No, the image is not of my mac and cheese! But looks real close to it! Its different and you do have to shred your own cheese! All Made with Love and perfection is not necessary! Eyeball everything!
Being a college student back in the day, helped me create some of the best meals I've ever had. Starting with this Mac n Cheese Recipe.
Everybody loves mac n' cheese, except for those who don't like cheese or happen to be lactose intolerant. Over the years, I have tried and tasted many recipes. At the end of the day, the most simplest recipes tend to be the best. So when I started making my own, I found I enjoyed shredding my own block of cheddar cheese and loved using oat milk instead of whole milk to make it. Oat milk is great! If you want to make a vegan mac n' cheese, you can use oat milk and vegan cheese, but that's not my recipe. I even include some seasonings that most folks don't use. But I'm from good ol' Maryland so life does not exist with out OLD BAY SEASONING! And yes, as you read on, there is onion and garlic powder; and the pinch of salt is just for the boiling water.
Have fun with this recipe, its a little different!
Mac n' Cheese: My Way or the Highway!
Ingredients
So, as you will see, there are no measurements. When I make mac and cheese, I rarely do. It makes the cooking a fun experience. I know people prefer specifics because they want to be in control of the results, but let loose and have fun with this recipe.
Block of Cheddar Cheese (Shred it with a shredder) - Note: Can do vegan cheese, but I personally am not familiar with vegan cheese and its melting process.
Oat milk – Plain (Can use sweetened, but you will notice the sweet taste)
Macaroni or Twisty Noodles
Salted Butter
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Old Bay Seasoning
Water (boil noodles)
Directions
I eyeball everything, but I do make an effort to provide some details.
Boil macaroni/twisty noodles with a pinch of salt until it is soft enough for your preference.
Drain the noodles and place them back in the cooking pot, adding 1.5 to 2 cups of oat milk and a half to one whole stick of salted butter (6 teaspoons or more).
Note: the salted butter will take care of the salt needed to tie everything together. This is a great way of cooking without having to add additional granulated salt
Stir the concoction around, making sure butter is melted and that there is enough oat milk.
Once the butter is melted, take your block of cheese which you have grated into 1 cup (or 2- 3 cups depending on how cheesy), and slowly pour into the pot.
Do not pour all the cheese in at once. You will get a clump of cheese that you have to fight to melt down
Gradually, pour the cheese in, stirring the cheese into the noodles
When the cheese is melted down, you can now add your seasonings. Black Pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder.
Season it to your liking.
Now you can either eat it like this, or you can go a step further and pour into a glass baking pan.
Spread the Macaroni and Cheese evenly in the glass pan, add a layer or cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice), maybe some bread crumbs for some crunch, and bake in the over for 15-20 minutes between 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pull out the oven and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to cool, then serve.
(if you really wanted to be adventurous, you can even add shrimp to the mac and cheese and then bake!)
Rule of thumb is that if you use the macaroni and cheese boxes, this recipe will work with two boxes of macaroni and cheese.
Let me know if you try it. Comment if you love it. Tell me how it goes! I'm excited. Let loose and have fun!
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