Cream cheese with mustard and a little milk (and if I'm feeling really fancy - white sauce) straight and creamy from the pot. Mmmmm... With double elbow macaroni. Or shells. With maybe a little shredded cheddar thrown in. *nom*

Great. Now I want mac 'n' cheese for dinner!

Roux then into the hot oven for 10 minutes to absorb some of the cheese sauce and I like worcester sauce with mine.

Gotta give it up for Kraft dinner. It tastes like childhood. Sure it's got fluorescent orange powdered flavoring, but I can overlook it.

At least I've switched to the Annie's version.

On a side note, I tried putting some on the waffle iron the other day to crisp it up. Didn't really work out.

It's so funny that this post came up today because I just emailed my husband literally 2 minutes ago to tell him I want to make homemade mac and cheese for the kids tonight! Normally I make the deluxe Kraft boxed kind, but my 3-year-old would eat that every day if I let her, and I think I'm tired of pumping her full of preservatives and chemicals.

So I found Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network's website and I'm going to try it tonight. I hope they like it!

Previously we have made it with a bechamel but the girls declared it yucky, so hopefully Alton's tastes more like the boxed kind.

while the wait almost kills me, I always put mine in the oven after mixing the noodles and the roux based cheese sauce together. I through a little extra cheese on top and some bread crumbs for a bit of crunch once it's baked. Soooooo gooooood. I might have to make this tonight.

Béchamel + sharp cheddar + sour cream. Add to the pasta (penne rigate), toss in some fresh broccoli florets and stir. Dump into an oven dish, sprinkle with more shredded cheddar and breadcrumbs, and bake until browned and bubbly.

My favorite is from smittenkitchen.com and uses cottage cheese. You don't make a roux and you don't precook the pasta. You just mix it all up and bake. It's pretty simple and incredibly delicious.

My recipe calls for a couple eggs, which I think gives it a delicious custardy binding. In addition to that, I make it with milk and cheddar cheese, then top it with just a few pats of Velveeta before making it to give it that extra melty cheesiness. This is the one and only place I'll allow Velveeta to be used in my kitchen.

@ShellyIN - that is the only way to do it!

We keep it simple--heavy cream and three or four cheeses. Heat cream in ovenproof dish, add three cheese--we usually use grated cheddar, parmigiano reggiano and comte (a little roquefort or other blue can give it a kick). When it has become a nice cheese sauce, add slightly undercooked large shell pasta, stir it all up and bake at 500 for 10 minutes. There is nothing better!

Moosewood's low fat macaroni and cheese is SO GOOD, and way easy if you use a food processor for everything. Here's a link:
http://lizscookingblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/moosewood-restaurants-lower-fat.html

When I make it, I leave out the parmesan and bread crumb topping (extra work, who needs it). And I've substituted plain yogurt for the cottage cheese with fantastic results.

I like Martha Stewart's version with cheddar and Gruyere when I'm feeling fancy. When I'm not, I love boxed mac & cheese (pref. Annie's cheddar deluxe) with a can of diced tomatoes and a can of green chiles. So good!

Vegan Mac and Cheese!

I was raised in a dairy-free household and grew up on mac and cheese made with nutritional yeast. Every so often I start to crave the stuff and I whip up a skillet for myself. I thought it was a weird guilty pleasure, but then a few friends asked me to make some for them and apparently even people who grew up on kraft can appreciate it!

I wrote about it here:
http://goodtothinkandeat.blogspot.com/2010/10/pseudo-southern-comfort.html

czech it out! It's cheap, easy, and wildly delicious!

Béchamel, then cheddar cheese, then black pepper, red pepper, mustard, worcheshire and salt (if needed). Toss with large shells (and steamed broccoli, if I feel the need for greens), pour into a casserole dish, top with bread crumbs, then stick in a 350F oven for 15 minutes until bubbling. I can count on one hand the number of times we've had leftovers!

