Ok, confession time… Kraft Mac n’ Cheese in the blue box is my all time favorite mac n’ cheese. I am not saying that others are not tasty, I am just saying I love the stuff in the blue box.
I have never made homemade mac n’ cheese until now. Again, I was trolling through my mom’s cookbook looking for something tasty to make and she has sworn that her mac n’ cheese casserole is divine- better than the blue box stuff. Honestly, comparing the blue box mac n’ cheese to home-made mac n’ cheese is like comparing a Granny Smith Apple to a Golden Delicious Apple- alike in some ways but waaaay different in others. None-the-less, I decided to give her mac n’ cheese casserole recipe a whirl.
The ingredients are as follows:
- 16 ounces of uncooked macaroni
- 2 (10.75 ounce) cans of cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups of mayo
- 4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
- 1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted
(I shop at Sam’s Club and buy certain things in bulk- yep, like Kraft mac n’ cheese in the blue box, so for this recipe, I used the noodles and saved the cheese packets for later.) Cook your macaroni according to the directions and drain. While the macaroni is cooking, mix together the mayo, cream of chicken, cheese and salt and pepper.
Then combine the noodles with the cheese mixture and pour into a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex.
Put your Ritz crackers in a Zip Loc Bag and crush them and add your melted stick of butter and mash it all together. And cover the casserole with them and put it in the oven on 350 F for 30 minutes. And then, drum roll please….
Oh, it’s good! It’s real good. It’s the best home-made macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had. There is simply no comparison between this and the blue box. This is divine. I have just one thing to say about this recipe, it is enough for Pharaoh AND his army. When this came out of the oven, Bub was standing there and his eyes got real big and he asked when everybody was coming over because we had a ton of mac n cheese! Next time, I’ll only be cutting the recipe in half.
Macaroni & Cheese Casserole:
- 16 ounces of uncooked macaroni
- 2 (10.75 ounce) cans of cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups of mayo
- 4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
- 1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted
Cook the macaroni according to directions, drain and set aside. Combine the next 4 ingredients and then fold in the macaroni and pour into a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex. Crush the Ritz and mix with the butter and pour over the casserole. Cook for 30 minutes on 350 F.
If it’s got two cups of mayo and ritz crackers, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna love it. But, gurl, tell me… what are you going to do with all those extra packets of “cheese” mix? 🙂
@Leigh, if you reconstitute those cheese packets with melted butter and/or milk you will have instant cheese sauce for broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, nachos- the list could go on forever. @Sheila, it was very easy & very good. I froze over half of it in 2 portion sizes.
Fascinating!
This is going on my to-do list, it sounds so easy! I will probably cut it in half too, though.
This was a big hit! We had it as a side with some leftover pulled pork, and it was terrific. I have enough left over between this and your southwestern beef taco soup that I don’t think I’ll have to cook for the whole week that Ken is out of town. (Sorry, Wok’n’Roll.)
(In a sing song voice) aaawwwweesooomme!
So now we’re having mac & cheese for dinner tomorrow night. (And maybe JUST mac & cheese; don’t judge.) That’s Merrill’s favorite, and she can totally help with this. And by help I mean watch. 🙂
Love this blog!
Jessica, that Mac n’Chz is awesome! I am sure your family will love it. If it’s gonna be dinner, you might think about adding chicken to it… Then it would have some protein too. However, having it just like it is is good too!