

#Macaroni and cheese roux how to
If you’ve ever wondered how to make homemade mac and cheese, here you go! (Buuuut it’s also plenty perfect without.) Macaroni and cheese ingredients Thank you eternally, Bev!īeing a mixed carnivore-and-veggie household, sometimes I like to serve this baked mac and cheese with some crumbled bacon that the carnivores can drop over the top. I can also say it’s the best macaroni and cheese recipe ever because this one is tweaked from someone else’s recipe – I grabbed the recipe from someone named Bev, who shared her recipe on. Rather, it’s because whenever I take a glorious melty bite, I simply cannot imagine a better classic mac and cheese. I say it’s the best macaroni and cheese recipe ever not because I have tried every single mac and cheese recipe in the world (though I have tried many) (and wouldn’t it be an incredibly noble cause to try every single one?!) It’s rich, ooey and gooey, with a brown and bubbling top and gloriously creamy interior.Īnd, yeah – in my humble opinion, it’s the best baked mac and cheese recipe EVER. Seriously. I was well into my adult years when I made my first bechamel sauce and here I had a group of seven to twelve year olds (and their parents) who totally rocked it.This recipe for the Best Baked Mac & Cheese Ever is super creamy – not dry like some homemade mac and cheese can get. You can also treat it as a side dish along with some sort of protein (e.g. However, I do mention that although this dish is substantial enough to eat on its own, adding a side of steamed broccoli or sauteed vegetables would help round it out. I thought about teaching a healthier version but in the end I decided to go with a traditional macaroni and cheese recipe so they could learn the fundamental techniques (roux and bechamel sauce) and would have a good baseline to compare all other versions of mac and cheese to. There are healthier versions of macaroni and cheese (you can swap out some of the cheese for butternut squash or sweet potato). Add a small amount of milk at the beginning and if it thickens up right away it will give you a good idea as to whether you got the roux right.

The key is to cook the roux down so most of the liquid is gone and you are left with a paste that looks similar to toothpaste (that’s what I tell the kids). Before that, I would always end up with a watery sauce. In culinary school it took me multiple attempts until I finally got the roux right so that the sauce would thicken properly. The parents are in the kitchen with them but it still requires a bit of technique (and even adults don’t get it right).

I’ll admit, I was a little nervous leading a group of 7-12 year olds on how to make a roux and bechamel sauce. I call it “restaurant mac and cheese” because it’s the version you find at restaurants. Bechamel sauce, cheese, breadcrumbs, the whole nine yards. In the after school program where I teach virtual cooking classes, I decided we were going to make REAL macaroni and cheese. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for the mac and cheese that comes out of a box (it’s easy and super cheap) but it’s ultra processed the powdered cheese isn’t real cheese. It wasn’t until I was well in my late teens/adult years that I had real macaroni and cheese (made with elbow macaroni, real cheese and a bechamel sauce). Like most kids, I grew up on the macaronic and cheese that you find in a blue box.