I usually make a bechamel with sharp cheddar and rough grain mustard, with garlic :), and broil it a bit. But most nights, my quickest and easiest version of mac n cheese is a carbonara-esque creation of 2 egg yolks, sharp cheddar, and sauteed protein of some sort (bacon, chicken sausage, pancetta, hamburger) or even just sauteed garlic and onions. Yum a thousand times over. And bad for you.

My favorite is a simple roux and heavy on the cheddar and baked in the oven, but for a quick lunch or dinner for my kids and me I skip the oven step.

I make a bechamel and add whatever cheeses we have in the house - always cheddar and I love to throw in some swiss we have that. I usually put in a bit of mustard as well. We eat it straight from the stove top, and will throw in some steamed broccoli usually to make it a smidge more "healthy."

bechamel all the way with some nice sharp cheddar thrown in once it's all thick and bubbly. Then toss with noodles and eat right away. I don't like my mac and cheese baked, stove top only, please!

Bechamel, whatever melting cheese I have on hand (sometimes just cheddar, sometimes something fancier like Gruyere or Fontina) and a little Parmesan and dijon. If it's for my daughter, I add a touch of agave syrup for a little sweetness and a pinch of truffle salt that I received as a gift.

I love the recipe in the old Best Recipe book. They use evaporated milk, egg yolks, cheddar, mustard, and hot sauce. It's different in the New Best Recipe and not as yummy.

My lazy mac and cheese is Annie's shells with a serving of peas mixed in. The peas fit inside the shells perfectly.

I have to disagree about any mac and cheese being good. There is a restaurant near my old office that has amazing barbecue but their mac and cheese is soggy, overcooked noodles with lumps of oily, congealed cheese. Just because it contains both macaroni and cheese does not make it worthy of the mac-n-cheese name.

I don't make mac and cheese often but when I do I use the Alton Brown recipe or, as I have been doing lately, I make a ridiculously easy and equally decadent sauce with just cream and Trader Joe's Cotswold Double Gloucester with Onions and Chives. I usually mix in pasta... however I'm pretty sure this cheese sauce would make my kitchen sponge delicious.

well for home made ive always used the classic Fannie Farmers mac and cheese recipe. but i will sometimes sub out the cheeses for whatever i have on hand. it always comes out delicious!

http://www.food.com/recipe/fannie-farmers-classic-baked-macaroni-and-cheese-135350

but i would be deceiving you guys if i said thats what i eat most often. i still cant resist kraft!

The only constant is the bechamel; everything else depends on what we have in the house. Not only does the cheese change but the pasta shape does as well.

I love me some Alton Brown and have found that the Joy of Cooking's recipe is good, too (very similar, contains onions, but no egg tempering).

like my mom makes it - cook the macaroni (a little less than al dente), then bake it in the oven in a custardy mix of eggs/milk/shredded cheese/cubed cheese, salt and pepper.

I like to change it up, but the little one prefers consistency. Her fave is elbow macaroni with extra-sharp cheddar and a bechamel made with evaporated milk, some very finely minced onion, and a little thyme. The husband likes it with gruyere. I like it with broccoli. Only I like it baked. Reading this, I want to try mustard, and cream cheese. My fave pasta for this is mini shells.

I like to make mac and cheese on a weekend afternoon, but since there's just two of us I've had to develop my own recipe (I found that just cutting one in half doesn't work out so well). I do a roux and use 2% milk and a little cream. A small yellow onion, or shallots if I have em, and I like sharp cheddar and Parmesan cheeses.

I've found that the key is to grate my own cheese. I think there's something *on* the stuff you buy in the bags--a powdery something--that just throws everything off.

Oh, and don't forget the crushed goldfish crackers on top!

It's the classic bechamel in our house with tons of cheese thrown in. It's the only time I'm happy to overdo the blue cheese. Panko, Hungarian paprika and more cheese on top, into the oven until bubbles. Microwaved frozen peas on the side. Yumm!
I will have to try adding mustard to the sauce, it sounds delicious.

