Keep in mind that different brands have different names and labels for similarly-shaped pastas. My favorite pasta shapes for mac and cheese are in the graphic below! Avoid long noodles like spaghetti or fettuccine, whose smooth surfaces don't hold cheese sauce all that well, and opt instead for short, ridged shapes like radiatore or shells. The best pasta for mac and cheese has deep grooves, pockets, and ridges - these features help each noodle catch as much cheese sauce as possible. When selecting your pasta for macaroni and cheese, look for shapes with plenty of texture.

While macaroni pasta is probably the most famous mac-to-the-cheese, it's definitely not the only noodle in the sea (noodle in the sauce?) When discussing mac and cheese, it makes sense to start with the mac. STEP 1: CHOOSE THE RIGHT PASTA FOR YOUR MAC AND CHEESE. Use this guide as a starting point and let your creativity run wild! Have a favorite combination or technique you don't see here? Let me know in the comments! Note: I've included my favorite pastas, cheeses, tips, and toppings here, but this is definitely not the end-all-be-all list of macaroni and cheese variations. So in this post, I've put together a macaroni and cheese masterclass that takes you through the eight components of perfect mac and cheese - from pasta shapes to sauce technique to mix-ins and bread crumbs to the kitchen equipment I swear by.

And it's not just possible: it's also enjoyable, delightful, quick, easy, and, ummmm, way more delicious than that boxed stuff. For those who grew up on the ultra-Americanized boxed mac and cheese, the idea of whipping up a luscious cheese sauce from scratch can be a little intimidating.īut with the right techniques, homemade mac and cheese is totally, completely, 100% possible. It's also one of the foods I get the most questions about from friends and readers. Mac and cheese is pretty definitively one of the greatest foods of all time. If I was stranded on a desert island and could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, that thing would be macaroni and cheese.

Mac & cheese roux