What are your favorite ways to dress up boxed mac and cheese?

chelchelle

Throw some frozen peas in the water right before you drain the noodles and let them thaw. Drain, add in the cheese stuff, top with pepper and bacon bits.

BigGreenSticky

Garlic salt, garlic pepper, salt, crushed bag of BBQ chips (small bag), shredded sharp cheddar, large pat of butter,box cheese, dash of milk, stir under heat,and finish tobasco and pepper to taste.

leewaylandgrant

add a can of beef chili

I know I'm going to culinary hell for this, but it was a college comfort food. I still get a random craving for it 'bout once a year.

Negative__One

Hot dogs. Cook the hot dog in the microwave and chop it into little bite size pieces and stir it into the mac n cheese.
Sriracha sauce

bertimus9

Crap, based on the headline I thought of the obvious answer, but I wasn't counting on the poor student part. (my first thought was a bottle of delicious champagne, but that doesn't come cheap).

But as a student, I used to make a tuna and macaroni salad that was great. Boil stubby/short macaroni like you would for mac n cheese; drop in some frozen peas at the very end till they're defrosted, then drain; add a can of tuna, some mayo and gulden's mustard, salt and pepper. I would make a huge batch of this and eat it for lunch and dinner for days, cold and out of the fridge.

Another option is macaroni and cheeseburger helper. (and champagne). Trashily delicious.

mattbin

Saute onions, broccoli, asparagus, whatever other vegetables you have on hand until they're soft.
Mix with cooked pasta.
Create sauce per instructions.

BONUS

Add chopped-up bits of good cheese (gouda for example) and mix well before serving.

ALSO

My brother-in-law throws chopped prosciutto in after finishing the box directions. He calls the meat "gabbagool" though, because he used to eat this ritually while watching the Sopranos. I have yet to decide whether this is an abomination or a breakthrough.

snuggleslut

If you learn to make a simple white sauce, you can abandon the box stuff for good.

First, melt 1-2 tbs butter in a sauce pan.

Then add 1-2 tbs flour.

Stir the flour until it starts to look golden.

Stir in 1-1.5 cups milk.

After the milk is warm, add cheese with abandon (but 1 cup is probably sufficient).

Mix with pasta and revel in its tastiness.

jesuisnapoleon

Lots of pepper, bacon, ground beef.

TheFinn

First i always use at the very least whole milk but often half and half or heavy cream. I also tend to grate a bunch of real cheese into my mac and cheese while still hot.

Canned and mostly drained tuna (i find a little "tuna water" adds tuna flavor to the cheese sauce)
Salsa (or Sriracha or Rotel)
Leftover meat from the previous nights dinner (Taco meat, Ham, Chinese BBQ pork, Chili, Roast beef, Pork Roast etc)
Sausage (Linguica, Chorizo, Chourico, Kielbasa, etc)
sauted peas and onions (sauted in bacon fat)
bacon (in all of it's forms pancetta etc)
Shredded fried Chicken(and buffalo chicken sausage) + bit of Franks Wings Sauce + crumbled blue cheese served with celery on the side)

I like to think of it as adding mac and cheese to things not the other way around i mean seriously what can't be improved by adding cheese and pasta

janey24516

I add sour cream and cream cheese, if I have them. Plain yogurt makes it really tangy in a good way.

Frozen peas always works. Bacon on top sounds tasty, too.

MayaKarin

it already is delicious....

ddddamn

BACOOOOOOOOOOOOON! and also, some louisiana hot sauce

asocialnetwork

I usually dress my mac and cheese up in an expensive shirt, jeans and maybe a bandana with sunglasses. makes for a badass look. if you're poor you can always go for a cheaper shirt

courtbeautiful

Add onions and cayenne pepper. You can do one or both of them together. It is wonderful.

Pendin

I fry up onions and kiebasa sausage in a pan, sometimes with some red bell pepper and a hot pepper of some sort, then I make the mac and cheese as directed, and mix them together. I liberally add sriracha because I love the heat and garlic.

tallwookie

Everyone's fashion taste is different, but I find that fishnet, stockings/garter, and some padded handcuffs can make any kind of box look a LOT better

benutne

Little bit of ro-tel goes a long way. Salsa works too.

