Recipe Review: Serious Eats' Mac n Cheese Recipe

Let’s all be honest with ourselves: the vast majority of us loved blue box mac n cheese as kids (and still do today). However, the foil-wrapped orange goo and fluorescent powder can be a bit off-putting.

Enter your salvation: this amazing recipe from The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji López-Alt. I stumbled across it on one of my favorite food websites, SeriousEats.com, which had permission to reprint it. The link to the recipe is below, as well as the fascinating science behind the development of the recipe:

RECIPE: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/10/the-food-labs-ultra-gooey-stovetop-mac-cheese.html

SCIENCE: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/10/the-food-lab-fifteen-minute-stovetop-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe-food-lab-book-excerpt.html

A problem I’ve always had with roux or béchamel-based stovetop mac n cheeses is the grainy texture that often results. This recipe eliminates that by basing the cheese sauce in evaporated milk, egg, and cornstarch. It is incredibly silky smooth, as evidenced by the glamour shot of the finished product on the website.

The recipe also leverages the melting power of American cheese to help the cheddar integrate smoothly without breaking or becoming stringy. However, in the directions, it is made clear that any cheese that stands up well to melting, such as Fontina, Gruyere, or Muenster, can be easily substituted for American.

Possibly the best thing about this recipe, however, is just how fast it is to make. It takes no longer than the boxed variety, and it legitimately tastes better. About 15 minutes, and you’re resisting the urge not to eat the entire pot of finished mac n cheese. The reheating instructions they give really do work beautifully, so don’t feel pressured to eat it all day one!

My alterations:

I tend to halve this recipe unless I’m cooking for a crowd: even half still makes enough to feed about 3 people. All the amounts listed below are for a half batch!
- I use a small 5oz can of evaporated milk + 1 oz of normal milk
- Use only 0.5-1 Tb of butter. Or none. You won’t taste the difference, trust me.
- Replace the American cheese with Fontina, mozzarella, or pepper jack
- Use the sharpest available pre-shredded cheddar.
Pre-shredded cheeses are already tossed in a cornstarch-like powder to prevent clumping, and I’ve found that putting in the full measure of cornstarch makes the sauce grainy. Halving the amount of cornstarch works well.
I pretty much always add in crumbled bacon, thinly sliced green onions, and finely chopped shishito or long hot peppers for a flavor boost!