Go For Butter Instead Of Milk For Richer Boxed Mac And Cheese

When it comes to mac and cheese, nothing beats a made-from-scratch version. However, we don't always have time for that, so sometimes we have to resort to boxed mac and cheese. While boxed mac and cheese is perfectly fine as is, it doesn't hurt to have some tricks on hand to upgrade it.

One way to make boxed mac and cheese much richer is to ditch the milk and add extra butter. The box instructions will most likely call for both milk and butter, but, as it turns out, the milk is unnecessary — as long as you add enough butter, of course. You could start by adding double the butter called for on the box and adjusting as needed — it may require some trial and error the first time around, but it will be worth it. The result will be a bowl of mac and cheese that is so rich and creamy that you may even forget that it came from a box. If you're worried about leaving out the milk entirely, then you can simply lessen the amount of milk the box calls for and up the amount of butter, which should give you a similar result.

One brilliant way to take your boxed mac and cheese to the next level is to make your own cheese sauce, which will take you less time than you think. You can borrow the cheese sauce recipe from Tasting Table's simple mac and cheese and combine that with the boxed macaroni. Or, you can build a two-ingredient cheese sauce using just cream cheese and cheddar, which will work just as well.

Another way to upgrade boxed mac and cheese is to add in other ingredients, such as a protein like shredded chicken, pieces of bacon, or both. Or, you could go the vegetable route and add broccoli, spinach, or kale. Plus, a crispy topping is always a welcome addition to mac and cheese. To achieve this, all you have to do is crumble Ritz crackers over the top for an instant crunchy upgrade.