Kid-Friendly Macaroni and Cheese Recipe | America's Test Kitchen Kids

recipe

This mac and cheese is super creamy, thanks to a secret ingredient! Can you guess what it is?

Print Recipe

Prepare Ingredients

1½ cups

water

1 cup

milk

2 cups (8 ounces)

elbow macaroni

8-10 slices

deli American cheese (4 ounces)

½ teaspoon

Dijon mustard

1 cup

shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Gather Cooking Equipment

Medium saucepan with lid

Wooden spoon

Oven mitts

Start Cooking!

1

1½ cups

water

1 cup

milk

In medium saucepan, combine water and milk. Bring to boil over high heat.

2

2 cups (8 ounces)

elbow macaroni

Carefully add macaroni to saucepan and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon, until macaroni is soft, about 7 minutes.

3

8-10 slices

deli American cheese (4 ounces)

½ teaspoon

Dijon mustard

While macaroni is cooking, tear American cheese slices into small pieces. When macaroni is soft, add American cheese pieces and mustard to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until cheese is completely melted, about 1 minute. Turn off heat.

4

1 cup

shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Add cheddar and stir until evenly combined. Cover saucepan with lid and let sit for 5 minutes.

5

Use oven mitts to remove lid. Stir until sauce is smooth (sauce may look loose but will thicken as it cools). Serve immediately.

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Food for Thought

And the Secret Ingredient Is…

American cheese! That’s right—the same cheese you might find on top of your cheeseburger makes this macaroni and cheese extra creamy. Special salts in American cheese help it melt especially well. Those salts also keep the cheese sauce creamy and smooth. Don’t confuse real American cheese with individually-wrapped cheese “singles.” Those are made with extra ingredients that will make the sauce too thick, plus they don’t have a lot of flavor.