All kids love mac & cheese. The problem is, the boxed versions of mac & cheese are made with powdered cheese mix and noodles made from white flour. Not exactly nutritious! Also, boxed mac & cheese is gross. It tastes horrible! The so-called healthy brands are not much better than Kraft.
I came up with this recipe for real, homemade mac & cheese that your kids are going to love. In fact, when I sent this recipe out in my menu mailer, one of my subscribers said that her son came in after dinner and said it was the “Best mac & cheese ever!”
We’re using real food: grass-fed butter, grass-fed cream (raw if you’ve got it,) and grass-fed cheddar cheese. Plus brown rice pasta, which is more nutritious than white flour pasta. I also prefer using brown rice pasta because, although it does still have phytic acid, it is not constipating like unsoaked wheat pasta.
This meal is chock-full of fat-soluble vitamins, and, if your dairy is raw, lots of enzymes. Since we’re using dairy from grass-fed cows, this mac & cheese is loaded with vitamin K2 — what your kids need to grow strong bones, wide faces with high cheekbones, and healthy, straight teeh.
This recipe is so easy, even a three-year-old can do it. That’s my daughter, Kate stirring pasta. (Okay, she didn’t make the whole thing — she helped me stir.)
Easy Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
Rice pasta, brown, penne or macaroni (16 ounces)
Butter, grass-fed (4 oz, or 8 TBS)
Cream, raw if possible, grass-fed (6-8 oz) — you can also use grass-fed sour cream — where to buy starters
Cheddar cheese, grass-fed, freshly grated (to taste)
Sea salt (to taste) — where to buy sea salt
Black pepper, freshly ground (to taste)
Optional: kosher salt
Equipment
ColanderDirections
1. Boil the pasta for 7-10 minutes per the directions on the package. Note: Nigella Lawson says pasta water should be “salty like the sea.” I always add a handful or two of kosher salt to my pasta water, this gives the pasta a lot more flavor. (I don’t use sea salt because it’s so much more expensive, but feel free to use sea salt if you like.)
2. When the pasta is al dente, strain in a colander and then put it back in the pan. Put the heat on low.
3. Stir in the butter.
4. When the butter is melted, add the cream and the grated cheese by the handful. Stir and cook until creamy and melted. Add as much cheese as you like. Some people like it cheesier, and others like it less cheesy. You can also more add butter or cream to taste. I didn’t measure it exactly when I did it. I just kept adding until it was the consistency I liked. You can’t mess this up.
5. Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and serve warm.
Disclosure: cmp.ly/4 and cmp.ly/5
{ 54 comments… read them below or add one }
yum!!!
.-= A Green Spell´s last blog ..Are lawns green? =-.
We can’t have Mac and Cheese being on the GAPS diet but some day…
I love the Kate is up there helping with meal prep. My boys almost 2 and 4 push my kitchen stools over to the stove all the time. They are always stirring the foods on the stove.
I really think it’s vital for kids to learn where their food comes from and how to prepare it.
I love how simple this recipe is. I’ve made a similar style but incorporated flour into the butter to make a roux. I like this method better since it skips that step and you just add to the pasta.
One time I tried to recreate the bright orange color of the boxed stuff by finely grating a carrot with a microplane grater into the butter. Because it was so fine, it basically cooked instantly and made the sauce that bright orange color that kids like.
.-= Tony´s last blog ..Roasted chicken dinner =-.
LOL Tony that is pretty clever re: the carrot!
Occasionally I will even add mashed butternut squash in the mac n cheese. It gives it the familiar orange color, creamy texture and you can’t even tell it’s in there. Whatever it takes to get the veggies in the kiddos!
Since butter is cream, I have made this with just cheese and cream (for a cheaper version) and it is very good also.
Oh, how I love mac & cheese! Too bad my my 11 w/o has a serious dairy sensitivity (totally confirmed the last time that I ate a ton of macaroni and cheese!). I’ll have to come back to this recipe one sweet day when I can have dairy again…
Does anyone have a good substitute for the macaroni? My son can’t have high glycemic foods e.g. rice
I make this recipe with potatoes (think a gratin, I think?), my kids who are completely grain-free LOVE IT! Mac n Cheese was their favorite food from our grain days & ask for this as “Mac n Cheese with potatoes”
can he have quinoa? Quinoa pasta is good and I think it is lower on the GI
I’ve been making this version regularly since it came out in the menu mailer and I can confirm how delicious it is.I always made it with the flour based sauce and my family never raved about it and I was unhappy about the white flour.
My family all beg for this dish to be made more often,even my son who used to hate butter and cream.I also add lots of parmesan and parsley to this.
I love Ann Marie’s inspired cooking!
Aw shucks, thanks Jen!
I’m so thrilled that your family loves it. My daughter asks for “mac & cheese” often too. (She also frequently asks for “soup” — it makes me really happy that I have a 3-year-old who loves eggs for breakfast, liverwurst for lunch and begs for chicken broth!)
Doesn’t it feel great to be able to give them something they love, knowing that it so good for them?
