Stove-top Macaroni and Cheese

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Forget the boxes, the mixes, and don’t even think of waiting an hour for macaroni and cheese on a week night. I have the super-fast solution for homemade macaroni and cheese, and it is SO good.

I have something of an addiction to macaroni and cheese. When I was a child I ate mac & cheese from the blue box at least once a week. My mom just did not always feel up to making homemade side dishes every night, and I never complained! When I got older I discovered a whole world of macaroni and cheese that did not involve powdered cheese and I have tried more than I care to tell you about.

The recipe I am about to share with you makes the creamiest macaroni and cheese I have ever made, and it is nearly as fast as making the stuff in the box. I make this at the holidays now because it is more popular than the baked one I used to make. In fact, my brother (who is himself something of a macaroni and cheese aficionado) told me that going forward this was the ONLY recipe I should use. High praise indeed.

One thing I feel I must add is that you really should grate your cheese fresh. Cheeses that come ready-grated have anti-caking agents in them which change the way they melt. They also change the overall texture of the cheese sauce. Of course, if it makes your life easier you can use the ready-grated stuff but the sauce may not be as creamy.

One thing - It does not reheat terribly well, but I have found that if you add a little milk to the pasta while reheating in the microwave it helps keep it from getting grainy.

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Ingredients

  • 1 8-oz box elbow macaroni, or any smallish tube shaped pasta
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 6 oz evaporated milk
  • 6 oz freshly grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
  • Hot sauce, to taste
  • Salt and pepper

Preparation

Step 1

Boil the pasta (about 3 cups) according to package directions, but reduce the cooking time by one minute. Drain and pour back into the cooking pot.

Over medium-low heat, add the butter and stir until melted.

Mix the egg, milk, and spices and pour over the pasta. Stir until it begins to thicken, about three to five minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat then add the cheese in four installments, making sure the first is melted completely before adding the next. Serve immediately.
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REVIEWS:

Great recipe! Family could not get enough of it!! This was my first experience with evaporated milk and found it just as creamy as using regular milk. Thanks for sharing – this was a hit for me.

It looks a lot better than that rubbish that comes in a packet.

Just made this, with a few changes: used paprika instead of cayenne pepper, and no hot sauce (we do NOT like spicy in my household), and added a little milk (2%) toward the end of the cheese-adding process. TASTY! This has become my new macaroni and cheese recipe! I’ll be adding a little less mustard next time, though.)

Recently found this via foodgawker. Made it tonight with a smoked apple cheddar, and oh-em-gee it may have been the best mac’n'cheese I’ve ever had. Thanks for the recipe!

I just made this and it totally rocks! I didn’t know making homemade Mac & Cheese could be so easy! Plus it was so good that I’ll never eat the boxed stuff again!

I made this today and my boyfriend loved it. I used Tillamook mild cheddar & Cholula chili garlic sauce. I felt it was a little too much mustard but I’ll just cut the amount down next time. Other than that, this was perfect!

I made this tonight and it was pretty good. I feel like I followed the directions to a t, but it didn’t turn out very creamy. I think I thickened the sauce too much. I’ll try again soon. Husband loved it though!

Mine turned out kind of grainy, not creamy. Any idea what I did wrong. Taste is yummy. Texture, well, my picky 6 year old mac-n-cheez lover, won’t touch it.

I just made this and it is amazing!!! I didn’t have red pepper so I used cayenne instead. If you want it to turn out perfect make sure you follow her instructions perfectly!

This dish tasted great, but wasn’t near as creamy as I was expecting. I was only able to find a 5oz can of evaporated milk… do you think that one ounce could have had that big of an effect on the sauce? I also didn’t find it to be overly cheesy, but that could just be the type of cheddar I used.

Oh.My.Goodness! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

Me and my friend just made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing! We have no complaints.

This is nearly exactly the recipe from Joy of Cooking for stovetop mac and cheese. I have been making it for years and am not shy about claiming to make the best mac and cheese in the world! I make mine with penne, however–I really just prefer its texture to mac’s.

**Need a whole 12 oz can of evaporated milk**I liked this recipe a lot but I think there’s a mistake in the amount of evaporated milk in the recipe. I used half of a 12oz can since the recipe calls for 6 oz. I followed the instruction to a T. It did not come out creamy at all. So I added the entire can and heated it some more. It was infinitley improved.I will use this recipe again with the whole can of evaporated milk.

I made this with smoked cheddar and gruyere, added more condensed milk, and put it under the broiler for 5 minutes with bread crumbs and extra cheese on top. SO GOOD.

Just made this tonight. It was wonderful. I did not add the Tobasco sauce but might try that next time. However, for a fuller body sauce lover, this is perfect! For anyone that is getting clumps or grainy textures, you cannot use rice pasta because of the flour that comes off of it. You also should NEVER use pre-shredded cheese because of the caking agent that is put on it as this will change your texture. I may try to add a little more milk next time as I doubled it and measured everything including the cheese and it could have been creamier. All in all..great find!!

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