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It adds starches and helps thicken up the sauce and keeps the sauce clinging to the pasta. If you don’t have mustard powder, substitute 1 tsp prepared mustard (regular or dijon).Shred it yourself for a nice smooth sauce. Don’t use pre-shredded cheese or the sauce might end up grainy and gritty.But I prefer serving it as a side to one of the following main dishes: I’ll admit, sometimes this simple mac and cheese recipe gets served by itself when I’m short on time. You may need to add a splash of milk to thin out the mac and cheese sauce and prevent the pasta from drying out. If you wind up with leftovers of this homemade mac and cheese, I recommend reheating them in a saucepan over low heat. Here we go with cheddar, mozzarella and cream cheese.
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Use a blend of cheeses for a nice combination of flavor. What’s the Best Cheese for Mac and Cheese? Toss pasta with cheese sauce, thin with pasta water a splash at a time as needed.Returning pan to warm heat as needed to melt fully.Melt in cheddar: Remove saucepan from heat add in the shredded cheeses half at a time, and whisk to melt.Melt in cream cheese: Reduce heat to low add in cream cheese and whisk until melted.Increase heat slightly, then bring mixture to a low boil whisking constantly. Make the mac and cheese sauce: While whisking slowly pour in milk, add in mustard and garlic powder.Make a roux: while pasta is cooking, in a large saucepan (4 quart) or medium pot melt butter over medium heat then add flour, cook 1 minute whisking constantly.Drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. Cook pasta: bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, boil pasta to al dente according to package instructions.Here’s what you’ll need to make the silky smooth mac and cheese sauce and pasta: Homemade Mac and Cheese IngredientsĪs promised, this stovetop mac and cheese recipe is super simple to make.
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