Made some last night!

Saute onions then make bechamel, using whatever mix of cheeses I have in the house, but always with a cheddar or colby jack. My favorites always have gruyere in it, I think it gives it such a nice flavor. Par-cook noodles, add to sauce to finish cooking. Yum!

My very favorite is the yummy yummy yummy Ultimate Mac & Cheese recipe from Sunset Mag. It's shallots, white wine, creamy bechamel, gruyère & gouda. It's definitely grown up mac & cheese!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001571515

oops sorry my link above is broken. try this one instead:

http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/kitchen-assistant/new-comfort-classics-00400000014796/

Bechamel, with extra sharp white cheddar, lots of salt, some cracked black pepper. Pasta elbows that are under-done, mix with cheese sauce, throw in a pan, top with italian bread crumbs—350 degree oven. Served with a side of peas and apple sauce.

it's my mother's method from the 70's - creamettes macaroni recipe, but she used sharp cheddar cheese and doubled the amount called for.

I make my mac n cheese exactly like purdygirl. A classic.

I second sturgeongeneral's comment: the Moosewood Low Fat cookbook recipe is really great. You make the sauce in the food processor: cottage cheese, buttermilk, mustard, a little cayenne. Then mix with uncooked elbow macaroni, grated cheddar, and grated onions. The last few times I've made it I've also added 4 oz of wither gorgonzola (less low fat but still yum!). It is really good, and goes in the oven in about 10 minutes.

Oops, sorry, meant to write EITHER gorgonzola or goat cheese, not sure what happened.

My dad always made it quite simply "pasta and cheese" - elbow mac and cheese in a dish and baked till bubbly.

My current fav - a nice white sauce with lots of fresh chopped garlic sauteed in the butter first. Then a mix of sharp cheddar and colbyjack. Elbow macaroni, a bit of pepper, a bit of mustard - mix - pour into a dish. Top with crushed garlic croutons and bake. Absolutely fantastic!

My husband and I have adapted a recipe based on three or four recipes, then we decided to mix up the cheeses with international and flavorful cheddars, plus soft fontina to make it nice and goey. It starts with a Roux, then lots and lots of cheese gets added. A favorite at holiday gatherings.

I converted a non-cheese eater (I know, who doesn't love cheese) into a mac & cheese lover with mine. Simple white sauce with cheese, nearly baked noodles, piled into a casserole dish, topped with panko & possibly more cheese.
But the other night - I added cubes of chicken that I had browned up with onions - and carmelized onions are now going to be added into the recipe on a permanent basis.

Martha Stewart has a recipe with a bechamel sauce and you add 8 oz gruyere and 15 oz cheddar. Baked in the oven with bread crumbs that have some of the cheese mixed in - absolutely to die for!

Step 1: Cook pasta
Step 2: Grate cheddar cheese
Step 3: Stir cheese through pasta while it's hot.
Step 4: Gorge yourself.

my recent fav is from the pioneer woman. her spicy mac and cheese is all my favorite things in one dish! i add some diced chicken breast to make it a whole meal. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/05/not-your-grannys-mac-cheese/

i love making baked mac & cheese. i sprinkle little bits of butter liberally over the breadcrumb topping so it gets crispy - love the crunchy edges from an oven bake :)

My favorite recipe is from Cooks Illustrated. It's roux/bechamel based and the secret ingredient is a few ounces of gorgonzola.

milk, fresh-grated cheddar (never bagged, yuck!) and some plain yogurt for creaminess and tang. Always stovetop, don't understand the oven crowd or the breadcrumbs crowd.

No one has mentioned putting ketchup on it, and I know that is gross to so many people, but I grew up with ketchup on my mac and cheese and must have it!

