Creamy Macaroni and Cheese FINAL – Make Ahead Mac & Cheese Recipe

Recipe right at the top! Scroll down for tips.

Creamy Mac & Cheese Recipe FINAL:

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Tips to make Creamy Macaroni & Cheese FINAL Recipe:

1. This is the best creamy, stovetop mac and cheese recipe. I’ve played with the recipe for years, and the recipe as written is perfect. If you change up the amounts or types of cheese, or omit or add ingredients, do not fault this recipe! Of course your taste and your family’s preferences are most important, but this is not a recipe to be toyed with. The sodium citrate does make the cheese sauce more forgiving, so do use what you have on hand—even preshredded cheese with the added ingredients will work if you use sodium citrate (Judy’s Sodium Citrate).
2. Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese, and deli yellow American cheese (the type you buy by the pound) are the ingredients that moved this recipe up to “FINAL” status—once my family says, “Stop messing with it!”. If you use a different brand of extra sharp cheddar, or cheap American cheese, you might be disappointed in this recipe. (Not sponsored by Tillamook.)
3. It might seem silly to dissolve the sodium citrate in water in a separate mug before adding it to the pot, since you could just dissolve the sodium citrate in water in the pot, but it actually takes a lot more time to dissolve in the pot. You aren’t really dirtying an extra dish; just rinse the mug and put it back in the cupboard.
4. If making ahead, I use one pot: Cook the pasta, drain two cups of pasta water into a glass measuring cup, drain the rest of the water into sink, stir in butter. When the pasta is cool, transfer it to a gallon size ziploc bag* (or two, if you’re making a double batch). Then make the cheese sauce and leave the sauce in the large pot. (6 quart All-Clad stockpot—mine is the Emeril made by All-Clad no longer sold, but look for it on ebay or thrifing. I’ve used mine for 20 years and it’s still in perfect condition). Cover, cool, and refrigerate. If your sauce makes a “skin” on top, you probably used cheap American cheese—try to upgrade next time (keep an eye on sales, and you can freeze the cheese so you’re ready to go next time you make mac & chz). The cheese skin will incorporate as you whisk while the sauce reheats, but it is a bit of a pain to deal with. As long as I have room in the fridge, I leave the cheese sauce in the large pot until ready to serve. This is easier than transferring it into a small pot, then transferring it into the large pot so the pasta will fit.
5. To serve make-ahead mac & chz, let the ziploc bag of pasta come to room temperature as you heat the cheese sauce slowly over medium heat, whisking often. (If you’re in a hurry, transfer the pasta to a glass dish and microwave it for 2-3 minutes, and heat the cheese sauce more aggressively on medium-high heat, whisking constantly so you don’t burn it.) Mix the pasta into the hot cheese sauce, and transfer to a crockpot on “warm” or Instantpot on “warm”. This will hold the macaroni and cheese for several hours at a good temperature for serving. Stir every half hour or so to make sure your crockpot/Instantpot isn’t hotter than you think.
6. Sodium citrate is the ingredient that makes a super smooth cheese sauce (without using flour (roux) or eggs or evaporated milk), and your mac and cheese will never seize up or be grainy! I prefer Judy’s Sodium Citrate but I’m currently using It’s Just Sodium Citrate because I cheaped out when I went on Amazon to rebuy Judy’s. Judy’s is better, but “It’s Just” works as well.

*I don’t want to hear about your magical silicone freezer bags. Let’s do the math:

• $2.34 for 38 gallon size ziploc bags at Winco (Winco brand). That’s 6 cents each.
• $13.99 for 6 gallon size silicone bags at Amazon. That’s $2.33 each.
• I’d have to use each reusable silicone freezer bag 39 times before it matched the price of the disposable ziploc bag. It seems highly unlikely each silicone bag will last 39 times being filled, frozen, thawed, and washed in boiling hot water, or that I will not feel like washing it at some point and will throw it out. I’m pretty sure the hot water and soap and rubber gloves needed to clean reusable bags cost the environment far more than disposable ziploc bags. Plus, my Winco ziploc bags are Made in the USA from global components and the cardboard box says 100% recycled paperboard, but the silicone reusable bags are 100% made in China so consider the environmental cost of shipping those heavier silicone freezer bags and their packaging.

Amazon items in this post (I personally own them all, except the Emeril All-Clad pots are no longer sold, so I linked a current model of All-Clad pot. It’s expensive, but I’d put it in the “buy it for life” category, since I’ve been using my Emeril pot daily for more than 20 years and it’s in perfect condition.)

6 quart All-Clad stock pot to cook the pasta and cheese sauce for this Macaroni & Cheese recipe (and all other recipes using a large pot).

Judy’s Sodium Citrate to make a perfectly smooth cheese sauce.

Playtex rubber kitchen gloves so you can use boiling hot water to wash dishes.

More budget recipes on All Day Mom here.

Earn a $300 statement credit when you spend $3,000 in 6 months on a new American Express Blue Cash Preferred credit card: Apply for an American Express Card for the $300 bonus with my link here. Amex Blue Cash Preferred gives you 6% cashback at the grocery store, and 3% cashback on gas.