Creamy Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Name: Creamy Mac 'n' Cheese
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 ½ tablespoons flour; 1 ½ tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 ¼ cup cream; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1 ½ - 2 cups elbow macaroni; ¼ cup breadcrumbs (we like panko); Salt & pepper to taste

Budget Bites || Tags: budget recipes, Food, Vegetarian ||

I love Macaroni and cheese. In fact one of the only things I would eat growing up was Velveeta Shells & Cheese. But I only liked a little bit of cheese, my brother liked more so I would take mine out of the pot and then my parents would add more for my brother.

I like to think I grew out of that pickiness…

Anyway now I make grown up mac n cheese that doesn’t come from a box! Here’s my problem with most recipes; you bake the macaroni and the cheese sauce loses the creaminess. BUT I like the crunchy breadcrumb top. So I set out to fix this problem, and fix it I did.

Solving difficult problems one taste test at a time.

Here’s my super simple recipe for creamy macaroni and cheese. Don’t be intimidated by making the cheese sauce from scratch, it doesn’t take long and it’s really not that hard, pinky promise.

Also this recipe is super cheap: $0.93 per person!! This leaves lots of room for mix-ins or spices!

See my other Budget Bites recipes!

Ingredients & Cost

Serves 4. This recipe can be doubled, or halved! We make the half version all the time.

1 ½ tablespoons flour $0.01
1 ½ tablespoons butter or margarine $0.42 (butter) $0.13 (margarine)
1 ¼ cup cream $1.41
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese $1.28
1 ½ – 2 cups elbow macaroni $0.55
¼ cup breadcrumbs (we like panko) $0.33
Salt & pepper to taste $0.01
TOTAL: $3.72 = $0.93 per person

Optional: mix-ins like jalapeno pepper diced, caramelized onions, shredded chicken, sriracha, basically anything you want!

Saving money on groceries is our goal right now! Here are some tips for saving money on groceries without coupons!

Creamy Mac 'n' Cheese

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons flour
1 ½ tablespoons butter or margarine
1 ¼ cup cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ - 2 cups elbow macaroni
¼ cup breadcrumbs (we like panko)
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Boil water and cook macaroni according to the package instructions.
In a medium pot melt margarine or butter and stir in flour, cook for 1 minute. Slowly add cream and cook stirring constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens.
When sauce has thickened, add cheese and any mix-ins. Stir until the cheese melts.
Add the cooked and drained macaroni to the cheese sauce and stir together
Spoon macaroni into individual bowls and top with bread crumbs, add more cheese to the top if desired.
Broil in the oven until the bread crumbs are browned, 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy that creamy cheesy goodness!

Notes

You’ll want to make sure that your bowls are oven safe before putting them into the oven to broil.

Final Thoughts

If you haven’t learned by now, I love pasta! Homemade Mac n Cheese has been a staple at our house for as long as I’ve been an adult. It’s quick, easy, and versatile. Hope you love it as much as we do!