Upgrade Boxed Mac And Cheese With A Creamier Milk Swap

When it comes to boxed mac and cheese, we are always looking for ways to upgrade it and elevate our experience. It's become a passion, in fact. We've already covered how you can add Cheez Wiz, the one jarred ingredient you need for next-level mac and cheese. We also suggested that onion soup mix be the secret ingredient for elevated boxed mac and cheese. Now, we're revealing another essential food hack — there's a creamy milky ingredient to swap out some or all of the milk and butter, and it can instantly upgrade your boxed mac and cheese.

This creamy, milky ingredient is sour cream. Sour cream is ideal for adding to boxed mac and cheese because it is inherently creamy, rich, tangy, and velvety. To make sour cream, you must ferment buttermilk and cream, two beautifully milky ingredients. Since sour cream already has a good amount of milk and about 20% fat content, swapping out the milk and butter you would normally add to boxed mac and cheese is easy.

Store-bought sour cream is also thick out of the box, thanks to stabilizers and thickeners like gelatin. We're not fans of runny, watery mac and cheese dishes, and using sour cream in your boxed mac and cheese will help you achieve a thicker, more appealing cheese sauce.

Ready to upgrade your boxed mac and cheese with our sour cream swap? Look at the instructions on your box of mac and cheese. Where it instructs you to use butter or margarine and milk, simply swap those ingredients with sour cream. For instance, the instructions on a Kraft "Macaroni and Cheese" box ask that we use 1/4 cup milk and 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine. To make the creamier milk swap, omit the butter or margarine and milk and use 1/2 cup sour cream.  

Alternatively, consider a partial swap if you find the sour cream too tangy. Try using some of each instead of replacing all the butter and milk. For example, mix 1/4 cup of milk with 4 tablespoons of sour cream in place of butter, or use 1/4 cup of sour cream instead of milk with 4 tablespoons of butter. Adjust the ratios according to your taste preferences. 

There are many ways to further upgrade your boxed mac and cheese. Those who love spicy food can drizzle on some chili crisp or mix gochujang with the cheese sauce to give the dish some heat. Finally, be sure to also check out our 16 absolute best ways to upgrade boxed macaroni and cheese.