Ketchup.

ham - no ketchup with the ham though.

madcapmag

Bacon, hot-dog, parsley, sriracha, edamame (hulled), extra cheese. Mix everything in except the extra cheese. Put into a baking dish, top with cheese, bake at 425 until cheese is browned. Toss on parsley.

orezpraw

I like to put mine in a sheer teddy.

PikaKyri

Use yoghurt instead of milk. One of the brands I've tried suggested it and it's just nice. The little bit of tang really helps make it taste better.

Manioti

By throwing it away. I never eat boxed mac and cheese. You can make far better for less, so why swill?

BeerOtter

I have a large round container I usually put most pre-made, chemical-laden, tastes-like-shit box products in. The city picks them up once a week and they magically disappear.

Seriously, dude, save your money and start from scratch. It's simple, it's cheaper, it's better for you, it doesn't take much more time, and the womens love a man who can cook.

senatorkneehi

I read this as "favorite ways to dress up as boxed mac and cheese." I was expecting different kind of awesome once I got here. But while I'm here, I'll say in a glass dish lined with prosciutto (pepperoni or salami is a good poverty substitute), topped with mucho bread crumbs and baked.

megatokyo-girl

I like to saute some ham and broccoli in a pan with just a little bit of olive oil, then mixing it into my mac and cheese. The broccoli also adds fiber to the meal - a thing that most boxed mac is lacking in.

kublakhan

I like to add spinach and chicken sausage. Also Mexican hot sauce.

sileegranny

I just like to boil down a can of diced tomatoes until they're thick. Then i can do whatever I want with them—make salsa, marinara, sometimes I mix it in with a box of macncheese.

batttygirl

slightly been said, but my fav is salsa and tuna. Or just with franks red hot. Havnt had it in about a year. Now I want it. Shit. How am I going to explain this one to my health conscious boyfriend?

gevander

Tuna is another cheap upgrade. When I was younger and poorer, I would add tuna or Spam, some pepper or another spice, brocolli, peas, extra cheese (usually parmesan). You can make m&c into a more complete meal by adding meat and veg.

fixthe_fernback

I enjoyed throwing in some fresh broccoli when I throw in the pasta into the water. You want it to overcook so that when you stir in the cheese the broccoli basically disintegrates and you have an even broccoli distribution. Green mac n cheese

druidcitychef

bacon, hormel beanless chili, diced tomatoes

bubblequinn

Italian bread crumbs!!!

Talamasca

It’s fairly ‘forgiving’… Crushed Red Peppers, Tuna… Anything you have leftover… Anything you have just that little bit left of. (Not enough to make a serving. But you wanna use it before it goes bad).

Experiment with what you like, ie; combinations of things you like. I’ve made some pretty atrocious combos… (but I hate to waste), And I’ve found a few that work very, very well. (I can make an awesome pasta dish out of what’s in your pantry… guaranteed).

A matter of taste, and experimentation.

nourse

Extremely simple, but delicious... chop up a clove of fresh garlic throw it in a bowl with the butter called for by the box, microwave it for a minute or so, stir it in just like you normally would.

And if you're a poor college student who hasn't discovered the joys of Sriracha then get your ass to the grocery store and grab some.

tusocalypse

Keep it simple: Bacon and Broccoli. And maybe a touch of hot sauce

PHermas

I like to dress it up with some sensible slacks and a nice low cut top.

Laurzone

Throw in a little bit of tomato soup. The sweetness of the tomato really compliments the cheese. If you like that, try mixing in some stewed tomatoes. Delicious!

skitch

try different amounts of milk/butter/yogurt (if you can afford such highfalutin ingredients).

jeannaimard

Bacon.

OneSalientOversight

Here's a great recipe I learned:

Remove ingredients from mac and cheese box and place in rubbish bin.
Place mac and cheese box in recycling bin.
Jump into car.
Travel to nearest Indian Take-away
Purchase Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice.
Eat.

Luminaire

1 can of Campbells tomato soup.

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