What do you add to Mac & Cheese to take it to the next level?

>>7293281
Mustard and seasoning in the cheese sauce, Chorizo and tomatoes in the pasta when put it in the oven

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msg

>>7293281
There is no next level.
Mac and Cheese is shit tier pleb food.
/Thread

>>7293290
>animu

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A heaping tablespoon

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Crushed cheetos baked on top

More cheese

Scaffolding

>>7293281
bread crumbs
bake it


If you're serious, take out the fucking elbows and get a nicer pasta. You can go with ziti or similar and make some fucking baked mac and cheese.


Worst: water + powder
Pretty bad: Cheese packet you squeeze
Okay: Easy mac
Good: microwave package of baked mac n cheese
Better: Just boil some pasta for 10 minutes, drain, pour into a baking dishes, and cover with cheese + breadcrumbs

but elbow macaroni is still silly.

>dollop of ketchup
>tsp of basil
>tsp of oregano
>stir

delish

caramellized or crispy onions and/or crispy crumbled bacon

>>7293281
Learn to make a roux. Add shredded smoked gouda to it. Boil elbow macaroni. Drain. Mix the bechamel into it. put in a casserole dish and springle some more shredded gouda over the top. Bake for a bit. Serve.

>>7293564
Baking always ruins my macaroni for some reason. The cheese just separates and it gets all grainy.

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>>7293370
This nigga knows whats up. It's all about that surface area. I'm all about that radiatori/wagonwheels.

Also, bacon and jalapenos, maybe some paprika. Please use real cheese, thinned with cream cheese if you must.

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar for a delicious tang

>>7293581
Try lower heat. Less cheese? The roux should be the bulk of the cheese sauce. add too much cheese and it will break. Go with sharper cheeses and more roux.

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>>7293291

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When I was a child, ketchup. Now I'm a grown-ass man, so [spoiler]sriracha.[/spoiler]

>>7293581
>The cheese just separates and it gets all grainy.

Your heat is too high, and/or you're using a cheese that doesn't melt well. Fontina, Gouda, and Gruyere are all excellent for Mac and Cheese. Add some cheddar to the mix if you want, just don't go all-out with the extra sharp cheddar and nothing else.

>>7293604
>Go with sharper cheeses
That's counterproductive. The older the cheese the tastier it may be but it melting properties are worse. A mature cheddar will separate much easier than a mild younger one will.

>>7293304
my nigga

Cocaine

>>7293660
Yeah. but you can use less of it in the roux for the same amount of flavor.

>>7293782

Or you can pick a cheese that doesn't separate and then you don't need a roux at all. How's that for maximum cheesy goodness?

A can of tuna.

>>7293785
Notice I prefer gouda. I never have these problems. I'm just trying to help out cheddar boy.

>>7293700
This sounds like a viable addition.

(If I had a nickel for every time I added cocaine...)

>>7293785
Just use sodium citrate. Every cheese becomes melty line Velveeta, no roux needed.

>>7293798
Truth.

A hookers ass. meh, could take it or leave it. Add a line of coke, and I'm in.

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Dump this shit in it

>>7293281
I bake it.

>>7293880
DUDE WEED LMAO BAKE IT EVERYDAY

More cheese
Hotdogs
Ketchup

>>7294274
And pepper

>>7293878
my african american brethren

>>7293281
I always add smoked paprika to my mac and cheese to give it a smokey cheese flavor.

White cheddar+gruyere+bread crumbs+side of stewed tomatoes

Thank me later

>>7293358
fuck, was gonna post "stairs."
well done, sir.

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>>7294412

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Mac is as much a final product as you can get. The only way to go further is to deep fry that shit and make Mac n' Cheese balls, or to stuff them in other food like chicken and burgers.

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>>7293281
Sliced Weiners

Tin of tomato soup added before baking

Why is this a thing?

>caucasian people food

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>>7294470
>not weinering your slices before macaroning them

Mac n cheese pizza mah nigga

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>>7293281
diced green chiles

nutmeg

Just stir in some Frank's red hot buffalo. Pepper to taste and enjoy your new addiction.

spicy, peppery barbecue sauce

>>7293281
crushed red pepper flakes and or jalapenos or habaneros

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>>7293564
Elbow macaroni is pleb tier. Fusilli spirale for creamy stovetop and penne rigate for baked. Maybe Farfalle if it has other stuff like a meat or vegetable.

