How to Make Restaurant Quality Mac and Cheese in 10 Minutes

Perhaps, like me, you were dismayed to learn during your early forays into cooking that making homemade macaroni and cheese would compete with your favorite things in a boxf wasn’t as simple as just melting your favorite cheese over your preferred cooked noodles. With cheese drawer options like cheddar or mozzarella, this approach only yields a stringy, greasy blob, not the creamy, thick, evenly coated noodles you’re looking for. Even with something like American cheese that’s specifically designed to melt, the result still leaves you wanting something more…complex.

Maybe, like me, you were just as dismayed to learn that trying to approach homemade mac and cheese like the grown-up chef you aspire to be is pretty laborious, probably involving homemade béchamel sauce, toasted breadcrumbs, and using both both on the stove and in the oven. That’s a lot of steps (and subsequent dishwashing) to make “simple” comfort food.

As a cheese teacher and lifelong lover of the stuff, I’m not willing to sacrifice quality when it comes to mac and cheese. What if there was another way? A secret ingredient that combines noodles and cheese from scratch in a way that makes you feel like an accomplished, grown-up chef, but doesn’t take more than 10 minutes or use more than one pot.

You’ll still find it in the dairy aisle…

Enter: cream cheese. I mean, it’s kind of right there in the name, right? What we look for in homemade mac and cheese on the stove is mostly creaminess and cheese. Cream cheese isn’t so much a secret ingredient as one we’ve overlooked because of its inextricable association with bagels and little else. (While we’re at it, heavy cream can also do heavy lifting for the “longevity” of homemade mac and cheese, something we’re a little worried about, right?)

For those in doubt, cream cheese does qualify as a cheese made from coagulated milk curds and has the lineage and precedent of other soft spreadable cheeses from Europe such as Robiola and Neufchatel.

Why cream cheese is key to stovetop mac and cheese

Cream cheese offers a few things when it comes to homemade mac and cheese. It is an FDA-regulated product that requires certain characteristics to be called by name, all of which make it highly desirable for potential macaroni and cheese uses.

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Legally, the term “cream cheese” refers to a pasteurized, unaged dairy product that contains at least 33% milk fat (consisting usually of milk and cream) with a moisture content of up to 55% and has a pH between 4.4 and 4.9. Its milk fat and moisture content add to its richness and spreadability, respectively, and this pH gives it a distinct flavor that cheese alone usually can’t achieve: even some of the sharpest cheddars only reach a pH of around 5. This is key. Consider that your favorite packaged mac and cheese includes both citric acid and lactic acid among the sauce’s ubiquitous ingredients. That requisite flavor is very much part of the nostalgic mac and cheese experience.

Cream cheese also includes an emulsifier, a locust bean gum that prevents it from separating into protein and fat components when heated. Some cheeses naturally do this better than others. Alpine-style cheeses like gruyere and raclette have a built-in melting ability, but cream cheese provides a base that will help you emulsify the mixture, no matter what types of cheese you have on hand to use. Plus, using cream cheese avoids a certain grainy texture that béchamel-based cheese sauces can sometimes exhibit, and it doesn’t absorb into the noodles as quickly.

How to Make Creamy Homemade Mac and Cheese in Under 10 Minutes*

For any of your typical short-cut noodles, which usually take between 7 and 9 minutes to cook, you can assemble everything you need while the pasta is cooking and have creamy homemade mac and cheese in less than 10 minutes. *Any type of noodle with a cook time over 10 minutes will take that many minutes, but regardless, you get the goods in no more time than the boxed version would normally take.

Another benefit of the cream cheese approach to mac and cheese is that it’s as easy to make for one as it is for several, since its ingredients are easy to scale as single servings. It’s less about a specific recipe and more about ratios and spreading it, but for each serving you’ll need:

• 2 ounces short-cut pasta
• 1 ounce cream cheese, cubed or chopped for faster melting
• 1-2 ounces grated cheese or cheeses of your choice (it’s always better to grate yourself, but do it)
• Salt and pepper to taste, other spices as desired

That’s it. Cook and drain the noodles, add everything to the pot while it’s still hot and stir to combine. Most of the time I don’t even use a colander to drain the noodles, but instead use a slotted spoon to hold them while I drain the water. If some water remains from the pasta, that’s fine. This will help loosen the finished sauce and add spices.

Variations on the cream cheese/mac and cheese theme

The method above is as simple as it gets, but you can reef in a variety of ways, none of which necessarily add time or extra dishes to the process. Want a silkier texture? Add a drop of oil. Want more fluidity? Add a splash of milk or cream. Want to add complexity? I swear by onion powder, which for me creates a depth of flavor and a savory quality that compliments any cheese choice. Trying to lighten the calorie load? Feel free to use reduced-fat cream cheese and/or shredded cheese. Everything works. Want the result to be more orange? Make sure you use orange cheese, add red pepper or (do it anyway) hot sauce.

You can also up the ante with any number of mixes, all of which require a little preparation. I often add some broccoli, asparagus or peas to the pasta for the last minute of cooking because… balance. Like a meaty Mac? Add cooked bacon, grilled chicken or ground beef. (Balance, too.) Once you get started with this simple preparation, you’ll find there are endless ways to customize it, and it’ll no doubt become a staple in your menu rotation.