In an independent survey from Pollfish for National Macaroni & Cheese Day, 56% of Americans say they’d give up coffee or social media before they surrender their cheese and noodle comfort food. More than half try to eat it at least once a week, and 86% say it’s not just for the kids.
Now considered a classic American side dish, the roots of macaroni and cheese trace back to ancient Rome. The most prominent version we enjoy now was first prepared in 18th-century France. It came to the United States by way of James Hemings, President Thomas Jefferson’s former head chef and the country’s first Paris-trained chef de cuisine.
Not so cheesy origins
It seems fitting that the origins of the most popular comfort food in the United States can be called a literal melting pot. Pasta noodles themselves appear to have originated in China and ended up in the hands of Italian chefs sometime around the eighth or ninth century.
It’s unknown just when cheese became a principal topping, but it appears to have dual origins. Food historian Elisabeth Ayrton notes that macaroni cheese, or macrows, was first prepared at the court of King Richard II in about 1390. However, the oldest pasta and cheese recipe was found in the ” Liber de Coquina ” or The Book of Cookery, which is believed to have been written by an anonymous chef in Latin and emerged from the Neapolitan court in the early 14th century.
For decades, baked macaroni and cheese was considered a southern delicacy, a luxury, as most could not afford the ingredients. At some point, the dish transformed into a soul food staple. After the Civil War, Tennessee-born Rufus Estes was hired as a private chef for the Pullman Private Car Service, and he cooked Southern mac and cheese for titans of industry. He later included the recipe in his cookbook, the first written by a Black man, published in 1911.
In 1937, at the height of the Great Depression, Kraft Foods introduced boxed macaroni and cheese. The pasta was thin, and the cheese sauce was a powder that gelled into a processed goo when liquid was added. At the time, a box cost just 19 cents; by the end of the year, Kraft had sold 9 million boxes. During World War II, Kraft sales exploded, no pun intended, because families on tight budgets could buy two boxes with one ration stamp. In 1955, the yellow box was traded for the blue most folks grew up with. In 2022, Kraft reported that they still sell more than a million boxes of their Mac and Cheese Dinner every 24 hours in the United States.
More recently, TikTok recipe sensation Tini went viral with her macaroni and cheese recipe that uses 2 whole pounds of cheese. The video has 102.9 million views and counting, as of this writing.
Don’t skimp on the cheese
Although it comes second in the name, cheese is, by far, the most important and most debated ingredient in macaroni and cheese. It’s hard to mess up simple pasta noodles. Boil them in water with a little salt and you’re good to go. Cheese, however, comes in dozens of varieties and flavors, and everyone has their favorite.
Cheddar is by far the cheese used in most recipes for macaroni and cheese, and even that is up for debate. Do you use mild, medium or sharp? White cheddar is a creamier alternative. Overall, both historically and in modern times, shredded cheddar has the best meltability, flavor profile and the perfect balance of age and stretchability. It also pairs well with many of the other cheeses on this list, a bonus for those who like to mix things up.
A close second for the flavor people savor is Colby Jack. It’s a mix of Monterey Jack and Colby; this cheese gives you the best of both flavors. Colby Jack, whether shredded or sliced, melts smoothly without becoming greasy. It’s a creamy treat with perfect stretch. Try it in an easy Instant Pot mac and cheese, along with some shredded cheddar and evaporated milk.
Want to stay affordable? No judgment here. After all, Kraft is synonymous with mac and cheese, so why not use their smooth-melting processed wonder, Velveeta? The sodium citrate keeps it from separating, and it reheats well for leftovers.
On the other hand, some folks prefer the pricier options, as long as they taste good. Some folks swear by Gruyère. The Swiss cheese, known for its creamy, nutty and earthy flavor, gives your noodles and cheese a sophistication that simple cheddar can’t match. Although they do work well together. Gruyère’s flavor is complex enough to stand out but not overpower other ingredients, appealing to both adventurous and picky eaters.
If you’re going for the creamiest goodness, you’ll want to reach for the Gouda. The high fat content and excellent meltability make it the one cheese that makes even the sharpest cheddar work. Havarti is right behind Gouda, especially if you’re looking for a butterier flavor and texture for your cheese roux.
Parmesan is rarely used as a solo cheese for macaroni and cheese, but it adds a wonderful, savory umami twist that elevates other cheeses. Parmesan also adds a different texture if you’re using the American version or true Parmesan, aged Parmigiano Reggiano. If you want to mix things up a bit and have the budget, try Jarlsberg or Emmental cheese for a sweet, nuttier flavor. Or throw caution to the wind and give your mac and cheese a fruity, tangy edge with Appenzeller cheese.
Variations on a classic
Of course, not everyone is satisfied with just noodles and cheese. Almost as soon as Thomas Jefferson built his pasta machine, people were clamoring to add their own twist to the dish. Old-fashioned Southern mac and cheese draws on African Americans’ soul food roots, adding their own spices, as well as eggs, half-and-half, garlic cloves and flour to make a more custardy casserole.
One of the first popular variants on macaroni and cheese appears to have its roots in military MREs. Even before meals-ready-to-eat were a thing, the 1916 Manual for Army Cooks featured a dish called chop suey stew, made with pasta noodles, cheese and beef. Eventually, the dish made it stateside, where it picked up the moniker chili-mac.
The addition of protein didn’t stop with hamburger. Soon, people were adding chicken, ham and bacon. Not a dish to be confined to blue-collar dinner tables, high-end restaurants started rolling out lobster, crab and shrimp mac and cheese.
Some folks swear their pasta cooks better if they boil it in milk, eliminating the need to drain the liquid. The starch from the pasta thickens the milk as it boils, makinga nice creamy base even before you melt the cheese.
The most modern additive to baked macaroni and cheese is breadcrumbs sprinkled over the top to add a crunchy texture. Crumbled up Ritz crackers, another Depression-era snack, is another popular alternative. People are always looking for new and interesting ways to serve mac and cheese, like these mac and cheese muffins that combine bread crumbs and soul food preparation, then baked up into single-serving helpings everyone loves.
Stirring it up
No matter how you prepare it, macaroni and cheese remains one of America’s most popular dishes. One in three says it’s their number one side dish regardless of who’s around the dinner table. It’s a top treat for any meal, but has become a primary side for Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes. The only question is, when will you make it next? Krystle Smith is the recipe developer at Baking Beauty, a comfort food blog that focuses on recipes made without hard-to-find ingredients or expensive tools. She holds a professional cook certification and has been developing recipes for over 14 years. When she’s not in the kitchen, you can find her reading a good book or playing with her dog, Toffee.
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