>>7294454
You can put it in a waffle iron and make Mac n cheese waffles. Look it up.

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>>7293281

Cannabutter

>>7293281
ham, sardines, pesto, hot sauce, sundried tomatoes, broccoli...

my personal fav is baby shrimp for flavor and celery for crunch. also works in egg salad and potato salad.

its cheese and pasta you can literally mix anything with it

>>7293349
matty is actually the king that boy knows his shit

>>7293281
LSD.

onions, whole grain mustard, bacon

>>7293281
beer

>>7293281
jews

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Umm you cunts are all plebz that can suck my pee

anyone have a recipe for a simple 1 person mac and cheese?
i wanna make a small pot today for lunch, not sure how to proceed

>>7295890
Thanks. Where do you live? I have a bit of time this weekend, so should be able to make time for it.

>>7296094
Just do stuff smaller..like 1/2 cup to 1 cup dry pasta, cook it to just under al dente, make a roux with only like 1 tbs flour and butter and 1/2 cup milk and some cheese, mix it up and put it in a oven safe bowl and put some crumbs on it and bake or something.

Bacon. Not memeing, it is just one of the few dishes that bacon actually helps.

>>7294517
You've never met a black person in your life, have you?

>>7296100
okay, okay.....is there a way i can just gage "proportions"?

like if i use 2 cups of dry pasta then it'd be 2x everything else you said right?

adding lots of spices to the roux seems like it'll be for the best; i'd love if i could add some finely chopped vegetables as well ( thinking onions for sure; maybe bell peppers as well) but i'm not sure how well that will play out, if at all.

my mother made a mac and cheese with zuccini in it once, and in general, it just wasnt that good; it would have been better with the zuccini on the side.

but i'm wanting to find a way to make macaroni and cheese as the sole dish, not a side.

>>7296118
Yeah I mean if you don't want to try guessing since you haven't done it much, just find a recipe and divide it down to something the size you need. Adding vegetables/meat in isn't an issue. I don't know about zucchini. That doesn't sound too good. But peas, chicken, bacon, broccoli, ground beef, almost anything would work. I sometimes even make some taco seasoned ground beef and onions/peppers and add it in and it's like a taco mac n cheese and is pretty decent for a cheap meal.

>>7296127
oh dividing down a recipe, fucking duh
idk why i didn't think of that.

so you've added stuff....okay when do you add?
like, mix it in with the noodles and shreadded cheese before you add the cheese sauce?
or post cheese sauce?
or just on top?

>>7296132
I mix the cheese mixture in and then add in the other stuff and put it in the oven for a bit to get it all together. Just don't use too high of a heat or for too long.

>>7296134
huh, all right, all right

everything should be cooked when i mix it in, would you say?

I'm thinking especially with vegetables

>>7296135
>different anon here
you can saute some minced onion in butter before adding flour if you're making a roux. i also like adding some steamed broccoli florets to the sauce. i wouldn't add raw vegetables to it, if you're baking it long enough to cook the vegetables you're going to overcook the pasta or make the sauce split.

>>7296140
okay okay, i'll try minced onion in butter in the roux

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe.html

what do you make of this recipe?
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe.html

I'll have to halve or quarter it I think, i'm not sure how much macaroni is in the package I have

>>7293281
More Jack Daniel's

>>7295644
To each their own. I like macaroni. Farfalle is terrible. I use it for cold pasta salads occasionally. But it's just a pasta that breaks too easily when soft. fuck that shape.

>>7293281
Steal it. Stolen food tastes better. Maybe the adrenaline or something

>>7293304
What does this do?

>inb4 "makes it good senpai"

>>7293281
LSD

Sriracha

>>7293281

Bacon bits

>LOL BACON EPIC DUDE XD

It's legit good.

>>7296469
It's good.

Real bacon is better

Lobster, truffle.Both go well.

ketchup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TnWIICkBeE

>>7296469
>almost seeming surprised that bacon is good with cheese

Blue cheese, lots of it.

>>7294517
>being a nigger
looks like the joke's on you

>>7296640
I'm mexican

checkmate idiot

>>7293281
Bacon is the flavor king. I add it last to kick it into overdrive.