:-*
Last week I got my first edition of Wise Traditions and there I read that brown rice is just high in phytic acid and low in phytase, I think it was in Nourishing Traditions I read otherwise so what is it now? Are brown rice noodles a good alternative or not?
thanks! My children love mac & cheese but I haven’t made it since going more healthy. They’ll love this version!
I think brown rice noodles are a good alternative. I do not like to eat unsoaked/sprouted wheat pasta because it makes me constipated. That doesn’t happen w/ unsoaked brown rice pasta. I should have added that to the post — that is the main reason we use brown rice pasta.
Yes, there is phytic acid in the unsoaked brown rice pasta. It’s a compromise for us. If I had time to make my own soaked pasta, that would be the best thing. But Sally Fallon Morell says if you eat a good nutrient-dense WAPF diet, you really don’t need to worry too much about the phytic acid.
My boys love mac n cheese, too. I usually slip in some pureed butternut squash or cauliflower, and small diced broccoli, carrots or other veggies. We don’t eat as many veggies as we should so I’m actually happy when they eat this
Great recipe! I think traditional white sauce is overrated. The flour makes it pasty. Mac and cheese should be cheesy, not pasty! I think you got this one right for sure, Ann Marie.
For the sake of compromise, do you think white rice pasta serves as an alternative as well? It is refined, so no real nutrition there, but also wouldn’t the phytic acid be removed with the bran? Since phytic acid can block the absorption of nutrients it seems like it might be a worthy compromise.
I’m so glad to hear that others compromise too
This looks great- I’ll have to try it soon. I’ll do cheese sauce (made with yogurt rather than cream) on cauliflower for my GAPS girl
.-= Cara @ Health Home and Happiness´s last blog ..A Moment of Materialism =-.
This is how I’ve always mac and cheese and people think I’m crazy for using all the butter and cream lol. but I know better!
It’s very good with some ancho chili powder too.
Ah okay, thanks! So in our case I could also use whole wheat pastas sometimes or even white (no problems with constipation here), because the rest of our food is so nutrient rich?
I’d love to make my own pasta once, but indeed, when….?
My son asked for blue box mac and cheese for his birthday lunch this year. I wrinkled my nose and said, “Are you sure?” He was adamant. I made just one box: just enough for him (he turned 18 and that little box was slightly less than he usually eats – all hundred pounds of him.)
After polishing it off, he wrinkled his nose at me and said, “It’s not as good as I remember it.”
Score.
Thanks for the great recipe! I love mac and cheese (and usually add cooked bacon on top.) Do they make macaroni out of Jerusalem artichoke flour? I’ve seen some pasta with that and wondered about it.
.-= Peggy´s last blog ..Monday Morning Rethink: Seeking Change =-.
Eve – try quinoa pasta…http://skinnychef.com/blog/quinoa
I love it as an alternative for rice.
Sounds delicious.
Just a note for resusing the pasta water. If you catch it in another pan you can use it to kill weeds in the driveway. Since it’s hot & salty it does a wonderful job. Just don’t use in flowerbeds or next to plants you don’t want to kill.
.-= Chiot’s Run´s last blog ..A Call to Arms =-.
@ Cara that sounds delicious!
@ Iris I would think so. I think whole wheat or brown rice would be better than white flour.
@ Iris Also, not to be indelicate, but even though you may not *think* you have problems with constipation, it still impacts your digestion negatively. I know that I have a lot more bloating and flatulence and other issues when I’m eating white flour regularly (unless it is properly prepared with a sourdough fermentation or soaking).
Aside from the delicious mac and cheese, wanted to comment on salt. You note (correctly) sea salt is more expensive. But, just like other organic, local, sustainable, and healthy unprocessed food we all espouse, the expense is a vital contribution to our health. Regular (yes, even Kosher salt) is highly processed down to just a molecule of sodium chloride. In the process, sugar and aluminum are added, and the whole thing becomes denatured. I was a total saltaholic until I started using Himalayan sea salt and Celtic sea salt which contain all the minerals supplied by nature — and needed by our bodies. Just like finally getting all the cream and butter we need, my body responded with all sorts of good results when it FINALLY got the minerals it was craving. Results: much less use of salt, much improved health in both overt and subtle ways.
San Francisco Salt Company is a great supplier (I have no personal ties or gain from this company). If you buy in bulk, the prices are very reasonable. I buy 10 pounds at a time which lasts a long time even with all the brining I do, but am planning to get much larger discounts by sharing 25 pounds among several friends.
As usual, westonapricefoundation.org is a good place to start. Once you know how salt is processed, you’ll want to avoid it as much as nitrite-filled processed meats or other nasty food products.
Yummy!
I cook my pasta in stock, I try to keep unseasoned (except sea salt) chicken stock in the freezer for cooking pasta, rice, etc.
I started doing this to ease my concience about the occasional box of Annie’s mac and cheese, lol. It made such a difference in the flavor I started cooking all my pastas in stock, much richer.
I made your mac and cheese, I was a little hessitant about the brown rice maccaroni, but it was sooo good all my kids loved it!! Thank you for helping me replace a processed food item out of my pantry!!
