comfort food

Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

I know, I know. Macaroni and Cheese is daunting. It requires many steps and making something like Mac and Cheese from a box is easier, and cheaper. Hey, even the organic box mix goes on sale 10/$10.00 every once in a while.

However, homemade Mac and Cheese is actually pretty simple and painless to make. It involves making a basic béchamel sauce (read: butter, flour, milk) and adding cheese, and then wait for it, boiling noodles separately…and then adding them together. Like I said, pretty easy.

The difference between box Mac and Cheese and homemade is significant. As in, your family will burst out into song significant.

Basic Béchamel Sauce Ingredients

If you want to put things over the top, throw what we call “The Crunchies” on top, and throw it in the oven until it is creamy, melty, golden brown. Oh yeah. This is comfort food. Comfort as in, fill your belly and grab a blanket and snuggle comfort food. It has butter, and cheddar cheese, and it is pasta. It is to be eaten with the full knowledge that it’s an indulgent meal. Which is ok, because, making it in the first place seems scary, right?

Here are the basics: Melt your butter completely and add your flour. Stir, stir, stir. This does two things: 1, it cooks the raw taste out of the flour, and 2, insures there are no lumps. Then, add your milk. This will thin out the mixture, and make it like a thick, creamy gravy. At this point, you add your cheese.

Bechamel Sauce

I am a huge believer that recipes are to be changed. As in, we are a cheddar family. White, extra sharp. I also like messing around with adding Romano, or provolone, or even American if I have it in the cheese drawer. (The cheese drawer is literally a drawer in my fridge where we keep an assortment to of cheese…if I were lactose intolerant I would be thinner and this drawer would not exist). So, if you have a favorite cheese or an assortment of cheeses you’d like to try, have at it.

I add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to mine. I like a little kick. You can add more and make it buffalo Mac and cheese. You can do a lot with this. If you do, write a comment and let me know!

Béchamel with Cheddar Cheese

Now, for pasta. We do medium sized shells. YOU can do small shells, elbow, bow ties, whatever you want. It is your dinner. I use one pound of pasta, and cook and drain.

Now for the blessed arrangement that brings us together today:
add your cooked pasta to your cheese sauce and fold. Oh yes, this moment is the reason you are trying this recipe. The look of stringy cheese sauce enfolding pasta is a beautiful thing.

At this point you are done. It can and should be tasted out of the pan over the stove, so you can add whatever you need if you need it. OR, you can place this glorious mixture into a buttered casserole dish, top with buttered Panko breadcrumbs, and bake for 25 minutes.

My children who do not like crumbles on their muffins do love crunchies on their Mac and cheese. So, at this point I am making a salad, putting final touches on the pulled pork, or setting the table. Because, as soon as that timer goes off, we are ready for this meal.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese Topped with Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork

The best part? It heats up nicely as leftovers, should there be any. The gross but even better best part? It’s not bad cold either. There, I said it. But it’s true.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe.

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Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

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Homemade Macaroni and Cheese that is quick and easy to make…and even easier to eat!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 Tablespoons/1 Stick of butter
  • 1/3 Cup Flour
  • 1–2 Cups Milk (depending on how loose you would like your Macaroni and Cheese to be! – I start with 1 cup and add as needed as I go.
  • 4 Cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Dash of hot sauce to taste
  • 1 pound of pasta of choice

Instructions

  1. Boil pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
  2. In a medium sized pan, melt butter completely over low heat so as not to burn.
  3. Add flour, salt, and pepper into melted butter and raise heat slightly.
  4. Stir mixture until flour is completely dissolved and looks like a light roux. Flour taste will be cooked out and thickened.
  5. Gently add 1 to 1 and 1/2 Cups of Milk (I use 2% but this can be really decadent and add 1/2 and 1/2 if you want) and stir.
  6. Slowly add shredded cheese to the mixture and melt until creamy and smooth.
  7. Combine pasta and cheese sauce until thoroughly combined.
  8. If you would like to add additional milk, hot sauce, etc. at this point, this is the time!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 12

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White Chicken Chili

Autumn is around the corner and it’s time to break out the soup and chili recipes!

