How Much Mac And Cheese Per Person For A Big Group
Catering For Groups
Just how much mac and cheese youll need for each individual, as well as serving sizes in pounds and ounces for 1 to 100 people.
We will also look at some of the containers and boxes and how many youll need to purchase if youre not producing it from scratch.
A handy table for mac and cheese quantities for 10,20,50 and 100 people is below. Also, jump to our Mac and Cheese Serving Amounts Per Person Calculator
Cheese Sauce Tips & Tricks
- After adding your liquid to the roux, keep whisking and cooking over medium heat until its thickened. Youre going for the consistency of a thin gravy. It should coat the back of your spoon.
- Use blocks of cheese and grate them yourself. Pre-shredded cheese has added starches which doesnt make for the creamiest cheese sauce.
- Remove your pan from the heat before you add the cheese. Cooking the cheese in the sauce can make for a grainy sauce.
Combine: When the cheese sauce is ready, stir in your cooked macaroni and mix well to coat the pasta in all that glorious cheese!
Go ahead and give your mac and cheese a little taste. Season with extra salt and pepper, if you think it needs it.
Layer: This macaroni and cheese casserole isnt called Million Dollar Mac for no reason were going to really take it over the top now!
Pour melted butter into the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish and then spoon half of the macaroni and cheese mixture into the dish.
Next spread the sour cream over the top of the macaroni and then sprinkle on the Havarti and gruyere cheeses!
Spoon the remainder of the macaroni and cheese over the top.
This method creates the ultimate cheesy layer in the center. Its absolutely divine!
Finally, youll make the tasty Panko topping in the next step. Dont skip it!
Topping: Since this is a baked mac and cheese, were going to top things off with a little Panko for some crunch.
How Do You Make Southern Baked Mac And Cheese The Black Way
When I think of a traditional Southern soul food meal, baked mac and cheese is one of the first things that come to mind. A delicious combo of two perfect comfort foods- macaroni and cheese can be found all over the Southern states.
Southern baked mac and cheese the Black way is still boiled in milk and then baked. But nowadays, this iconic recipe includes additional ingredients with the traditional elbow noodles, butter, and milk.
Southern mac and cheese, which originated in my home state of Virginia, is a popular recipe passed along from chefs like Hemings in the 1700s.
Its legacy continues as its passed from African-American generation to generation and handed down from chef to chef through today.
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How To Make Without An Oven
My Favorite Cheeses For Macaroni And Cheese
Depending on your mood, the cheese you use in macaroni and cheese can vary. Cheddar, fontina, gruyere, parmesan, and pecorino are all excellent options, but the combination of cheeses I go back to over and over again is a hearty amount of extra sharp white cheddar and a smaller, but potent amount of pecorino-romano cheese. The cheddar turns creamy and smooth and the pecorino adds a pop of salty cheese flavor to the sauce.
Okay, now this is where I get on my soapbox for a second. No matter which cheese you use for this, if you can, grate the cheese yourself. A previously shredded bagged cheese just doesnt melt the same way as hand grated cheese. I wish that wasnt true, but for now, to make the best mac and cheese, its best to shred the cheese yourself.
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The Best Cheeses To Use For Mac And Cheese
The type of cheese you use can make or break your mac and cheese sauce.
Armando Rafael
Take a moment to think about the best mac and cheese youve ever had. Perhaps youd describe it as ooey-gooey, creamy or cheesy. At its worst, mac and cheese is grainy, stringy or greasy. The type of cheese you use can make or break your sauce. But perhaps the name itself is a misnomer. The ideal mac and cheese needs more than one kind of cheese.
When youre cruising down the cheese aisle, two factors to consider are meltability and flavor. Generally, young and processed cheeses melt smoothly but taste bland when theyre mixed with a few pounds of pasta. Aged and funky blocks are tricky melters but add a lot of complex cheese flavor to the dish. This dichotomy explains why mac and cheese recipes often call for not one, but several types of cheese.
But there is one go-to that youll almost always see. An overview of Food Networks mac and cheese roundup reveals that most recipes have one type of cheese in common: sharp Cheddar. Sharp Cheddar especially the inexpensive, mass-market block you can buy at the supermarket strikes just the right balance between meltability and flavor. Consider it your base cheese. If you dont want to buy three different types of cheese and rack up the grocery bill, its completely fine to use Cheddar on its own. Just stay away from the pre-shredded kind, which often contains additives like cornstarch that interfere with silky melting.
Black Folks Soul Food Baked Macaroni And Cheese
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Southern soul food baked mac and cheese the Black folks way!
Mac and cheese is one of my favorite Southern comfort soul foods and a favorite of many households.
Its a staple for soul food Sundays, summer cookouts, , and always a featured item at a soul food Thanksgiving or on a Black folks Christmas dinner menu.
Even though I love macaroni and cheese, I dont always want to make it the traditional way.
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Cooking Tips For Crock Pot Mac And Cheese
Ive tested this recipe more times than Id like to admit, and through all those trials and errors, Ive come up with a few helpful tips.
- Spray the crockpot. I know it might sound weird, but it really helps keep the pasta from sticking too much to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Use the right liquids. For most of my attempts, I was using regular, whole milk, and every time it would thicken way too much and sort of seize up on me. Ive found that a mixture of chicken broth, evaporated milk, with a little heavy cream for richness, yields the best creamy sauce.
- Grate your own cheeses. I know I know. Its SO tempting to open a bag of pre-shredded cheese from the store and Ive done it on occasion. But most commercial pre-shredded cheeses are coated in cellulose, which essentially keeps the cheese from all clumping together in the bag. Ever noticed how bags of pre-shredded cheese that are coming up on their expiration date usually have clumps of cheese stuck together inside? Its because the cellulose is just about gone from the cheese. That coating prevents the cheese from truly melting down into a gloriously gooey cheese sauce, and can leave your sauce a bit on the gritty side.
