Ina Garten's Popular Mac And Cheese Has One Unexpected Step You'll Need To Plan Ahead For

You might be surprised at how widely macaroni and cheese recipes can vary. It's not just a matter of which cheese you use, the simple pasta shape swap you actually prefer, or whether or not you use your oven. Sometimes it's a matter of ingredient upgrades like nutmeg, poblano peppers, or truffle butter. Other times it's all about the dairy, swapping in Greek yogurt or condensed milk for tangier or creamier results. But for chef, cookbook author, and long-time Food Network star Ina Garten, her unexpected step when making mac and cheese comes down to one important factor: time.

On the Barefoot Contessa website, you'll find that Garten's mac and cheese ingredients are comfortingly familiar: butter, cream, cavatappi pasta, Gruyère, and sharp white cheddar. Her mac recipe, like many favorites, includes breadcrumbs that are baked to golden perfection in the oven. But in order to achieve that ideal gooey, cheesy consistency without overcomplicating her ingredients list, Garten makes one serious change to the technique. Your mac and cheese must be prepped and in the fridge a full day before you want to serve it. Even then, you'll need at least an hour and a half for the mac to come to temperature, bake, and then cool off enough to eat. The reason for this distressingly delayed gratification becomes clear when you see the seriously cheesy results.

We get it, when you're craving mac and cheese, waiting an entire day is a real challenge. But if you want that classic, nostalgic taste with an even more impressive cheesy pull, Ina Garten's recipe is worth the time. Typically, when making homemade mac and cheese, you develop a roux with butter and flour before mixing in your milk, cheese, and seasonings. The roux helps your sauce thicken and ultimately hold together the pasta on your fork. But we don't even need to ask if you've ever made a mac and cheese recipe where the sauce simply didn't work — we know you have. Maybe it was too thin or too thick, too grainy, or even slightly curdled-looking. Garten's overnight recipe circumvents these harsh realities.

Rather than incorporating flour as a thickener, Garten recommends cooking your pasta very al dente (only about four minutes). When ready, you'll mix in the warm pasta directly with your dairy ingredients before covering and chilling overnight. Although your concoction will initially look quite gloopy, the pre-cooked pasta will start to release its starches into your dairy mixture as it sits. This will both help your pasta absorb the milk and cream around it and also give your dairy something to hold onto and thicken around. The next day, let your mac come to room temperature (or give it a quick spin in the microwave) before sprinkling your breadcrumbs on top and baking for 25 minutes. As soon as you dig in, you'll see how thick yet silky your cheese sauce has become. Trust us, this hands-off approach is seriously worth the wait.