Poached Chicken Breasts

I tend to put chili in the recipe rotation once every three or four weeks, and serve it with a nice green salad and some fresh cornbread or soft rolls. White Chicken Chili is simple and quick, and hearty as well. You can up the ante and add shredded cheddar or more spices, but this basic recipe is easy to do, especially when the weather turns colder and a bowl of comfort is welcome at the table.

For this recipe, I poached thinly sliced chicken breasts in chicken broth. Poaching sounds like a next level cooking term, but essentially, its simmering the meat in broth at a low temperature until it’s cooked through. The end result is a tender, moist chicken that is easy to shred. I think, in a pinch, you could use rotisserie chicken, but it is actually easier to poach and throw the breasts into a Kitchen Aid mixer to shred than it would be to stand there and take the chicken off the bone, and less greasy as well. However, some people love the use of extra Rotisserie chicken, and if it is on sale and you don’t mind the extra step, go for it!

Shredded Chicken Breasts

I poached the chicken, put it in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment, and mixed it on low until the chicken had a fine shred. Again this is to your taste, so if you prefer bigger chunks, or larger shreds of chicken, go in that direction. I also saved the poaching liquid, and used that in the chili itself, as it is essentially broth that cooked the chicken, it is filled with flavor.

I have recently learned that my son doesn’t like the chunks of chili, be it tomatoes or onions, so this recipe is thick and hearty without seeing big chunks of anything. Now myself, I am a chunky person (I laugh to myself here. So much for self esteem). In more ways than one. Soup, cookies, muffins, chunks are good. So, this chili needed to deliver big flavor without big chunks.

in a stockpot, saute finely diced onion (you can add celery and carrot, I didn’t) until tender. Add the poaching liquid, three cans of drained, rinsed white beans, the chicken, and your spices.

Now for me, chili needs heat. I kept this mild and added hot sauce procured from my local farmers market that is a combination of smoked apple and heat. I did put in a dash of hot sauce into the chili to give it the extra pizazz. You can add green chili peppers that are canned, fresh jalapeño or ghost peppers if you like it hot.

Oh I almost forgot…what makes this chili creamy and delicious? A block of cream cheese! Cubed and stirred into the mix while it is on the stove, after heating thoroughly, the cream cheese dissolves and adds not only to the texture, but also to the flavor.

Let the chili cook on the stove until ingredients are combined, and serve. I love to add cheddar cheese, sour cream and hot sauce to mine. I would add cheddar cheese to the whole batch, actually.  Boom and Wow.

Serve with your favorite cornbread http://mythankfultab

White Chicken Chili

le.com/2017/09/14/cheesy-skillet-cornbread/

and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe!

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White Chicken Chili

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  1. 2 Pounds thinly sliced Chicken Breast
  2. 64 oz Chicken Stock
  3. 1 Tbsp Olive oil
  4. 1 Onion, finely diced
  5. 1 block of Cream Cheese, cubed
  6. 1-2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese (If you wish/optional)
  7. 3 Cans White Cannelini Beans, drained and rinsed
  8. hot sauce, spices, canned green chilies, salt, pepper, to taste

 

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  1. Gently poach chicken breasts in 1/2 of stock. (I usually use two containers of chicken stock, one to poach and one to add to chili later on). Poach until chicken is tender and cooked through. Drain and reserve poaching liquid.
  2. Shred chicken either in mixer or by hand until chunks and shreds are as desired. Set aside.
  3. Finely dice onion (you can also add carrots and celery but for this recipe I did not).
  4. Saute onion in olive oil in stockpot until translucent.
  5. Add three cans of drained white beans, chicken, poaching liquid, and additional stock.
  6. Add one package of cream cheese, cubed to chili and stir until mixed in.
  7. Add spices, chile peppers, hot sauce, and heat through.
  8. If desired, add cheddar cheese and continue to heat until melted.
  9. Serve with sour cream, additional cheddar shredded, and hot sauce.

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