Why You Should Never Eat Boxed Mac & Cheese - Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

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Got home late from work and need to get dinner done in a hurry? That's me most days. I am always looking for quick ways to get dinner on the table. It's so easy to run to the cabinet and grab that box of macaroni and cheese as a side dish. Homemade takes too much time right? No. In fact, it takes the same amount of time to make my macaroni and cheese recipe as the 'blue box' kind.

Boxed macaroni and cheese contains lots of ingredients such as dyes (to make it that nice orange color), loads of sodium and milk by products to name a few. The 'blue box' kind has almost 20 ingredients. 20? Really? Mine has 4.

• Milk


• Pasta


• Butter


• Cheese

That's it, just 4. I use one sauce pan. No making the sauce separately with a roux either. Nope this is one super simple recipe.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz box of pasta (we love Barilla Tri Color Pasta)


• 4 Tablespoons or 1/2 stick butter (sliced for easier melting)


• 1/2 cup of milk


• 1 to 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (we use medium cheddar) if you like it really cheesy add the extra 1/2 cup

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, if a little water remains in the pasta that's ok. The starch in the pasta water helps thicken the sauce. Pour the pasta back into the sauce pan used for cooking. Return to the burner set on low or simmer. Add milk and butter. Stir gently to melt butter. Add cheese. Stir only once or twice. Do not stir again until the cheese starts to melt. It will only take a moment to start melting. For some reason if you stir the cheese too much before it has melted, it makes a gooey, sticky mess. After the cheese starts to melt, stir until all the ingredients are combine. That's it. Easy Peasy. 

Enjoy!