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It took forever, I know, but here it is: the recipe for Ol’ School Mac & Cheese! This is the mac and cheese y’all have been asking for since my husband’s birthday back in March.
You can find a video tutorial on how to prepare this dish on my YouTube channel and more photographs on Instagram.
Fun fact: as a kid I preferred Kraft Deluxe with the pouch of cheese goo over anyone’s baked mac. Today, I haven’t changed – I will eat ‘real’ macaroni and cheese as most Black folks consider it, but I don’t seek it out.
I do make it fairly often tho; no one in my family shares my affinity for the blue box.
Damn, I just remembered this very second that I owe you guys a stovetop jalapeño mac and cheese recipe too. Welp. I’ll get on that eventually.
This Ol’ School Mac & Cheese recipe is your Classic Southern Black Gramma’s Thanksgiving mac: evaporated milk, eggs, and yes, Velveeta. No béchamel, no breadcrumbs, no expensive cheeses.
If you’re looking for more sophisticated options, there are tons on Pinterest. One of my family’s favorites is Resha’s from Carnal Dish.
Check out my other recipes for mac and cheese: my Carolina Reaper Mac and Cheese recipe if you’re looking for a challenge and the Stovetop Mac & Cheez recipe in my first cookbook As Seen On IG.
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Ol’ School Macaroni and Cheese
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Just like your grandmother might have made. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not.
Ingredients
- 8 oz elbow macaroni noodles
- 4 tbsp salted butter (diced)
- 8 oz Velveeta (diced)
- 1 C colby cheese (shredded)
- 1 C monterrey jack cheese (shredded)
- 1 C sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 1/3 C heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tbsp seasoned salt
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tbsp cracked black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Grease your 8×8″ square dish and preheat the oven to 350º.
- Grate your cheeses and combine together in a large bowl. Cut your butter and velveeta into small cubes. Place the butter, velveeta, and half of the shredded cheeses in the prepared dish.
- On your stovetop, cook your macaroni in salted water according to the package directions, just past al dente. While the noodles are boiling, prepare your custard.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, cream, sour cream, egg, sugar, and all seasonings except paprika. Beat until totally combined, with no streaks of egg.
- Immediately after draining them, dump the hot noodles into the baking dish. Stir together, letting the noodles start to melt the cheeses. Spread everything around as evenly as possible.
- Sprinkle on a thin layer of cheese, then pour the custard over it The liquid should come just to the top of the noodles. Sprinkle on another layer of cheese, then paprika.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until browned to your liking. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. I’m for real: let it sit. At LEAST ten minutes!
Notes
- Shred the cheese yourself. It truly makes a difference.
- If you decide to double the recipe, I recommend layering the Velveeta, noodles and butter with the shredded cheeses before pouring on the custard. Like lasagna.
- Adapted from Sweetie Pie’s.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
9 Comments
Victoria
May 17, 2019 at 11:01 pmYum omg! The best Mac and cheese I have ever made. Wow
María
May 28, 2019 at 6:18 pmI’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you for trying it!!
Shar
August 14, 2019 at 12:03 pmI’m about to make this today !!
María
August 17, 2019 at 8:41 pmLet me know how you like it!
Mary
September 17, 2019 at 6:51 pmMy experience with velveta cheese is it’s always sweet. Can I take that out?
Thank you
María
September 18, 2019 at 1:54 pmIf you do you wouldn’t be making this recipe, but i’m sure your adaptation would be good too.
Carolina Reaper Mac & Cheese • deepfriedhoney
March 28, 2020 at 6:47 am[…] update the photo with a better one as soon as I can and don’t forget there’s also my Ol’ School Mac & Cheese recipe to try out […]
Marlo. Rice
March 30, 2020 at 10:48 pmSo glad im .making this this week❤
Ashley
April 14, 2020 at 9:38 pmGreat Recipe!! Made it today and it turned out amazingly delicious ? only thing I added was cream of celery. Thank you for such an amazing recipe