Thanks, Cheeseslave for sharing with all this recipe! I made it for lunch yesterday and my 3-year old was in heaven! The brown rice pasta was good and I couldn’t tell the difference between it and wheat. And the sauce was cheesy, creamy, and smooth. I made it with goat milk cheddar and goat’s milk for my little man, and even he gobbled it up! I should make more of this and freeze it for lunches on busy days (or lazy ones). Thanks again.
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Organic and Real Food Are NOT Synonomous =-.
This looks like a very good recipe, I think I will try it out. I tend to be lazy in the kitchen but pasta is something that is fairly straightforward. I’ve used brown rice pasta and it tastes good to me, I just noticed that it tends to clump together more than wheat pasta. But taste-wise it’s a-okay. And it’s really just a delivery system for the butter/cream/cheese
.-= Brian´s last blog ..Doctors suck =-.
I’m so glad this uses brown rice pasta instead of whole wheat pasta. Both of my sons and I have Celiac disease and can’t have any wheat.
Once we’re past the dairy-free portion of their diet (only 2 more weeks!), I’ll definitely have to try this.
Thanks for the yummy recipe.
.-= Kim´s last blog ..Baby Chick Hatching =-.
wouldnt the heating kill all the enzymes?
@ Kady
Yes it would but we are adding the cream, butter & cheese at the end. I don’t actually heat it when I’m adding those things so it’s just the warmth of the pasta that makes it all melt and blend together into gooey goodness. It’s not hot enough to deactivate the enzymes.
So if you can find raw cream, butter & cheese, use them because you’ll get all the enzymes.
@ Carey
That is interesting – what do you do with the stock after you cook the pasta and strain it? Do you throw it away?
This one is a regular for our family, thanks to the Menus by Mail that we get. It’s so good, can’t believe it’s so healthy…BUT IT IS!!! YUM!!!
Thanks for your replies and again a question. When rice is better than wheat pasta, what about whole amaranth or kamut pastas, what would you reccommend?
We make this often with real parm instead of cheddar … try it!
This recipe is very yummy! Also this doesnt have anything to do with the recipe itself but I noticed that your Kate was standing in a neat kitchen stool so I looked extra close to see the name on it. And I looked it up – definitely buying one of these Learning Towers for my daughter (or maybe the grandparents will buy it
)! Thanks!
Great recipe, but now my 20 month old will not eat anything else! I am getting a little frustrated since she will not eat anything for lunch or dinner other than mac n cheese! She will even go as far as not to eat anything for a meal if I won’t give her the mac n cheese!
HI! Can anybody share their source for grass-fed cheese? We purchase the organic valley raw cheese, but I don’t think it is grass fed. Our farm store has some, but we really do not enjoy the taste. Tastes very different. Do you feel yours tastes different? THANKS!
i dont think that little girl should be there in oven that close thats dangerous for her
Just made this for lunch, but ***cringe*** I only had regular macaroni… will be trying this with rice pasta though~ as soon as I get some!! It was awesome! Thank you for such a super fast, nutritious alternative to the boxed stuff. We usually eat Annie’s, and I’ve stocked up on it, but I’ll be saving that for “harder times”! Meanwhile, we’ll be enjoying this recipe for sure!
Finally…the mac and cheese recipe I have been waiting for!
Hi there, thanks for your help on facebook. I couldn’t post a link there, so i leave you my italian version of this dish here!
http://www.pastificiodeicampi.it/maccheroni-and-cheese-with-an-italian-twist.html
Thanks again!
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Hey, stirring is an important job!
I made this today and it was delicious! We had butter-garlic broccoli on the side and we found they tasted great mixed together. I used raw milk instead of cream and raw mild cheddar. Lovely!
Hello,
My name is Natalie and I have a blog devoted to eating and living clean so that we may all reduce our risk of getting diseases. I love your mac n cheese recipe and would like to post it on my site. I have my own picture and there would be a link to your site for the recipe. Please let me know if this is ok with you.
Thanks!
Natalie
@Natalie
It’s fine to post an excerpt and a link to the recipe but please don’t use the full recipe. Thanks!
This was a supreme hit last night! Loved the simplicity of it. Put peas in it, tasted fabulous! Thank you:)
@Erin!
Hooray! We are making it tonight to go with lamb chops!
Just subscribed to your emails! I’ve had this pinned for ages and it just now occurred to me that I should sign up so I don’t miss anything. I grew up eating the blue box until my Mom discovered WAPF (her website is http://www.realfoodhouston.com). I used to throw a can of tuna in and tell myself it was healthy. What a difference knowledge makes! I haven’t bought that stuff in years. I was wondering, though, if you had ever tried this with tuna? Or grass-fed hot dogs, like we ate when we were kids? I can’t imagine this tasting bad with all that butter and yummy cream, but I wondered how much it changed the taste.
I did this recipe, but wanted to go Italian with it. So I used grass fed fontina and DOCG parmesan reggiano with raw cream, raw butter, and an organic italian spice blend from frontier organics. Also added a pound of grass fed ground beef. Also added 1/2 cup of pasta water to thicken the sauce. Pretty awesome.
Also, as a BIG fan of pasta, while macaroni is great, orrechiette is really the perfect pasta for mac and cheese. Its perfect for holding sauce like this.
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