The Only Cheese Combination I Ever Use for the Creamiest Mac and Cheese (2024)

Lauren Miyashiro

Lauren MiyashiroRecipe Director

Lauren Miyashiro is the Recipe Director at Kitchn. A former New Yorker, she lives with her husband, two daughters, and dog in the Bay Area, where she is currently on the hunt for good pizza and bagels. She can turn almost anything into a crunchwrap and almost always has a batch of on-demand frozen cookie dough in the freezer.

published Nov 21, 2023

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The Only Cheese Combination I Ever Use for the Creamiest Mac and Cheese (1)

The secret to the best-ever homemade macaroni and cheese? Using the right cheese. If you’ve ever ended up with dry, greasy, or bland results, the reason could be your cheese. The type of block you choose to grate can seriously affect the taste and level of creaminess.

While you can’t go wrong with sharp cheddar (it’s by far the most popular choice!), we like to play around with different cheese combinations. Below are our favorite cheese duos.

Quick Overview

What Is the Best Cheese for Mac and Cheese?

Sharp cheddar is the overwhelming popular choice, but for extra-creamy results, we think medium cheddar is even better. Other delicious options include Gruyère, smoked Gouda, and Monterey Jack.

How to Choose the Best Cheese for Mac and Cheese

  • Pick a cheese that melts well. Cheddar, Gruyère, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, Fontina, and Gouda cheese are good options.
  • Grate your own cheese. The preservatives in the pre-grated stuff can make it tougher to melt. Plus, it never tastes as good.
  • Play around with the cheese combos. Homemade mac and cheese is not an exact science. As long as you’re working with cheese that you know will melt well, you can play around with the combinations and proportions.

Sharp Cheddar + Medium Cheddar

You’ll find a lot of recipes that call for sharp cheddar cheese to make the homemade cheese sauce, and we totally get it. It’s generally easy-to-find and affordable, melts beautifully, and tastes delicious. But after a lot of testing, one of our most trusted recipe developers, Patty Catalano, declared that medium cheddar is the best option for ultra-creamy mac and cheese. It has more moisture and therefore melts more easily than sharp cheddar and yields a noticeably creamier sauce.

Sharp Cheddar + Gruyère

When we want to channel our inner Ina, we go for Gruyère. It melts similarly to cheddar, but has a lovely nuttiness that tastes kinda fancy.

Medium Cheddar + Monterey Jack

If you have picky eaters, this is the mildest, very creamy, and most kid-friendly combination. Try a ratio of 1:1 in our go-to stovetop mac and cheese recipe.

Sharp Cheddar + Smoked Gouda

We recently tested six celebrity baked mac and cheese recipes and discovered our favorite included not one but two types of smoked cheeses (smoked cheddar and smoked provolone.) Smoked Gouda is generally easy to find and balances the sharpness of cheddar perfectly.

Parmesan (or Pecorino Romano) + Any Flavor Combo

We’d never make mac and cheese with just Parmesan, but just a quarter cup adds a lot of sharp depth of flavor.

If You Don’t Want to Make a Roux, Use Any Combo + Cream Cheese

For a quicker, easier, one-pot mac and cheese, use pasta water as the base of the sauce and cubed cream cheese as the binder. Then use any combo of melting cheese from above that you’d like.

The Only Cheese Combination I Ever Use for the Creamiest Mac and Cheese (2024)

FAQs

How to keep mac & cheese creamy? ›

According to The Kitchn, cooking your noodles in milk instead of water makes the sauce creamy before you even add the cheese sauce. The starches in the noodles get released as you cook them, helping to thicken the mixture from the start. That will ultimately help with the resulting creaminess.

How does Gordon Ramsay make the best mac and cheese? ›

Preparation
  1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the pasta and milk. ...
  2. Once the pasta is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. ...
  3. Divide between serving bowls and top with the bread crumbs.
  4. Enjoy!
  5. All your favorite recipes, stored in one place.
May 4, 2023

How to make leftover mac and cheese creamy? ›

"Stir in about 2 Tbs. of milk per 1 cup of mac and cheese and reheat," he says. The milk loosens up the pasta and helps create the creamy sauce as it's reheating. Heavy cream works well in this case too and adds an extra touch of richness to the mac and cheese.

