3-Ingredient Stovetop Mac and Cheese Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why use condensed milk in mac and cheese? ›

Start your cheese sauce by making a roux. Add 1/2 stick of butter to your sauce pan and melt. Add sweet condensed milk (1-2 tbsps) and combine with butter. This step is optional, but the sweetness helps balance the natural acidity from all of the cheese and ties all of the flavors together.

One way to make boxed mac and cheese much richer is to ditch the milk and add extra butter. The box instructions will most likely call for both milk and butter, but, as it turns out, the milk is unnecessary — as long as you add enough butter, of course.

Evaporated milk is a highly concentrated source of milk protein micelles—bundles of proteins that can act as powerful emulsifying agents—which help to keep the sauce creamy and smooth.

Pasta Water

The simplest, cheapest, and most obvious milk alternative is water! However, I don't recommend using just any water. To make boxed mac and cheese with water, reserve at least ½ a cup of the pasta water that the pasta is cooked in when you drain it.

It is better to use heavy cream for Mac and Cheese instead of milk, or better yet, use evaporated milk which has the thickness of heavy cream without all of the fat! Furthermore, it is more stable than heavy cream so your Macaroni and Cheese is less likely to curdle or separate.

Any milk is fine. I usually use whole milk, then add some cream, sometimes, just to make it richer. Then you add the cheese of your choice, and melt that, then put the cooked macaroni in. If you are used to using evaporated milk, it's because it makes the sauce a little creamier/richer.

In fact, you can substitute sour cream for milk almost anytime the recipe calls for less than a cup of milk. One of the most common ingredients to use milk with is potatoes. Spuds love dairy, so if a recipe calls for milk, sour cream almost always works in its place.

Mac and cheese with mayo? It may not sound appetizing at first, but we guarantee it'll give your dish a tangy creaminess that perfectly cuts through savory cheeses for a balanced bite. Even your friends and family who detest mayo will be going back for seconds — and thirds.

How can I keep my mac and cheese creamy? ›

If you want a very creamy mac n' cheese, you can add Velveeta processed cheese or American cheese (from the deli) to your melted cheese base mixture. The American cheese provides the creaminess you are looking for, and when reheating the mac n' cheese add a little bit of milk.

Why Evaporated Milk Makes Better Mac. That higher concentration of milk proteins means evaporated milk is more stable, so it's less likely to “break” or curdle. Evaporated milk also usually contains stabilizers, such as carrageenan, which help keep your mac's sauce super smooth and silky.

The box instructions will most likely call for both milk and butter, but, as it turns out, the milk is unnecessary — as long as you add enough butter, of course.

Instead, you can use water as a substitute. Simply follow the package instructions for cooking the macaroni, then drain it and mix in the cheese powder and a small amount of water to create the sauce. Adjust the consistency to your liking by adding more or less water as needed.

The remaining ingredients are simple: butter and flour (which makes the sauce thicken), milk, spices, salt, and pepper. For the milk, I prefer whole milk since it makes a creamier sauce, but I've used reduced fat milk plenty of times without complaint.

It provides a concentrated creaminess and sweet, milky flavor to whatever you put it in, without all the excess moisture that you get from regular old milk. That makes it perfect for creamy things that you want to set to a near-solid, like key lime pie, fudge, frozen margarita pie, or caramel.

The remaining ingredients are simple: butter and flour (which makes the sauce thicken), milk, spices, salt, and pepper. For the milk, I prefer whole milk since it makes a creamier sauce, but I've used reduced fat milk plenty of times without complaint.

As a technique for preserving milk, it was useful for an industrializing world involving more long-distance travel. Anyone without access to a cow (or refrigeration) could have milk products to use. Gail Borden was among the first to produce it commercially in the US in the 1850s.

It Stars in the Most Irresistible Baked Goods

The thick syrup contributes both the sweetness of sugar and the benefits of milk without adding too much liquid since condensing milk removes moisture and concentrates the natural sugars. These sugars then take on toasty notes as they warm up and bake in the dessert.