Rich and creamy macaroni and cheese made without traditional butter!
Creamy, cheesy mac and cheese – life’s perfect comfort food! I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t go wonkers for a big, soothing bowl of macaroni and cheese… pasta wrapped up in the creamiest, cheesiest sauce you’ll ever taste.
Macaroni and Cheese is a kid favorite – typically made with butter, flour, milk and shredded cheese, before being stirred into pasta and seasoned with a little salt. Make it on the stovetop, or … mix it up and bake in the oven topped with breadcrumbs – both are just as fabulous!
But.. you have a problem.
As you reach in the fridge you realize you are out of butter – even worse, you are out of heavy cream… so making more butter is truly not an option.
While most people might toss the butter aside in favor of healthier options, butter and raw full fat milk are actually both healthy fats that are so critical to our body. You’ll be happy to know though that you can still make the creamiest of macaroni and cheese despite not having butter. So creamy in fact, your kids may not even realize that you were out of butter in the first place.
Start by boiling your favorite pasta – wheat, rice, gluten-free or even regular macaroni. As the pasta is cooking, stir the flour into the milk on low heat, and whisk until combined. On low-medium, continue to whisk until the mixture has thickened, then toss in the shredded cheese, salt and pepper.
Once the cheese has melted into the sauce, stir in the drained pasta and season with additional salt and pepper, ground mustard or a little cayenne pepper.
This mac and cheese is one of my favorite recipes- enjoy it scooped into bowls, as a side next to grilled chicken or sloppy joes, or on it’s own for your next Meatless Monday!
Rich and creamy macaroni and cheese made without traditional butter!
Ingredients
- 12-16 oz pasta
- 3 C. milk, full fat (+ more if desired)
- 4 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- optional: 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, chili powder or ground mustard
Instructions
- In a medium pot, cook the pasta just until firm - drain in a colander and set aside.
- In the same medium pot, combine 2 C. of milk with the flour over low/medium heat and whisk until there are no lumps. Slowly add the remaining cup of milk, whisking continually to avoid the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan. The mixture should thicken over the next 3-5 minutes. Feel free to add up to a 1/2 C. more milk if desired.
- As the mixture starts to thicken, add the cheese, salt and pepper and continue to stir over low heat until the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the heat and stir into pasta, season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
Feel free to substitute different varieties of milk, though we have only used full fat, raw milk and cannot vouch for the success of skim, 1%, 2% or even non-dairy. Use organic ingredients whenever possible.
What is your favorite comfort food recipe?
[…] Creamy Macaroni & Cheese with No Butter – I found this recipe because I didn’t have butter to make macaroni and cheese. I’m never using butter again. […]