What is the best cheese combo? ›

Cheese Pairing Chart
Cheese textureFood
Semi-soft (Fontal, provolone)Apples, grapes, roasted or grilled vegetables
Semi-hard (Asiago, gouda)Nuts, dried fruit, dark chocolate
Hard cheese (Romano, Parmesan)Nuts, honey, olives, salted meats, fresh vegetables
1 more row

Why does my mac and cheese not stay creamy? ›

You want equal amounts of butter and flour by weight. This is key. Throw in too much flour, and sure the sauce might get thick, but it also might taste floury and be lumpy. Even if you get the roux right, use too much or reduce your sauce down too far, and the macaroni and cheese will turn out dry.

What not to do when making mac and cheese? ›

Here's what several experts say are the biggest mistakes when it comes to making macaroni and cheese at home and how to avoid making them.
  1. Using Only Cheddar cheese. ...
  2. Not Adding Spice and Seasoning with Salt. ...
  3. Choosing the Wrong Pasta. ...
  4. Overcooking. ...
  5. Skimping on the Toppings.
May 21, 2020

What can I add to mac and cheese to make it tastier? ›

8 Ways to Elevate Your Macaroni and Cheese Dinners
  1. Add extra cheese to your dish.
  2. Mix in some hot sauce and chicken to make buffalo chicken mac n' cheese.
  3. Add in vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and spinach.
  4. Sprinkle some bacon bits or breadcrumbs on the top of your dish.
  5. Add spices and fresh herbs to your dish.
May 21, 2022

What is the best cheese according to chefs? ›

A Cheese Expert's Guide to 10 Essential Cheeses to Know and Love
  • Brie de Meaux-Style Brie.
  • Pyrénées Sheep.
  • Comté
  • Clothbound Cheddar.
  • Aged (Goat) Gouda.
  • Bleu d'Auvergne AOC/PDO.
  • Époisses de Bourgogne PDO.
  • Le Chevrot.

What's in Bob Evans mac and cheese? ›

Cooked Enriched Pasta (Water, Elbow Macaroni [Semolina (Wheat), Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid]), Milk, Water, Pasteurized Process Cheese Spread (American Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Whey, Sodium Phosphate, Contains Less than 2% of ...

Which cheese is best for mac and cheese? ›

7 Best Cheeses for Macaroni and Cheese
  • Cheddar. Cheddar is a staple for countless recipes. ...
  • Parmesan. Parmesan is a salty cheese with complex flavors. ...
  • Gruyere. Update your mac and cheese recipes to something more mature with Gruyere. ...
  • Brie. ...
  • Smoked Gouda. ...
  • Monterey Jack. ...
  • Fontina. ...
  • Sausage Mac and Cheese.

What happens if you use heavy cream instead of milk in mac and cheese? ›

Heavy cream is, in my opinion, the best milk substitute for kraft mac and cheese. It's thicker and more luxurious than milk, so I actually think this makes a better end result! just add the heavy whipping cream in the same way you would add the milk.

How do you make mac and cheese moist again? ›

Add 1 tablespoon of milk per cup of mac and cheese. *If you'd like to add more creaminess and flavor, substitute half-and-half or cream. 3. Cover with an inverted plate, making sure to use oven mitts when removing from the microwave to avoid burning yourself.

What cheese melts the best? ›

What is the best melting cheese? Cheeses with more moisture and lower melting points - cheddar is one of the most popular choices, but Swiss and Gruyère are also terrific options. Which melts better, mild or sharp cheddar? Mild cheddar melts more smoothly than sharper (more aged) cheddar.

Is cheese and apple a good combo? ›

Apples and cheese are the perfect (and might we add, underrated?) combination of sweet and savory. In our opinion, no charcuterie board is complete without several apples and cheese to pair together.

What macaroni is best for mac and cheese? ›

Elbow macaroni yields perfect-sized bites and is great with almost any variation on the mac and cheese theme.” Christensen also said the short length and hollow center of elbow macaroni work especially well.

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