Mac-n-cheese is one of those ultimate comfort foods that I’m almost always in the mood for.
As a kid, the only mac-n-cheese I knew came from a blue box – and it was a staple of my childhood diet. To this day, I can recall with visceral accuracy the tangy smell of the bright orange powder as my grandmother gently stirred it in with the pale yellow margarine, creating a thin sauce over the soft, narrow macaroni.
The nostalgia is real, y’all.
As I’ve gotten older, my taste buds have evolved far beyond that blue box original. But I still absolutely adore a well-crafted mac, and I’ve learned that sometimes when you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.
So, I’ve developed a low-stress, not-quite-from-scratch recipe that is easily alterable and has never once let me down!
Gourmet Mac-N-Cheese Casserole
(4 servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 Bag Cracker-Barrel Oven Baked Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
- Macaroni
- Cheese Sauce
- Seasoning Mix
- Toasted Breadcrumbs
- Butter (per bag instructions + 1 Tbs)
- Milk (per bag instructions + ¼ cup)
- Additional Butter and/or Milk (as necessary to create the right consistency)
- ½ cup extra macaroni
- 4oz Cream cheese
- 4-6oz other cheeses (whatever I have on hand that sounds good)
- 1/2 – 3/4 lb Chicken (usually leftover)
- Grilled or roasted veggies (usually leftover)
- Bacon bits (if I have them)
- Topping:
- 1 cup Cheeze-Its (can also use Ritz crackers, Club crackers, potato chips, or any other crispy, salty snack that absorbs butter)
- 1/3 cup butter – melted
Clarifications
So…perhaps I should have mentioned I’m not exactly a ‘by the book’ kind of cook. In fact, I so rarely follow recipes that baking is utterly out of my wheelhouse, since measurements must be exact and there’s no tinkering with the recipe once it goes in the oven.
As for my cooking style, I tend to piece together my own recipes based on 3 or 4 others that I read, and then I make adjustments along the way until I get it right. (Okay, I know this may not be the best approach for everyone, but it works me me!)
Now that that’s outta the way – let’s clarify some of the more ambiguous items on the list above:
1 Bag Cracker-Barrel Oven Baked Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
- The bag, not the box. If you get the box, it won’t include everything you need.
Butter & Milk:
- The bag calls for 2 Tbs of butter and ½ cup of milk, but you’ll increase each by 50% for a total of 3Tbs butter and ¾ cups milk
- Once all of your cheese has been added in, you may want to add more milk, butter, or both to ensure the best consistency.
- Add only a little at a time, and stir well, trying to maintain a ratio of 1Tbs butter to ¼ cup milk
4-6oz other cheeses (whatever I have on hand that sounds good)
- Seriously, I am not picky about this. Keep in mind that softer cheeses melt better, so always go heavier on your soft cheeses and lighter on your harder, grittier cheeses. With that said, just go with what you like, and try to stick with no more than 3-4 at a time!
Good Melting Cheeses:
- Colby Jack
- Fontina
- Gouda
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan
- Pepper Jack
- Provolone
- White Cheddar
‘Grown-Up’ Cheeses (More potent, and usually fall into the ‘like it or hate it’ category):
- Bleu Cheese
- Brie
- Chevré (Goat Cheese)
- Gorgonzola
- Gruyere
Here are the cheeses I used most recently:
1/2 – 3/4 lb Chicken (usually leftover)
Grilled or roasted veggies (usually leftover)
Bacon bits (if I have them)
- These are all optional, but the point (for me) is always to create an all-in-one meal, so I try to load it up with protein and veggies. Some of my favorites are:
- Protein: Chicken (I often use chicken I have leftover from a different recipe, or a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Sometimes I’ll even go to the trouble of cooking fresh chicken. *gasp*), real bacon bits, pepperoni, salami, brisket (if you’re fancy)
- Veggies, etc.: Mushrooms, jalapeno, red onion (or white or yellow, if you prefer), brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli (cut small)
Insider Tips
If your meat and veggies are leftovers and already cooked, then this recipe becomes even that much easier. Just make sure you cut it all into small, bitesize pieces, set aside, and focus on the mac.
