Skinny Creamy Mac and Cheese - Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to keeping mac and cheese creamy? ›

This can be done many different ways. Some of the most common is using Evaporated Milk, the Pasta Water, make a Mornay Sauce, or use American Cheese. Evaporated Milk relies on the high concentration of micelles (milk proteins) to keep the sauce smooth.

Pro Tip: Don't use pre-shredded cheese. Many store-bought shredded cheese brands coat their cheese with an anti-caking agent than can make sauces grainy and less creamy. While it requires a bit of an arm workout, grating your own yields the best texture.

The sauce was thicker, creamier, and shinier. It behaved like actual cheese, with tiny little cheese pulls between the elbow noodles. I may never add milk—or any other liquid dairy for that matter—ever again.

What Is the Best Cheese for Mac and Cheese? Sharp cheddar is the overwhelming popular choice, but for extra-creamy results, we think medium cheddar is even better. Other delicious options include Gruyère, smoked Gouda, and Monterey Jack.

Use heavy cream but don't add the butter. Heavy cream has fat so use it instead of noth the milk and butter. If you are talking about homemade mac and cheese using heavy cream will make it very rich. You can use heavy cream instead of milk, but I would use a touch of water.

Can you put too much cheese in mac and cheese? Yes, adding more cheese than a recipe calls for will not improve the dish. Too much cheese will result in a dish that is heavy and greasy.

Details... By paying attention to the quality of ingredients, heat control, and technique, you can often achieve a smoother and creamier mac and cheese. Make sure you are using a good melting cheese, such as cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Gruyère. Cheeses that are aged or overly processed can result in a grainy texture.

Gruyere is a classic addition because it melts much like Cheddar, but has a lovely nutty flavor. Other classics include Gouda, Muenster, Parmesan, fontina, Havarti and Monterey Jack. Brie works well too, just make sure you remove the rind before mixing it in.

Evaporated milk is a highly concentrated source of milk protein micelles—bundles of proteins that can act as powerful emulsifying agents—which help to keep the sauce creamy and smooth.

The result will be a bowl of mac and cheese that is so rich and creamy that you may even forget that it came from a box. If you're worried about leaving out the milk entirely, then you can simply lessen the amount of milk the box calls for and up the amount of butter, which should give you a similar result.

What happens if you use heavy cream instead of milk in mac and cheese? ›

Heavy cream is, in my opinion, the best milk substitute for kraft mac and cheese. It's thicker and more luxurious than milk, so I actually think this makes a better end result! just add the heavy whipping cream in the same way you would add the milk.

Just be careful to add the sour cream slowly to get the right texture, and consider taste differences. Sour cream can be a good macaroni and cheese milk substitute, but it will obviously be more sour and perhaps not the most kid-friendly mac and cheese you can make.

Drain the macaroni and return it to the pot. Add the cheese sauce packet and 1/4 cup of milk or heavy cream, and stir until the cheese sauce is well combined. The added liquid will keep the macaroni and cheese moist.

As mac and cheese sits in the fridge, the cheese mixture sets — that turns this once-creamy dish solid. To make your mac and cheese velvety again, First for Women Food Editor Charles Grayauskie suggests combining it with a bit of milk. “Stir in about 2 Tbs. of milk per 1 cup of mac and cheese and reheat,” he says.

Add 1 tablespoon of milk per cup of mac and cheese and mix to incorprate as much as possible. *If you'd like to add more creaminess and flavor, substitute half-and-half or cream. 3. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through.

Low and slow is the key

To achieve a velvety, hom*ogenous cheese sauce, you must slowly heat our cheese. The curdles in a cheese sauce come as a result of overheating the proteins in the cheese, which causes them to separate from the fat and water content, per The Washington Post.