The Secret To The Silkiest Mac And Cheese Sauce Lies In Your Blender

Mac and cheese is a comforting and easy meal many of us enjoy from an instant box brand for an easy weeknight meal. However, the homemade version is always worth making some effort for. But grating fine cheeses and melting them into a creamy roux can be a tricky skill to learn as it's an exercise in precision and patience. Great news: You can skip the roux altogether by using your blender to create a silky, cohesive cheese sauce for mac and cheese.

Blenders are the ultimate instantaneous emulsifiers, breaking down and combining liquid and solid ingredients into smooth purees with the push of a button. Furthermore, the rapid whir of the circular blade stirs and whisks ingredients together at rates and forces beyond human capacity. Both the emulsification and whisking powers of the blender come into play for the silkiest mac and cheese sauce.

All you need to create a rich, velvety sauce is the grated cheese of your choice and some hot pasta water. For added richness, you could boil your pasta in milk and add that hot milk and a raw egg to the blender with the cheese. Pouring the heated liquid over the grated cheese with the blender on will melt the cheese, while the starch content, combined with the speedy whirring, binds everything into the perfect consistency.

You can use any grated cheese, no matter the age or hardness. Plus, the blender receptacle ensures a spill-free cascade of hot cheese sauce over freshly cooked macaroni.

Now that you know how easy it is to create this macaroni and cheese sauce in a blender, you can apply the simple procedure to other famous cheesy sauces. Just as you throw raw ingredients into the pitcher jug with hot pasta water or milk for mac and cheese sauce, you can do the same for cacio e pepe or carbonara.

Mixing raw eggs into hot pasta runs the risk of scrambled eggs instead of a thick, rich sauce. However, by pouring hot pasta water into eggs as they mix in the blender, you'll have a smooth carbonara sauce in minutes. You can even make roux-based sauces like Alfredo sauce or bechamel in the blender by switching the order of adding your ingredients. First, blend the milk until frothy, then add a mixture of melted butter and flour to the blender until everything is smooth, and finish by adding any cheese or seasonings in to complete the sauce.

Not only can you mix pasta sauces in the blender, but you can also use it for thin batters like those for cake or pancakes. Simply add all your ingredients to the blender jug, blending for a mere 15 seconds before pouring the batter into a baking dish or piping hot skillet. It all saves a lot of elbow grease and gives you silky smooth sauces and batters at the touch of a blender button.