If you need to cook the meat and/or veggies, feel free to follow your heart and cook them however you please. Below I’ve included some tips for making sure those additions help make this recipe as delicious as possible!
- Meat: I always like the flavor of a good char, so I like to make sure the skillet or grill is super hot in the beginning. I recommend marinating the meat for at least 30 minutes (up to 24 hours) beforehand, and using olive oil in the skillet because it has a smoke point that’s high enough not to burn too easily, but low enough to yield a nice char without having to work too hard.
- Veggies: Again, I’m all about the char. I pretty much always include a blend of diced jalapeno, red onion, and mushrooms in this recipe, so I like to sear those in a skillet on high heat. For brussels sprouts and asparagus, I like to toss them in sesame oil and seasonings (garlic, salt, pepper) and either throw them on the grill over a high heat or in the oven at a high temp.
- Seasoning: There are a lot of flavors in this casserole, so it’s best to let cheeses take the main focus. This means going light on seasonings you add to meats/veggies, and staying neutral with the flavor profile (unless you wanna get crazy with it and play the flavors off each other, like a buffalo/bleu cheese mac).
- Healthy Options: I really like to use a veggie-intensive spiral pasta instead of traditional macaroni, so I’ll often make that substitution. I also often substitute cashew milk instead of dairy milk. Cashew milk (as opposed to almond or soy) has a consistency and flavor that is the closest I’ve found to dairy milk. **I advise against using non-dairy cheeses, as they tend to not melt nearly as easily as dairy cheeses**
- Timing: For the most part, I like to have my meats and veggies ready prior to starting the mac, but that’s totally up to you. If you like to multi-task, have at it!
Here you can see what my most recent mac included (unfortunately I didn’t have any leftovers for this one, so it was all from scratch!
Let’s Get Cookin’!
Follow the instructions on the bag (pictured here) through the ‘Add Cheese Sauce’ step (including the additional pasta and the additional 50% each of butter and milk). Once your packaged cheese sauce has been added and you’ve stirred everything to a smooth consistency, you can start to get creative and make it your own!
Remember to start with your softest chesses, which means cream cheese first. To make it easier on yourself, you can ‘cut’ the cream cheese into smaller portions so they’ll melt faster and more evenly. Or, you can be lazy and impatient like me, and just plop the whole 4oz square into your cheese sauce. It’ll take a bit longer to melt and stir in, but it won’t hurt anything.
After the cream cheese is fully blended in, add any other soft cheeses and then move onto the harder, grittier cheeses. Especially with the harder cheeses, you’ll want to add them in a little at a time and stir well after each addition. This will keep your cheese sauce from seizing up.
As you do this, you may notice the sauce becoming too thick, but don’t panic. If you’re adding only a little at a time, it should be an easy fix. Just add milk and butter as instructed in the Clarifications section, and keep stirring. It’s a little bit of a trial-and-error process, but I’ve never ruined a sauce using this recipe – and that’s saying something!
Once all your cheeses have been blended together and you’re happy with the consistency, combine the macaroni, meat, and veggies and pour into a greased baking dish.
Topping:
Crush the crackers. (I put them in a small ziplock bag and use the flat side of a meat tenderizer, but whatever works!) Melt the butter in a bowl large enough to fit the full mixture, then pour the crackers into the bowl and mix quickly. Add the Toasted Breadcrumbs pack from the Cracker Barrel kit, mix again, and spoon the mixture evenly on top of the mac-n-cheese casserole.
Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes until sauce is bubbling and crackers are golden brown.
Trammy
Looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing! Maybe I’ll get my hubby to make this and sample it. Sucks to be lactose intolerant! Keep posting!
Lezlie
Thanks, Trammy! I love this recipe and make it often. I will keep in mind the plights on the lactose intolerant and post a dairy-free recipe soon!