Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese
Homemade Easy Stovetop Mac & Cheese with a Silky Sauce
Hi Friends,
Today I have an easy weeknight recipe for you. As you can see from the picture below it’s a very versatile recipe that recently my family used to hold an in home mac & cheese competition! It was between my husband, me, and our 2 kids, we did have some friends help with the judging but we’ll, let’s just say wear your stretchy pants if you ever decide to go that route.
We all added our own spin and additions and then we tried them all, I highly recommend it. The little cups were for the “judging”. The one on the right used smoked gouda cheese and is topped with chives, gf garlic croutons, bacon and bbq sauce, the top has jalapeños mixed in and is topped with a tomato and grilled corn salad, the left uses gruyere and sharp white cheddar - got topped with buttered gf breadcrumbs, the bottom has chunks of feta cheese mixed through! I’m sure you can think of lots of ways to zhuzh up your mac and cheese - but the most important thing? A great base recipe. This recipe that I’ve been making for years both at home and in classes is the one we all started from, varying the cheeses and toppings to make it special for our contest!
My recipe below has a silky sauce, owing that to the use of starch instead of a roux. Allergic to cornstarch? I’ve had great success with potato starch too. It’s important to add the cheese in after you turn off the burner - have you ever had a cheese sauce that separated into little gummy clumps and and pools of oil? Not great eats, the cheese can’t handle super hot direct heat so stir it in off the heat. You can of course vary the cheese used, as we did above, but I would definitely go for cheeses with lots of flavor - mild ones don’t shine through as much!
Make sure you undercook the pasta a minute or two (less than whatever your box says), after the cooked pasta is added to the sauce it continues to soften as it soaks up a bit of the sauce, so if it’s perfectly cooked when you drain it, it will be mush by the end.
If you’d like to add herbs I’d go with 1 tsp of dried or 1 Tb fresh. For spices stick with 1 tsp so you don’t overpower the dish. As for things to top or mix in? The possibilities are truly endless .
Mac & Cheese is the first dish I learned to cook as an elementary schooler. My mother was away one evening a week for a class and I made Mac and Cheese for my brother and sister EVERY WEEK. My first “recipe development” was adding things to the mac & cheese. It started with hotdogs and frozen peas and well you see what happened! No matter what, have fun with it.
Happy cooking,
Rachel
Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese
serves 4
2 tsp salt for the pasta water
12 oz gluten free elbow noodles (I used Barilla)
1 cup whole milk (or nondairy milk, unsweetened)
2 Tb cornstarch (or potato starch)
2 Tb cold water (or additional milk)
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to boil in a large saucepan. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt and the macaroni; cook until the pasta is cooked and tender, about 5-7 minutes. (cook time depends on the pasta brand, cook the pasta 2 minutes shorter than the package advises.) Drain the pasta and leave it in the colander; set aside.
Add the milk, mustard, garlic powder, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the now empty saucepan. Bring the mixture to a a simmer. Mix the cornstarch and cold water or milk together into a slurry. Add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce while whisking. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has thickened and is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off burner.
Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cheeses until melted and smooth. Stir in the macaroni, and let the macaroni and cheese sit off the heat until the sauce has thickened slightly, 2 to 5 minutes, before serving.
Download the Recipe (Collect them All)
What if gluten free bread was really delicious? Well the time has come to make that a reality! Focaccia, Ciabatta, Cheesebread (without yeast or grains!!!) and even flaky gluten free biscuits. Join me for an in- person brand new Next Level Gluten Free Simple Breads cooking class on Saturday February 24th in the Kansas City Area. Innovative but easy techniques, I’ll break it all down for you and your house will always smell like fresh baked bread!
Hey friends- this would be a great Super Bowl party dish!!
What a great idea for game day!