I am now curious about cheese alternatives, as I do love gruyere, chevre, gorgonzola, gouda, and more. Mustard sounds like a lovely addition, also. Thanks, everyone!

It amazes me how many ways there are to make such a simple dish.

My favorite way is to make a Roux first. Some think I am strange, but I like to add white pepper, thme & rosemary to the flour at that point. I feel that it opens up the herbs and makes the dish more fragrant.
I use half&half, Havarti, Velveeta & white cheddar.
After the sauce is ready I pour over the cooked macaroni & then bake in the oven. My favorite thing from my childhood was the "burnt" top of grannies mac & cheese....so I never make it any other way.

VEGAN Mac'n'Cheese! So yummy. My favorite version so far is the "Cheesy Sauce" recipe from Veganomicon, though I've been working on tweaking it to be thicker and even yummier. My omnivorous boyfriend loves it...

I've been on a Mac n Cheese binge the last few days.

I've tried so many recipes found online but the absolutely best so far has been the Gnocchi Mac n Cheese from NoblePig. OMG... i could put that cheese sauce in a thermos and drink it for breakfast.

goodness, i want to try ALL of these! NOT ENOUGH TIME! and way more cheese than i should be eating. for a while now i've desperately wanted to make the 'fancy' mac & cheese recipe at pioneer woman's site.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/fancy-macaroni/

it sounds heavenly.
mac & cheese is just the ultimate comfort food. i like it any way it's made. except when there's not enough cheese sauce. that's annoying.
there's this pub near me that makes buffalo mac & cheese. it's not very mac & cheesy but it's still delicious. i love the flavors. and it has chicken in it. sometimes i'll ask them to put a little bacon in.... oh man. but like i said, it's not the same as that nice simple saucy kind of mac & cheese.

my favorite easy way is to use Dreamfield's pasta (which is low carb for diabetics, but tastes like normal pasta) I mix together 16 oz of light sour cream with 2 cans of campbell's cheddar cheese soup, 1 cup of milk and 2 cups of shredded cheddar. I add some ground nutmeg and black pepper. mix sauce with pasta, put in greased casserole dish and sprinkle crushed ritz crackers on top. bake for 30 mins at 400. yum!

oh, and half a yellow onion, chopped, thrown into the pasta water before it's done boiling!

I have made Paula Dean's "ultimate lady's mac and cheese" several times now. I use half the butter and only 1 egg, and its a real crowd pleaser. I put in all my boyfriend's favorite cheeses (gouda, monterey, swiss, gorgonzola) and a few others and it was DELISH! After having making it with a roux for a while, this was definitely a lot easier. Basically you cook the pasta and then add the cheese while its still hot and then stick it in the oven.

I steep onion, garlic, and bay in the milk for the bechemel and then use cheddar or gruyere with lots of nutmeg. I make it with whole wheat elblow and some Niman Ranch ranch. Kids love it and the sauce freezes well.

I do béchamel with whatever cheese I have on hand (the sharper, the better), then sprinkle with parmesan and bake until crispy. I usually end up eating all the crust even if I only have a tiny portion of mac.

My mom thought it was weird, but I made it several times in a Crock-Pot.

Our Massachusetts mac n' cheese is an old family recipe - elbow or shell macaroni (1 1/2 boxes), 2-3 sticks of cheddar cheese (cabot sharp or extra sharp is what i use now) 1 or 2 eggs, 1 stick of butter, 2 1lb cans of pinecone tomatoes (whole tomato, not stewed). mix eggs with tomato over heat, chopping tomatoes into bit sized pieces, dice up cheese and butter, layer pasta, eggy tomato, cheese and butter in large baking dish (or favorite was the biggest pyrex mixing bowl (yellow of course) layered to the brim. this can be made ahead of time refrigerated. bake in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour (or until top is crusty (the best part)... Thanks Mom for this great family favorite.

Alton's recipe, and our secret is Stadium Mustard plus a dash of Sriacha. Yum.