Better-for-You Mac and Cheese Recipe: As Simple as the Boxed Version And Cheaper

I have a confession. A confession that previous me might have been horrified to hear. And maybe some of you too will judge me for it. But I don't.

My kids love boxed mac and cheese. I've made them "real macaroni and cheese" so many times but 2 of my kids vastly prefer the boxed stuff, especially my daughter who is a picky eater and not such a fan of cheese. My youngest daughter doesn't feel so comfortable in the kitchen with making her own food, but making boxed mac and cheese she can do. So when I'm out of the house and I'm hungry, she often asks to see if I have it and if she can make it to eat (for herself) but I remind her to please make enough for her siblings, because they also like it. Making regular mac and cheese is too difficult for her, but the boxed stuff is easy enough for her.

I don't know how expensive boxed mac and cheese is for you, but locally it costs $2.85-$3.50 per package of approximately 200 grams of pasta. And I don't care what the serving size says on the box, that there's 3 servings per box, 1 box feeds one kid in my house, with maybe a little left over for other people. Which means that to make enough for 4 kids it costs $11.40-$14. Which is a lot. I've tried stretching the package with more pasta, but then the kids say it is tasteless.

But then I heard about a way to make it just as easy as the boxed stuff (plus one tiny more step), and healthier too!

Iherb makes a cheddar cheese powder and I learned from friends and in Facebook groups for mom cooking hacks that you can make "boxed mac and cheese" with this cheddar cheese powder in exactly the same way. It isn't the cheapest way to make mac and cheese, but it has the ease and approximate taste of boxed mac and cheese with a much lower price tag. And there's healthier and less processed ingredients in the powdered cheddar cheese than in the cheese powder in boxed mac and cheese.

With boxed mac and cheese with 200 grams of pasta, you add 4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick or about 50 grams, 1/4 cup milk, and the packet of cheese powder, which is 1/4 cup. 

For actual cost comparisons, let's do it this way.

The package of cheddar powder costs $21.82 for 453 grams. There's approximately 17 1/4 cup servings in it. This makes it $1.28 per serving. 

Boxed mac and cheese has 200 grams of pasta. A regular package of pasta has between 400 and 500 grams. So to make a package of pasta into this type of mac and cheese, you'd use $2.56 worth of cheese powder for 2-2.5 times the amount of pasta.

Locally I buy pasta and stock up when it is between $0.70 and $1 per package. 

So for $1.98-$2.28 I get the same amount as what would typically cost $5.70-$7. If you need me to do the math for you, its between 1/3 and 1/2 the price making it this way. 

What about shipping costs? Well, if you are in the US you can get free shipping from iherb if you spend more than $20 usually, so that's anyhow free. And if you're abroad, currently it's free shipping if your order is over $60. 3 of these and you already have free shipping.

Of course, this doesn't factor in the butter or the milk, but those aren't included in the box of packaged mac and cheese anyhow. 

Additionally, I don't know how cheaply you can get boxed mac and cheese where you live or how much pasta costs there, so I'm not promising it is cheaper for you to make it, but with what I included here, you can do the math using your local prices and see for yourself.

So now with all that said and done, how do you make mac and cheese just like the boxed version, but cheaper and somewhat healthier?

Better-for-You Mac and Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:
1 400-500 gram package pasta (that's approximately a 1 lb bag of pasta for you Americans)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese powder
1/2 cup milk
Approximately 50 grams butter, half a stick, or 4 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Cook your pasta until it's the texture you like. 

2. Strain the pasta but don't rinse it.

3. Add the butter to the pot along with the milk and cheese powder. Officially you're supposed to mix it separately and then add the pasta back in to ensure no clumps, but I usually just add the butter to the hot pasta and let the residual heat melt the butter then add the rest of the ingredients. But if you want to do it the official way you first melt the butter in the pot and then add the ingredients for the sauce, mix well, then add the pasta back in.

That's it.

My picky kids loved it just as much. And one kid said he prefers it this way, as there's a slight aftertaste in boxed mac and cheese that this doesn't have.

It is exactly the same amount of work as the packaged stuff, other than needing to measure the half cup cheese powder instead of just dumping the packet in. However, you anyhow are measuring a half cup of milk, so you're using a measuring cup (or just half a regular cup, that's what I use) anyhow, so this is only negligibly extra work.

Variations:

• I halved the butter in the recipe compared to what is in the typical boxed mac and cheese instructions. No need for a full stick of butter here. 1/2 a stick is enough. But if you want to go "traditional", sure, use a whole stick.
  
  
• This allows you to make gluten free boxed style mac and cheese for much cheaper than a gluten free version would cost.
  
  
• My stomach is sensitive and I don't do so well with too much dairy, and plain milk is one of the biggest culprits for me. I use unsweetened soy milk when making for myself (in addition to gluten free pasta) to irritate my stomach less. My stomach still doesn't love it (butter and I are not the biggest friends and there is also non aged milk in cheddar powder, unlike in actual cheddar cheese) but it's definitely better for me this way. But this is why I only rarely make myself this, in addition to the cost.

So, there you have it.

I won't take the credit for this idea; all I'll take credit for is doing the math and sharing this with you.

Happy nomming.

(And just so the health police don't yell at me- serve this with cucumber or pepper sticks for a more well rounded meal. Or put two basil leaves on yours so it has something green in the picture and looks healthier.)

Are you and yours a fan of boxed mac and cheese? Do you buy it? Or do you not because of cost and/or health? Does this look like something you'd try?