Macaroni And Cheese: Main Or Side Dish
Let’s get this debate out of the way right now! I never realized how strongly people feel about this until recently. It’s one of those discussions that doesn’t even seem to have middle ground. You either think of macaroni and cheese as a side dish and nothing else, or are willing to call it a main dish, depending on the version. I fall into the latter category.
Let me explain: I would never make a box of macaroni and cheese and call it supper. However, when I make this easy mac and cheese recipe? It’s a main dish in our house. I add a veggie and some fruit on the side and call it supper. If you think that concept is down right crazy, call it “baked pasta with cheese” and nobody will question it! Can it be served as a side dish? Absolutely!!! It would be terrific with any meal you love mac and cheese with, and if it’s something that usually makes an appearance on your holiday table, your life just got easier.
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Making The Cheese Sauce
Transforming the roux into a cheesy sauce is a simple matter of adding milk and cheese. Technically, the mix of roux and milk is called a béchamel and adding cheese makes it mornay sauce use these terms if youd really like to impress your dinner guests, but otherwise calling it a cheese sauce works just fine!
Find Tons Of Other Dreamy Cheesy Meals In Ree’s Bestselling Cookbooks
And stir together until its all melted. Go ahead and turn off the heat.
Now its time for seasoning! Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt If youre sensitive to salt, start really low and work your way upand remember that the cheese imparts quite a bit of salt to the mix.
BUTand this is importantbe careful not to UNDERSALT the mac & cheese. It really needs ample salt to put the flavor over the top.
*I also use paprika, cayenne pepper, even ground thyme every now and then. Play with different ground spices and see what you like best.
And finally, add plenty of black pepper, of the Black Dust variety. Honestly, I love freshly ground pepperbut not in homemade Mac & Cheese. For me, it has to be the powdery stuff.
Now THATs what Im talkin about.
And guess what? You can just steam some fresh broccoli and spoon some of this over the top. Kids from all over the land will show up at your doorstep.
Did you know a single serving of broccoli is positively loaded with Vitamin C?
Now just dump in the drained, not-fully-cooked macaroni!
And stir the mixture together.
I use a little less than the full amount of cooked macaroni, because I love it extra creamy and coated. Just add it according to how you like it.
Now, you can either dish it up as it is right now, which makes for an ultra-creamy love fest
OR you can pour the macaroni into a buttered baking dish. This is a 2-quart dish, but a 9 x 13 pan would work just fine.
Kinda like this.
Hello, lover.
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The Ultimate Macaroni And Cheese
When one thinks about their favorite comfort food, I would argue that macaroni and cheese likely falls at the top for many. Everything about it oozes comfort. Tender pasta enveloped in a creamy and cheesy sauce, sometimes topped with a thick layer of extra cheese or breadcrumbs. Some are baked to a bubbling oblivion, while others are simply finished on the stove top. However you make it, one thing is certain. Its absolutely divine!
Well, let me say this: most recipes out there are delicious, while others may fall flat. Its a dish that requires a few key steps to yield the creamiest and dreamiest results. When I set out to make the ultimate macaroni and cheese recipe, I thought of one person and one person alone that could help me in this feat.
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Special Equipment Used In This Recipe
- Box Grater remember, the best mac starts with freshly shredded cheese!
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Post has been updated in September 2019 with new photos and additional information.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Why Does My Baked Mac And Cheese Come Out Dry
Baked Mac and cheese can get dried if baked for too long. Follow the recipe and if your topping is not golden brown by the time the baking time is done, simply place it under the broiler to toast the breadcrumbs.
Another reason for dried macaroni and cheese is if you are using more noodles than the recipe calls for. You need to have enough cheese sauce to generously coat the cooked pasta.
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Do You Cover Your Mac And Cheese In The Oven
You may also be wondering if it is necessary to cover your Macaroni and Cheese in the oven. I personally love the crispy bits of cheese that form on the top layer that result from NOT covering the mac and cheese. Since the noodles are pre-cooked, you are really just popping it in the oven to get all bubbly and thick throughout and brown and crispy on top, but ultimately, the choice is up to you.
As youll see in this recipe, Ive added a few extra optional flavor boosters to keep things interesting. But I must say, the garlic powder is an absolute must! For years, people have asked me what I put in this mac and cheese that makes it so good. Well, guess what? The garlic powder is my secret! Recently, Ive begun adding a little nutmeg and mustard powder to the sauce as well. While these are most definitely optional, I dont think youll regret adding them in the slightest. I also love serving the finished product with some sriracha, for an added kick. My kids arent fans, but my husband and I sure love it.
So, the next time youre looking for a fairly simple and extra delicious weeknight dinner for your family or guests, I highly recommend whipping up this easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese. Youll make a lot of tummies happy! If your time is limited you could always opt for this 4 Ingredient Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese or this Slow Cooker Mushroom Macaroni and Cheese.
Instructions For Black Folks Baked Mac And Cheese
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Regional Variations And Analogues
In Scotland, macaroni and cheese can often be found in pies, known endearingly as a macaroni pie.
A similar traditional dish in Switzerland is called Älplermagronen , which is also available in boxed versions. Älplermagronen are made of macaroni, cream, cheese, roasted onions, and in some recipes, potatoes. In the Canton of Uri, the potatoes are traditionally omitted, and in some regions, bacon or ham is added. The cheese is often Emmental cheese or Appenzeller cheese. It is usually accompanied by apple sauce.
