mac and Cheese with Ritz Crackers and Bacon

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Leave it to a grandmother to take a kids favorite and transform it into something better than the original.  My mother’s mother made this for her family, and of course my mother made it for me as a child, and now I make it for my kids.  It takes less than 20 minutes to make and only uses 4 ingredients. 

The best part about this recipe too is that you can substitute different kinds of noodles, and you can easily double the ingredient portions for church potlucks, family get togethers, or parties. 

Noodles for Mac and Cheese

I use traditional elbow macaroni pasta noodles for this recipe. When making macaroni and cheese, I recommend a using short noodles that can hold the cheese sauce well. Avoid using long noodles like spaghetti or fettuccine noodles.

Creamy Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Elbow Macaroni Pasta Noodles
• 8 ounces of pasteurized cheese product
• 2 tbsp. of butter
• 1/2 cup of half and half or milk

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, boil the noodles for 8-9 minutes or until al dente. 

Drain the noodles using a colander and add them back to the pot on the stove.

Turn the stove down to low.

Pour half and half into noodles, then add butter and cheese to noodles. 

It is best to cut the cheese into small cubes so that it melts quickly and evenly across the noodles. 

Stir the noodles with the half and half, butter, and cheese until all the cheese is melted and all of the noodles are coated in cheese sauce.

Serve and enjoy!