>>7295701
>sundried tomatoes

Dude, I've spent years (okay, months) trying to figure out how to use tomatoes. First I chopped them up and threw them into the pie to bake. It had no flavor. Then I through in grape tomatoes, unchopped. They were heat reservoirs with no flavor. Then I watched Shokugeki no Soma and learned how to sundry tomatoes...

- Cut the grape tomatoes in halves, throw some sea salt on them and put them in the oven at 200 degree F for an hour or so. And BOOM. FLAVOR GALORE.

Now I layer the middle of my Mac & Cheese with them, and it's spectacular!

I also put in bell peppers, onions, mustard seeds, and black ground and Cayenne pepper for some extra flavor before mixing it up and baking it. After I cook it up, bake it, and leave it to sit overnight, the flavor is DIVINE.

But I have had issues where my cheese sauce is messed up because it got clumpy and didn't mix properly. I also only use sharp cheddar cheese.

I'm going to try your guys' idea of using roux or mixing with other types of cheeses.

>>7296683
Even worse.

I like mixing in sour cream, when I have it.

If I don't, I'll mix up some tuna salad and eat that either mixed in or just alongside the macaroni. Granted, I'm talking about boxed kraft dinner. If it's higher quality pasta/cheese/both, it just needs to be seasoned well with black pepper.

I put a trashcan around it

>>7294489
holy shit

>>7296807
>First I chopped them up and threw them into the pie to bake. It had no flavor

Supermarket tomatoes suck bro. You weren't doing anything wrong, you just had flavorless tomatoes.

>>7293281
Real cheese

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Stewed tomatoes and/ or roasted red peppers. Fuck croutons, they get all spongy and don't add anything to the texture.

>>7296224
>pasta breaks easily when soft
Wow stop the fucking presses.

>>7295706
I swoon for matty
and i dont swoon too often

Ground beef, diced potato, garlic salt, extra cheeses (cheddar, Monterrey jack, pepper jack, whatever) , SRIRACHA (YOU MUST), pepper, salt, red pepper flakes, extra milk (whole) to make it hella creamy, a little bit of minced serrano peppers, chopped up bacon, and chili cheese Fritos on top. Add some buttered bread crumbs and shredded cheese on top, throw that bad boy in the oven for a bit and have an ambulance ready.

>>7296224
Don't cook it so much then.

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>>7293281
Simple starters,
Crackers
Green herbs

Here's a good start too, pic related

Easy as shit recipe for homemade mac & cheese that tastes infinitely better than instant shit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBUYhjHk0-w
It takes 10 minutes. It's cheap. It's easy. If you want you can add more shit to spice it up. Go wild. Fuck instant.

>>7297417
Looks ok. I use the FoodLab recipe, and it is incredible.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/10/the-food-labs-ultra-gooey-stovetop-mac-cheese.html

Has anyone added canned tuna to a mac & cheese before? I just got that thought and might try it, should taste pretty good.

spam/ham/hot dogs & broccoli

>>7297465
Can't go wrong with tuna mac.

Add nutmeg to the bechamel

>>7298972
Gross.

>>7293281
peanut butter

>>7298972
this creates mustard gas

>>7293281
- Hot Dogs and Ketchup
- Chicken and Chipotle sauce (make the sauce by pureeing a small can of Chipotles in Adobo)
- Chicken, Bacon, Ranch
- Chicken, Basil
- Pulled BBQ Pork

>>7293281
my dick

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stouffers+chopped pieces of sweet ham

>>7293288
This goy gets it. You should also broil it with the breadcrumbs instead of baking it so that the sauce stays perfect.

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>>7299129
bread crumbs are over rated

use this instead

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You'd better be making the sauce yourself, for one.

Add:
>can of tomato paste
>fry up ground beef with onions and garlic
>add mixed vegetables if desired

Just one big happy blob

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>>7296683
Why do you have to bring race up in this shit?

Are you so insecure in your own cultural identity that you must lash out at others?

>>7296250
Creaminess, sort of like milk I imagine.

>>7299175
>cultural identity

Jew detected.

>>7299147
Are you taking the piss? You basically just said "make bolognese instead" in a thread about instant Mac and cheese like it's the same thing.

>>7299380
nah he's giving the piss and you're taking it.

