THE BEST MAC & CHEESE RECIPE EVER

500g dried elbow pasta 120g unsalted butter 70g all purpose flour 950ml whole milk 450g grated medium sharp cheddar cheese 225g grated Gruyere cheese Salt to taste Black pepper to taste 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika 60g panko breadcrumbs -dice butter, grate cheese -warm milk in sauce pan -pasta in boil salted water, stirring every 3-4 mins -melt butter in big pot, add in flour. whisk and mix well -add milk one ladle at a time and mix well till smooth -cold water rinse cooked pasta -add cheese in batches to mix well, save enough for putting on top -taste to season, salt ,lot of pepper, smoked paprika in -mix well with pasta well in a pot -pour into oven safe dish -remaining cheese and breadcrumbs on top -180°C (356°F) oven for 25 to 30 mins or until golden easier to read when following, thanks for the great recipe Andy

When I got married my wife had a limited number of things she was comfortable cooking. I taught her how to make a basic white sauce, which she mastered on her first attempt. To give her confidence, I pointed out that if everything went to hell with the sauce, she would end up throwing away a dollar to two's worth of ingredients and she could start again. I showed her that by adding curry powder to the roux, before adding the milk, she could make an English curry sauce (lovely on grilled chicken!), or add stock to make a velouté. Now there is no stopping her... Dijon sauces, dill sauces, tarragon sauces (best chicken pot pie ever!!!), and the list goes on. We've since taught this to our three kids, and all of them turn out amazing sauces. Thank you so much for showing this basic skill. Love your teaching style and always learn from your videos.

I have been watching your short version videos (“Hey Babe …”) for some time now and really enjoy your style of presentation. The longer version vids such as this item are just as good! More so in that the listener gets to try and replicate the recipe! I am a fan! Keep up the fantastic work!

I always add bacon and mushroom to mine. It’s one of my fave comfort dishes

Thank you Mr. Andy for listing the ingredients and the measurements. I appreciate the step by step. Not all of us are talented like you Mr. Andy, that we can eyeball it. Its my sons favorite dish but this is the real deal not Kraft. Lol... I appreciate you. 😊 Thanks again!🙏

The only thing I do differently is fry up some diced brown onion or shallots, some crushed garlic and a few rashers of chopped streaky bacon. This just gets added to the dish at the same time as the cheese sauce. My rugrats call it Flash Macaroni Cheese😊

I really like how you teach about the basis of white sauce and why the technique is important or a gateway to many dishes. This type of context and applicable knowledge is awesome, keep it up!

This has been my Mum's Mac & Cheese recipe since I could remember for 40 years plus. A wonderful combination of french cooking techniques and horrendous interpretation of Italian Cuisine. I still make this dish to this day and love it all the same.

Cheers for posting this one Chef. Mine has just come out of the oven and it is a decadent, gooey, cheesy success. I followed the recipe and method to the letter, paying close attention to the selection of cheeses and making sure that my milk for my Roux was warm. Best bechamel sauce I have ever made. The amount that the recipe has made is massive, so I've shared it with the neighbors. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chef 👍

Aged cheeses always work well with a good mac n cheese. When available, I like to use aged gouda. Also, dijon mustard in the bechemel adds a nice piquancy to your cheesy mac! 👍

Hate me if you must but I made almost exactly this recipe last year but was lucky enough to get about $80AUD of black truffle, not much bigger than a nutmeg, shaved it over my mac and cheese. There is something otherworldly about the nutty, earthy, umami flavor of the truffle with the rich, creamy mac and cheese.

My girls love Mac and cheese so I made this for them for Easter. It was a huge hit! Everyone loved the dish and it's super easy to make. We will be including this in our Thanksgiving meals going forward. So yummie.

Hey Andy, your video inspired me to make this dish for my family today for Christmas. I’ve never ever made a white sauce before and always avoided it. It’s legit my favourite sauce, always got mum to make it. Now I can do it and it’s all thanks to you! Merry Christmas and thanks for being so straight forward!

Your tip for using the ladle to add the milk bit by bit is soooo useful!! I’ve had such bad luck making white sauce in the past so I feel like this is gonna help me loads, thank you!! ❤❤

this has to be the best food-channel on youtube. so good at explaining things in an uncomplicated way, and just really easy to watch without falling off. keep up the good work man!

Wow, didn’t know he had longer videos with recipes, one of the best channels on YouTube!

I like how Andy makes a big portion of everything he cooks.

wonderful! I have used the same basic method for ages now, forget where I first learned it - I add 1/8 a raw onion, couple of bay leaves, sprig of thyme and dash of Cayenne to the warming milk - I will try the smoked paprika as you did here, sounds excellent an option for crunchy top is to crush a bag of potato chips and mix that in with the final cheese topping - better than I thought it would be!

Thank you for bringing smiles and grins to my face. I enjoy watching every time I catch your show. Keep up the good work.

My mac and cheese is pretty similar. I also frequently use havarti, but sometimes I'll use a smoked gouda. Typically I WILL use pre-grated sharp cheddar. Sometimes, like last night, it's the only cheese I use. I start by setting the pasta water to boil. Then scoop a couple heaping small silverware spoons of minced garlic from the jar and just enough butter to saute until it begins changing color. I set that aside and scoop a couple of heaping small silverware spoons of flour into a large wok-style pan and add just enough butter to make the roux like wet sand. I cook that, stirring and scraping almost constantly until it just barely starts to change color and then add three cups of milk a bit at a time. I don't preheat it. When about half the milk is in, I assess the thickness of the sauce and stir in an appropriate amount of corn starch into the milk that's left. You can't do that with hot milk. Then I add a small amount of salt and a healthy dose of white pepper. Black pepper makes the mac 'n' cheese a bit spicy and earthy. White pepper makes it more zesty. Adding a bit of Dijon mustard makes it zestier still. Use half to three-quarters of a teaspoon after some of the cheese has already been added. Add sauteed garlic. Throw big handfuls of cheese in until the sauce shows hints of stringiness. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. It this point the pasta should already be in the water but isn't ready yet. It wants to be cooked beyond al dente to the point of softness. I use rotelli because no cheese reaches the center of an elbow but does coat every single turn of a rotelli spiral. Once ready, drain pasta and dump it hot into the sauce, stirring until mixed. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch glass pan and cook in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Why greased? It eliminates any possibility of sticking even a little bit. I don't bother with extra cheese on top and/or breadcrumbs of panko because I tend to burn it. Let it sit at least ten minutes before serving.