Like grilled cheese, mac and cheese is a staple in the childhood of most cheese lovers. Whether someone in your family had a homemade recipe, or you got it out of a Kraft box, there’s a good chance you’ve had mac and cheese at least once in your life. But finding the best way to eat mac and cheese can be very difficult, as there are a wide variety of variations on this classic dish. Culture has narrowed it down to what we believe to be the ten best.
10. Mac and Cheese Pizza
Pizza meets mac ‘n’ cheese, a match made in heaven | Photo Credit: Image courtesy of The Gunny Sack
This combines two favorite cheesy foods: mac ‘n’ cheese and pizza. What results is a delicious combination that satisfies both your cheese craving and your inner child. My mouth is watering just looking at it.
9. Poole’s Macaroni au Gratin
Cheddar is the predominant cheese flavor in this mac ‘n‘ cheese, but Grana Padano adds a pleasant sharpness and Jarlsberg lends its classic mellow nuttiness.
Cheddar dominates this delicious recipe, but other cheeses make the recipe both nutty and a little sharp. It’s very similar to the classic recipe we all know and love, but the additions make for a fun, new experience that’s definitely worth checking out.
8. Mac and Cheese Ravioli
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of The Food in my Beard
This recipe is essentially the pasta version of Inception: pasta inside other pasta being the main ingredient here. Essentially, two foods that are already cheesy and delightful become even more cheesy and delightful, and your mouth with explode with happiness as a result.
7. Farmstead Cheesemonger’s Mac and Cheese
This mac ‘n’ cheese is elevated by the use of a great sharp cheddar, earthy and sweet Gruyère, and creamy, piquant ripe Brie.
What’s great about this recipe is the cheeses it uses. The combination of sharp cheddar, Gruyère, and Brie creates a wide variety of flavors as you eat: from sweet to sharp and many places in between. How could you resist such a delicious array of cheesy pasta flavors in one bite?
6. Mini Mac and Cheese Pies
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of She Knows
Who doesn’t love pie? Who doesn’t love miniature things that make you feel like a giant when you eat them? This recipe combines both of these things, and then adds mac and cheese to it. It makes a warm, doughy pie with a rich, creamy center full of Parmesan cheese.
5. Mediterranean-Style Mac and Cheese
The idea here is to take all the goodness of classic mac and cheese and ramp it up a bit with sausage and Mediterranean flavors.
If you’re looking for a completely new experience with your mac and cheese recipes, look no further than this one. This adds spicy sausage and a combination of spices to create a Mediterranean twist on this old favorite. It’s still the mac and cheese we all know and love, but it’s also a new and exciting experience to try.
4. Macaroni and Cheese Waffles
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Serious Eats
Another combination of two great comfort foods. A slight crispiness can really enhance a mac and cheese recipe, and this runs right out of left field with that idea. The crispy outside and the gooey inside contrast each other beautifully in this recipe, making a delectable treat not to be missed.
3. Guinness and Steak Mac N’ Cheese
An American classic meets British steak-and-Guinness pie in this hearty dish.
Cheese and beer is a surprisingly delicious combination. This recipe knows it, takes advantage of it, and adds steak to it. The result is a hearty meal that adds a tang to the mac and cheese we all know and love. Plus, given the fact that it includes both meat and beer, it probably has the approval of Ron Swanson. What more could you ask for?
2. Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese Pie with Bacon Lattice
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of BuzzFeed.com
It’s mac and cheese, it’s a pie, and it’s wrapped in bacon. What more could you ask for? Bacon enhances any mac and cheese recipe the way it enhances just about any other recipe in existence. The bacon lattice top requires a lot of preparation and many intricate steps, but what you’ll get at the end will be worth the wait. Just look at the picture. You know I’m right.
1. Lobster Macaroni and Cheese
Maybe my Mainer bias is coming out here, but come on, have you ever had lobster mac and cheese? It’s to die for. And this particular recipe includes bacon. It’s basically a combination of all the greatest things in the world.
Win an Issue
What’s your favorite mac and cheese recipe? Comment below and you could win a free edition of culture magazine! Comment by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, October 30 for a chance to win. You must be located in the continental US to be eligible. Good luck!
Photo Credit: Featured image courtesy of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Amanda Doughty
Amanda Doughty considers cheese to be an essential part of her upbringing, as her family owns Anthony's Italian Kitchen, an Italian restaurant in Portland, Maine. She studied creative writing at Emerson, where she was considered an outcast for refusing to touch the disgusting pizza in the Dining Hall. She admits that is a bit of a food snob, especially when it comes to pizza and cheese.
Mac IN ravioli! Genius!