And what cheeses to avoid at all costs.
If there's one thing we hate, it's a bad batch of mac and cheese. A bite of homemade mac and cheese that's bland, mushy, or dry makes us wish we just opened up a box of Kraft. There are a lot of opportunities for error, including over-boiling the noodles, under-seasoning your cheese sauce, or not making enough cheese sauce to coat each and every elbow. But the number one mistake when making at home is choosing the wrong cheese.
Cheese affects not only the taste, but also the texture of the sauce. Each type comes with its own unique characteristics that can either help or harm your dish. So before you go ham in the cheese aisle, you should come up with a game plan for your grocery list.
The two primary qualities you should consider when sourcing cheese are simple: it needs to taste good, and it needs to melt well. These requirements may seem obvious, but not all cheeses are created equal. Some are more mild than others, and not all cheeses melt easily.
The solution is simple: combine multiple types of cheese in your sauce. When in doubt, it's best to have one main variety that offers the creamy, silky texture you need. Then you can supplement it with funkier, more flavorful cheeses to achieve your ideal bite. After what felt like an endless amount of testing for our quest to find *the* perfect recipe, we discovered which cheeses work best...and which ones to avoid at all costs.
The Best Types of Cheese
1. Sharp Cheddar
The king of all cheeses when it comes to coating your noodles. With a fairly low melting point, cheddar keeps things smooth. It's also got the classic taste you're looking for and expecting with mac and cheese. Sharp cheddar is ideal because its flavor is strongest, but the most important to thing to remember is to always buy cheddar in a block and grate your own! Pre-shredded simply doesn't work, which we will explain more in a bit.
2. Gouda
Gouda is a seriously underrated cheese when it comes to cooking! It melts beautifully and gives your mac a sophisticated taste without being too pretentious (or turning off picky eaters).
3. Gruyère
Despite it being a hard cheese, Gruyère still melts nicely. Its saltiness helps cut through all the heavy fats, and the nutty flavor is so special. It's a great cheese to introduce into your mac when you want to add nuance while still appealing to picky eaters.
4. Cream Cheese
We're no strangers to cream cheese here in the Delish test kitchen, so it wasn't a huge surprise when we confirmed that it's perfect in mac & cheese. It melts down easily and helps keep the sauce smooth with just the right amount of salt and tang. It works exceptionally well in a .
5. Brie
We use brie in our mac when we are feeling extra fancy. The creaminess is excellent for coating your noodles, and it creates the most decadent mac and cheese. Just be sure to remove the rind first.
You can even go crazy and make right inside your wheel of brie!
6. Goat Cheese
Extra tangy and extra creamy—we just love goat cheese. The flavor sticks around, even after all the milk and cream get added. It's a nice change of pace, an unexpected twist in the world of mac.
7. Parmesan
We could never make a list of the best cheeses and leave out Parmesan. Best for sprinkling atop your mac before it hits the oven (or again when serving), Parmesan also adds a much desired salty and nutty flavor that's unbeatable. You want to make sure you combine it with creamier, more melty cheeses for a well balanced bite. The higher quality, the better for this one!
The Worst Types of Cheese
1. Anything Pre-Shredded
The best way to ruin your mac is to dump a bunch of pre-shredded cheese in there. Each individual piece is coated in cellulose to prevent clumping together in the bag. But once it's melted into a cheese sauce? It's a one-way ticket to Clumptown, USA. Cellulose prevents the cheese from melting evenly, so your finished mac & cheese will be gritty and lumpy.
2. Feta
Dry, crumbly cheeses like feta or cotija are not ideal. With their high moisture levels, they don't melt properly and will leave you with clumps of cheese instead of a smooth sauce.
3. Monterey Jack
Please don't get me started on Monterey Jack. It might melt well but it does. not. taste. right. I'm a huge cheese fan, and this is one I'll never touch. It tastes like nothing and leaves a terrible aftertaste. Strong opinion, but someone has to say it!
Makinze Gore
Senior Food Editor
Expertise: Baking and all things cinnamon sugar
Education: Culinary arts degree from the Institute of Culinary Education
About Me: As the Senior Food Editor at Delish, Makinze has her hands on every working part of a Delish recipe. She’s developed hundreds of recipes, from perfectly grilled steaks to endless iterations of cheesecakes. She is also the developer of the insanely popular Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi, Brie, Asparagus, and Prosciutto Bundles, and the Frozen Hot Chocolate Martini, which has garnered 30 M views on TikTok and IG. But it’s her classic chocolate chip cookie recipe, which GMA named “America's Best Chocolate Chip Cookie,” of which she is most proud. Makinze loves to travel for food and has tried every Portuguese egg tart Lisbon has to offer, finding the locals' favorite spots and dishes. She spends her free time taking long runs that end at great bakeries or brunch spots.
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