{{ :recipes:simple-stovetop-macaroni-and-cheese-169.jpg?direct&200|}} ====== Simple Stovetop Macaroni And Cheese ====== /* Description */ **Why This Recipe Works:** Inspired by an innovative macaroni and cheese recipe that calls for adding sodium citrate, an emulsifying salt, to cheese to keep it smooth when heated (instead of adding flour to make a béchamel), we based our sauce on American cheese, which contains a similar ingredient. Because American cheese has plenty of emulsifier but not a lot of flavor, we combined it with more-flavorful extra-sharp cheddar. A bit of mustard and cayenne pepper added piquancy. We cooked the macaroni in a smaller-than-usual amount of water (along with some milk), so we didn’t have to drain it; the liquid that was left after the elbows were hydrated was just enough to form the base of the sauce. Rather than bake the mac and cheese, we sprinkled crunchy, cheesy toasted panko bread crumbs on top. Our simplified mac and cheese recipe takes only about 20 minutes from start to finish. {(rater>id=100|name=Simple Stovetop Macaroni And Cheese|type=rate|headline=off)} |**Preheat:** °|**Yield:** 4 servings|| |**Prep:** 0:00|**Wait:** 0:00|**Cook:** 0:00| ====== Ingredients ====== * 1-1/2 cups water * 1 cup milk * 8 ounces elbow macaroni * 4 ounces American cheese, shredded (1 cup) * 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard * Small pinch cayenne pepper * 4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup) * 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs * 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil * Salt and pepper * 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese ====== Directions ====== - Bring water and milk to boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Stir in macaroni and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, until macaroni is soft (slightly past al dente), 6 to 8 minutes. Add American cheese, mustard, and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, until cheese is completely melted, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in cheddar until evenly distributed but not melted. Cover saucepan and let stand for 5 minutes. - Meanwhile, combine panko, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in 8-inch nonstick skillet until panko is evenly moistened. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until evenly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Off heat, sprinkle Parmesan over panko mixture and stir to combine. Transfer panko mixture to small bowl. - Stir macaroni until sauce is smooth (sauce may look loose but will thicken as it cools). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to warm serving dish and sprinkle panko mixture over top. Serve immediately. ====== Notes ====== - Barilla makes our favorite elbow macaroni. Because the macaroni is cooked in a measured amount of liquid, we don’t recommend using different shapes or sizes of pasta. - Use a 4-ounce block of American cheese from the deli counter rather than presliced cheese. /* Nutrition block - remove the slash-asterisk and asterisk-slash from just above and below the following block */ /* ====== Nutrition ====== |Calories (kcal): |Fat Calories (kcal): |Cholesterol (mg): |[[recipes:notes:nutrition guidelines |(Guide)]] | |Fat (g): |Saturated Fat (g): |Mono Fat (g): |Poly Fat (g): | |Protein (g): |Carbohydrates (g): |Sodium (mg): |Fiber (g): | */ {{tag>Recipes Pasta-Rice AmericasTestKitchen}} /* Recipe Tags - Copy and paste tags from the list below to the tag list in the above line, replacing the "TagsNeeded" tag and separated by spaces. */ /* ---Recipe Types--- Appetizer Appetizer/Cold Appetizer/Hot Beverage Beverage/Cocktail Beverage/Liquor-Mixer Bread Bread/Biscuit-Roll Bread/Muffin Bread/Quickbread Bread/Yeast Breakfast Casserole Canning-Freezing Condiment Dessert Dessert/Bar-Brownie Dessert/Cake Dessert/Cake/Frosting Dessert/Candy-Chocolate Dessert/Crisp-Buckle Dessert/Cookie Dessert/Custard-Curd Dessert/IceCream-Ice Dessert/Pie Dessert/Pie/Crust Dessert/Topping Dip-Spread Entertaining Fondue Grilling-BBQ Grilling-BBQ/BBQSauce Holiday Ingredient Ingredient/Seasoning-Rub Ingredient/Brine-Marinade Kid-Friendly MainDish MainDish/Beef MainDish/Poultry MainDish/Pork MainDish/Seafood MainDish/Vegetarian Pasta-Rice AmericasTestKitchen Pizza Roast Salad Salad/Dressing Sandwich Sauce-Gravy Sausage-Pate Side Side/Starch Side/Vegetable Snack Soup Soup/Stock-Broth Stew-Braise Stew-Braise/SlowCooker-Crockpot Stir-Fry Vegetarian ---Recipe Cuisines--- American American/Cajun-Creole American/Southern American/Southwestern Asian Asian/Chinese Asian/Indian Asian/Japanese Asian/Korean Asian/Thai Asian/Vietnamese European European/English European/French European/Greek European/Polish European/Italian European/Spanish Latin Latin/Brazilian Latin/Mexican MiddleEastern ---Recipe Sources--- AmericasTestKitchen AmericasTestKitchen/CooksCountry AmericasTestKitchen/CooksIllustrated BonAppetit Chowhound FineCooking FoodWine GoodEats Gourmet MilkStreet LMaidment TMaidment DMarcos JMarcos KMarcos JPhalen DPendergast ---Recipe Ratings--- 5★ 4★ 3★ 2★ 1★ No★ ---Recipe Alerts--- RecipeNeeded RecipeIncomplete RecipeWrong RecipeFails TagsNeeded */ ~~DISCUSSION~~