Add Richness To Boxed Mac And Cheese With Raw Egg

Odds are you have eaten a few boxes of macaroni and cheese – the little elbow macaroni pasta coated with a sauce made from powdered cheese, milk, and butter — in your lifetime. So simple, yet so satisfying as a child, and let's face it, even as an adult. The boxed version may be a far cry from the ultimate cheesiness of homemade mac and cheese, but when you're short on time or you have a child who only likes to eat three things, the pantry staple is easy to grab and make.

But some days the box just doesn't cut it. You could stir in broccoli or add breadcrumbs to the top and bake it, but that still doesn't give you the creamy, richness you love about made-from-scratch mac and cheese. The good news is you most likely have an ingredient in your refrigerator that will take that mac and cheese from fine to amazing.

Whether making homemade mac and cheese or elevating a boxed version, incorporating an egg will provide richness that takes the dish to the next level of deliciousness. When Start Cooking makes mac and cheese, a tempered egg (one that is warmed up prior to being added to other warm ingredients so that it does not become a solid, like scrambled eggs, according to Taste of Home) is added that turns the finished dish into a smooth and creamy delight. One way to temper an egg is to beat the egg and then slowly add the hot liquid, like milk, to it while whisking. Then, Start Cooking says to combine the dish's other ingredients, like salt and pepper, in the pan on the stove.

A recipe from The Spruce Eats requires only the egg yolk to be added to the sauce made of milk, butter, paprika, and other seasonings, before the cheese is incorporated. And even by just using the egg yolk, the creaminess of the cheesy pasta is increased. Meanwhile, The Cookful incorporates two eggs into boxed mac and cheese, combining them in a bowl with the prepackaged cheese mixture and a little milk and pouring the sauce onto al dente pasta to create a take on carbonara.

Using an egg is one of the most convenient ways to increase the richness that makes mac and cheese so craveable.