Macaroni and Cheese with Buttery Crumbs (2024)

FAQs

Do I have to put butter in macaroni and cheese? ›

Using olive oil instead of butter in mac and cheese is a simple and healthy way to enjoy this classic dish. By choosing the right type of olive oil, making a roux, and adding flavor and toppings, you can create a creamy and delicious mac and cheese that's lower in saturated fat and calories.

Why put breadcrumbs on mac and cheese? Not only does a breadcrumb topping for mac and cheese provide great textural contrast to the creaminess within, but it also adds even more flavor to the dish.

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.

You could start by adding double the butter called for on the box and adjusting as needed -- it may require some trial and error the first time around, but it will be worth it. 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.

Any potato dishes that use butter, like baked or mashed potatoes, also benefit from mayo if that's all you have in the fridge. Other dishes where the ingredient swap works are scrambled eggs, roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, and even corn on the cob.

Breadcrumbs are not to be used everywhere, they should never replace the main navigation or on-page navigation of a website, such as that of a header or sidebar. Many basic sites will only need main navigation.

Use either herbed crushed cornflakes or plain crushed cornflakes in the same way you'd use breadcrumbs to coat a vegetable or cutlet dredged in egg or to top a dish like mac and cheese or broccoli casserole before it goes into the oven.

Breadcrumbs act as a secondary navigation scheme, which is why they need to appear at the top of the current page. However, they should not replace your primary navigation menu. A good placement for breadcrumbs is just below the main navigation bar and above the page title.

What is the most perfect cheese to use on Mac & 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.

Why is my mac n cheese sauce grainy? The sauce can turn grainy if the cheese is added too quickly, the heat is too high, or if pre-shredded cheese with anti-caking agents is used. Melt cheese slowly over low heat and use freshly grated cheese.

Add 1 tablespoon of milk per cup of mac and cheese.

While I was cooking the pasta, I noticed a tip listed on the very bottom of the box: If you want a creamier mac and cheese, try replacing the butter and milk with a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt.

You can easily replace that missing milk with a combination of cream and cream cheese. Add tangy, creamy white cheddar and rich mozzarella to create a decadent, wonderfully velvety cheese sauce. Besides the pasta (my all-time favorite comfort food), the delicious breadcrumb topping is my favorite part of the dish.

A small amount of fat—extra-virgin olive oil or butter—is essential to good pasta sauce texture. Without fat, you have at best watery sauce (nobody has ever said, "Waiter, my pasta is not quite wet enough"), and at worst sauce that over-thickens with starch alone and takes on a pasty texture.