How To Make The Best Baked Mac And Cheese

Ooey gooey and packed with delicious melty cheese .

Nothing says comfort like a homemade mac and cheese .

And today we're going to show you how we make our favorite baked mac and cheese .

Countries across Europe are creating versions of this dish dating back to the middle ages .

There's even a recipe in 1/14 century Italian cookbook for sheet noodles , cut into squares and sprinkled with grated cheese while serving as a diplomat in France , Thomas Jefferson tried the French version and loved it so much .

He requested that his enslaved chef James Hemings recreate it .

Historians believe Hemings should be given the true credit for bringing this dish to life just like Hemings .

Many other enslaved chefs set the culinary example across America and often aren't for it .

Hemings dish was served in 18 oh two at a state dinner .

The dish grew in popularity from then on .

So how do you make mac and cheese ?

There's only one place to start and that's the noodles .

There's so many options when it comes to pasta .

There's radiator fusilli Cavite shells and probably the most commonly associated with mac and cheese elbows .

We recommend any short curly pasta .

We've decided that our favorite pasta for mac and cheese are shells .

They're just the perfect size and they shape allows you to get a beautiful burst of sauce with each noodle .

So let's get cooking .

We're going to boil the pasta in well salted water for two minutes .

Less than recommended on the package .

You want the pasta to have a slight bite because it'll actually finish cooking in the oven when it comes to mac and cheese , there are two types of cheeses .

We need a melting cheese which adds to the texture and a flavored cheese which adds to the taste .

So what is an ideal melting cheese ?

American and Velveeta are both great melting cheeses because they have sodium citrate in them which as it melts gives this creamy gooey texture .

Mozzarella is also a good melting cheese because it's super creamy and makes great cheese bowls .

But for our melting cheese today , we're going with American and what makes a good flavor cheese a few that are great for flavor in your mac and cheese are Fontina , which has a buttery and fruity flavor rue , which has a sweet nutty , earthy flavor , smoked guta , which has a meat like flavor Havarti , which has a sweet herbie flavor and cheddar , which has a bold and bright flavor we've chosen Sharp Ched as our flavor cheese .

This gives you the best of both worlds and creates the cheesiest creamiest and goot .

Mac and cheese .

You always want to shred the cheese yourself because the pre shredded cheese from the store is usually coated in additives that make it harder to melt .

Now , we all know mac and cheese is only as good as its cheese sauce .

We're gonna start ours by adding some butter to a pot .

Once it begins foaming , we'll add some mustard powder and cayenne and toast them for about a minute .

Seasoning the dish at this step will really help to add depth of flavor .

The spices will bloom and become aromatic which will enhance their flavors and boost their intensity .

Now , while you can season your mac and cheese with anything you want , we're keeping our recipe pretty simple .

The bit of heat from our spices will help cut through the richness of the cream sauce providing some nice balance .

Now to add our liquids , the three most common liquids people use for mac and cheese are usually milk , heavy cream and evaporated milk .

The biggest difference between the three liquids is their water content .

We found the combination of whole milk and heavy cream gave the best flavor and cream mouth feel once our liquids come to a simmer , we'll add an egg .

This will give the mac and cheese a custardy like texture that helps the sauce bind to the pasta really well , just be sure to temper your egg by adding a little bit of the warm milk mixture .

First .

That way we don't end up with scrambled eggs .

Let's add our cheese .

Now , this is the tricky part because while extremely satisfying things can go very wrong here , some cheeses melt differently than others causing the fat and oil to begin to separate , resulting in a grainy sauce .

But we've designed our mac and cheese to be foolproof since we aren't using a rough , our mac and cheese sauce won't crack .

Another way to ensure your sauce won't crack is by adding cornstarch , adding it directly to the cheese mixture .

Rather than creating a slurry will help the sauce thicken more evenly and prevent clumping .

And the key to evenly melt the cheese and ensure a proper emulsification is to add the cheese off of the heat , keep stirring while adding the cheese handful by handful .

You'll know your sauce is done when the cheeses have melted smoothly and it's slightly thickened while the mac and cheese bakes , the sauce will continue to thicken .

So we want to make a super creamy sauce to start so that when it's finished baking , we don't end up with the dry mac and cheese .

We'll add our cooked shells to our cheese sauce and Coke .

Wow , I'm drooling .

Let's add this to the baking dish and top with more cheese .

We found that the combination of cheddar mozzarella and Parmesan cheese creates the most delicious and satisfyingly golden brown and crispy top .

It's time to bake .

We're focusing on the classic baked food .

Baking mac and cheese allows you to get that crunchy , cheesy top and the best corner pieces .

Some people cover their mac and cheese with foil to help prevent the dish from drying out while it's in the oven .

We've made the ultimate saucy mac and covered our entire dish in cheese .

So we don't need to cover it with anything additional .

Since we want a crispy top to complement our saucy mac , we want to finish the dish under the broiler .

The oven alone will help the topping melt , but the broiler will give it that iconic golden brown and crispy top .

We're after it's the moment we've all been waiting for but hold on before you sacrifice the roof of your mouth for this ooey gooey goodness .

Make sure to let your mac and cheese rest for at least five minutes .

This will allow the sauce to set up a little and achieve its maximum creaminess with mac and cheese .

The opportunities are endless .

You can have it as a side in a bread bowl or simply as is it's filling warm and comforting .

This mac and cheese is as good as it gets shell .

Yeah .