>>7299143
THIS
H
I
S

I'm probably pleb tier, probably not, but if I'm gonna get fancy with my mac and cheese, I get the "fancy" stuff. I'm talking "white cheddar and shell pasta" mac and cheese. Then I add some solid white albacore in there, sprinkle it with a bit of pepper, and call it good.

>>7293281

tuna in chilli oil, flake it into there and stir some sriracha through too

If it is velveeta or stouffers, I toast some stovetop stuffing in butter then add chicken broth and put it on top.

If it is one I am making myself then I add a couple carmelized onions and some type of paprika or pimentos.

>>7293281
Pork cheek

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I make Käsespätzle instead anf top with roasted onions

>>7293281
>What do you add to Mac & Cheese to take it to the next level?
Topping that adds texture: Buttered coarse homemade breadcrumbs with parm on top.

A bit of onion to the bechamel sauce adds flavor for me.

There's a Three Bridges brand of mac n cheese I've been buying lately at Publix in Buy-One Get-Ones, because their enchilada casserole is so good. It's got chunks of butternut squash in it, and it's a great addition.

>>7293281
>go to the supermarket
>mac and cheese is super expensive, more than $10/kg

What the fuck

>>7296606
Bleu cheese and pear, you'd use bleu stilton and bartlett pears right?

>>7299921
>bleu cheese
>bleu
Are you French?

>>7299936
No, habit. Sorry if it offended you.

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>>7293281
Here's a simple recipe to try and make mac and cheese from scratch

>>7299943
How did you develop this habit, anon?

>>7300079
Took French class. Had 'French' friends. Always just kind of assumed that was the right way to spell it when referring to cheese. Even if Stilton isn't French but English. I think. That's how. Again, sorry.

>>7294517
My half black cousins family always make mac n chesse when we have family events.

>>7294281
Kekkles

Some stuff I like to use sometimes:
Tuna
Corn
Peas
Brussel Sprouts
Red Potatoes
Spinach
Egg
More Cheese

>>7293370
>not making your own cheese sauce

stay pleb

>>7295890
>falling for the meme oil

Mac and cheese consists of only these following items. Macaroni. Cheese. This entire thread consist of "pasta bakes". Almost every "mac and cheese" I see on here has other items added to it. The fact that this is called "mac and cheese" is nothing short of utter blasphemy. Let me start out by saying I have nothing against pasta bakes, I just hate their association with dishes that are not mac and cheese. Adding cheese to your tuna pasta? It's called a Tuna bake. Totally different. Want to add bacon and some pretentious bread crumbs with spinach? I don't know what the hell you'd call that but it's not a mac and cheese. I would be more than willing to wager I've eaten more mac and cheese in my 21 years than any of you had in your entire lives. I have one almost everyday and sometimes more than just one bowl. Want to personalize your mac and cheese? Use a mix of different cheeses. But if you want to add some pulled pork and take a picture of it, make your own thread or fucking board entitled "pasta bake" because that is not fucking mac and cheese. I'm not a religious man nor am I anything close to a culinary expert. But as a bland white mid-western male I am honestly the most passionate person when it comes to mac and cheese. All of you foodies stay the hell away from our mac and cheeses and stop associating your pasta bakes with them. Yet again, it is utter blasphemy and it rocks me to the core of my pale being. Shit, I stopped lurking after 3 years and made this account for the sole purpose of posting this. I've seen post after post of peoples "mac and cheese" all over /ck/ and it's been driving me insane. The moment i saw this thread this evening I finally snapped. Hell, I may even start my own chan just because I know this one exists now. You god damn heretics. Respect the mac and cheese and stop changing it into whatever you like and love it for it what it is. Or make your damn pasta bake and call it for what it is. A pasta bake.

>>7301909
Is this a pasta?

>>7296606
>orecchiette
those suck

maybe some crumbled up bacon

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>>7293281

>>7301926
IT IS NOW

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>>7293281

>>7301926
Dangerously cheesy pasta

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>>7298972

>>7301909
go back to leddit

>>7293304
Not even kidding, I added mayo to my mac n cheese when I was out of milk, and it was fucking amazing.

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>>7293281

>>7302006
sauce?

Added my daughter's birth to it.

roasted butternut squash

>>7296956 >>7296807
Incidentally... canned tomatoes are literally better than supermarket produce section tomatoes.

>>7302316
This sounds interesting. What kind of cheese though?

>>7293288
What is best chorizo brand?