The Best Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese Recipe

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Welcome to Discover Flavor .

And today we're making the best creamy baked mac and cheese recipe you've ever tasted .

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So we're gonna start off by grating cheese .

Now , this is a labor of love right here , man .

You got your cheddar cheese .

We're gonna grate about a pound of that .

Look at the veins popping on my hand .

I'm telling you gotta love what you're doing .

We got our Monterey Jack Cheese here .

You have our pepper jack cheese , the colder the cheese .

Actually , the easier it is to uh to drink .

So make sure it's cold .

We have our two sticks of butter .

I'm actually doubling up this recipe .

All right .

Set at room temperature .

We're going to melt that up and as we get it melted down , we're gonna go ahead and incorporate our flour .

So we're gonna slowly incorporate our flour and the flour to butter ratio is , is equal OK ?

One cup of flour , one cup butter and we're gonna create what's called a sauce ?

Ok .

So this sauce is , is pretty much a sauce that originated in Italy .

All right .

It's made from a white rule and milk .

So that's what we have here .

We add in our milk and then we're gonna add our heavy cream in there as well .

So we're gonna have some , some sort of a half and half .

Ok .

I like the heavy cream and milk combination .

It adds so much creaminess to the dish .

Now , this butter , flour and milk sauce or , or combination , it could be used as a base for any other sauces .

Like you can , you can make a myriad of different sauces with this , not just mac and cheese .

So you may see me use it from time to time in additional recipes .

All right , we're gonna constantly add our liquids .

So we're gonna add our additional milk and our additional heavy cream until we have this texture .

Here is no longer chalky with the flour and let that cook down .

So you don't have that flour taste .

Ok .

Just take the creaminess from the butter .

Flour is a thickening agent and then you have your milk to add additional levels of cream in it , but that thickened up .

So we're gonna start to add our cheese right on in there .

I just like to take a few , take handfuls and just add it as I'm a a as I will and you gotta taste your taste your sauce as you go along , man , taste it .

So I have this on low heat and as you can see , as we add the cheese in , it just melts right into the sauce .

That's what you want .

Another handful of that three cheese blend .

No cheese left behind y'all .

No cheese left behind again .

Let's melt that cheese down in the sauce .

I'm gonna do this a few more times to achieve that level of cheesiness and creaminess .

You gotta do this a at different times have a whole bowl of cheese here .

We gotta get rid of that .

And I like to use grated cheese because for some reason , it doesn't have the anti caking agents and the additives that the other pack of cheese has .

And it's easier , man when you grating your cheese and you , you're making this from scratch it .

That label of love is , is tasting when you love .

When you put love into your fool .

I'm telling you the food just hit different .

All right , let's add some more cheese in there and the cheese just melts down in there beautifully .

And you want to constantly stir because you don't want it to stick .

Let's go ahead and give it a taste .

We're gonna hit it with a little salt and some smoked sweet paprika and stuff right here is a game changer as such a level of flavor and that beautiful color that you associate with mac and cheese and I'm gonna hit it with some more cheese just for good measure .

Now , the sauce is at the point where I want it so we can go ahead and remove it from the heat .

Now , we got our macaroni elbow macaroni here .

Straight out the pot .

We just strained it .

Give it a good mix and make sure you do not cook your pasta till this mushy .

It has to have a bite in .

There has to be a OK ?

Because remember it's still gonna cook again when you put it in the oven , I like to season my pasta .

So I hit it with some salt and I hit him with some .

Now what this ensures is all layers have that flavor that you want .

Then I just spoon that sauce right over the top of the pasta .

We're gonna get it mixed in OK ?

And we do this so that every bite you know has this creamy cheesy sauce on it .

OK ?

This is one of the steps to making the best creamy baked mac and cheese recipes you've ever tasted .

Understand that .

So let's go ahead and give that a good mix and I mix it in a bowl first instead of actually mixing in .

So I can ensure that , you know , we got maximum coverage without making a a complete mess in the kitchen because when I make this , then it gets messy .

But this butterfly and milk mixture .

Second to none , you add your cheese and you're good .

So we're gonna go ahead and add a , a layer , just a little layer , half the pasta in there and watch what we do here .

I'm gonna pour that sauce right over top of that .

Now , with this mac and cheese to make it the creamiest , the best that you've ever tasted , you gotta make sure you layer it .

So we got one layer of pasta , layer of sauce and guess what's coming next ?

I'm gonna layer it with some cheese .

And I'm telling you this cheddar and Monterey Jack and Pepper Jack cheese blend .

His thing was his thing was second to nine .

I'm gonna go ahead and add that layer of cheese in there .

So when you take a bite , yeah , man .

It's the best bite ever .

It's the best bite .

I'm telling you .

Tell you family , you add the rest of that maca that macaroni on there .

Move that thing out .

Shout out to my cheese lovers , man .

Those is lactose intolerance .

Shout out to you too .

Don't wanna eat this , man .

It's well worth it .

You're gonna pay for it , but it's well worth it .

All right .

Let's go in and , and our sauce on top of that .

Don't worry about over filling the overflow .

I actually , when I put this in the oven , I set it on a pan .

So if it overflows it's gonna overflow right into the pan and guess what ?

As it cooks down , it creates this crust and that's like the best part you want to catch all that hit it with one more layer of cheese .

We ready for the oven and we're gonna put it in an oven that's been preheated at 350 degrees until the top is brown and bubbling .

You'll know when it's done .

You will know .

You will definitely know when it's done .

And do you have a family , the best creamy baked mac and cheese recipe you will ever taste ?

Look at that .

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