3-Minute Vs. 30-Minute Vs. 3-Hour Mac N' Cheese • Tasty - HeyHo Kids

- Hi, I'm Alexis, and if you know me, you know I love a good bowl of mac and cheese

I've had many varieties of mac and cheese over the years, and everyone has their favorite recipe

It's really one of those dishes that is so customizable

You can use different cheeses, different spices, different pasta

It's really like choose your own adventure

I'm gonna show you my recipes for three-minute, 30-minute, and three-hour mac and cheese, so you can make a bowl of mac and cheese, whether you have a few minutes or a few hours

First up, we've got a three-minute mac and cheese

It actually takes a little longer than three minutes, but it's really fast

You can do this in a mug

You could do it in a bowl

It's great for dorm rooms

It's really simple, and it's actually like shockingly good

First up, I'm going to add my dried pasta, along with some water

I'm gonna let the pasta cook for about two minutes

If it needs more time, I'm gonna add another minute

And because it's in a mug, it should go pretty quickly

Okay, so my pasta is about al dente right now

And over here, I've got some pre-shredded cheddar cheese

It's good to use pre-shredded cheddar cheese for the microwave, because it actually has some cornstarch already in it, which is gonna help make a creamier sauce

I'm adding a little more to really solidify it together

You don't want the cheese to separate

Salt and pepper

So tiny

Add it to the cheese

And add the cheese in the macaroni

Just give that a little stir

From here, I'm just gonna put it in for 30 seconds

I think it'll probably take two intervals, make sure the cheese is melting and that's it

(light jazz music) Okay, kind of looks like this gloopy mess, but you're gonna give it a stir

And do it for 30 more seconds, you're done

There you go, mac and cheese in a mug

It's actually crazy how good this is

I really stand by the next two recipes but if you're in a pinch you can have dinner in under 10 minutes

The second mac and cheese is a stove-top mac and cheese which is pretty common

It's really easy to do, great week night option

I'm gonna use a lot of these orangy cheeses to get that classic all American mac and cheese

For this version, I'm going to hand grate my sharp cheddar, Gouda, and I've got Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack doesn't have a lot of flavor, but it's really good for creating this like ooey, gooey traditional mac and cheese

The next step in our mac and cheese is making a bechamel

Which sounds scary but I promise is super easy

First up, take your butter and melt it

I think the internet will probably hate me for this, but I have never eaten Kraft mac and cheese

(laughs) People get really upset when I tell them that

Once the butter's melted, you're going to add your flour

And this process is actually called making a roux

You're cooking the flour off for one to two minutes until it gets slightly golden

And you wanna make sure that you continuously whisk so that the flour doesn't burn in places

This looks great

It's nice and golden brown

You're gonna add your milk

And so once you add the milk, then it becomes a bechamel

A roux is the base, bechamel is the sauce

And I'm gonna add some ground mustard

Paprika

A pinch of salt

And some pepper

I always feel like this part is pretty magical as the bechamel comes together

At first it looks like nothing, it just looks like seasoned milk

But as you keep stirring, it'll slowly being to thicken and you're gonna cook it for eight to 10 minutes until it can coat the back of a spoon

It's gonna look like a thicker sauce

It's bubbling, it's thick

Now cheese time

So adding the Monterey Jack

Gouda

And the cheddar

And it's gonna get like super cheesy

I've got some cooked pasta, but you wanna make sure that you're doing this at the same time so that your pasta is ready to go as soon as the cheese is

Ooh

And then give it a stir, that's it

Stove top mac and cheese

(gasps) Oh my god, it's so cheesy

I love this mac and cheese because it comes together in 30 minutes, it's so flavorful, it's so ooey gooey, melty, like when I think of mac and cheese, this is is kind of what I think of

Oh my god

It's really my ideal mac and cheese

I've got a long way to go for our next dish, but I'm gonna eat this for lunch first

(light jazz music) I'm finally on to the three-hour mac and cheese

Which is so indulgent, it's so rich

Really, if you have some time, this one's worth making

This is the perfect dish for a holiday, for a dinner party, something where you wanna put a little more time and effort into it

The first step to this mac and cheese is making garlic confit and garlic oil

Gonna add my olive oil to a pan

And just warm it through over medium heat

Next up, garlic

So I've gotta peel all these cloves

A really easy way to do that, you can take your chef's knife

You just wanna do it enough so that the peel is gonna come easily off of the garlic clove

Last clove of garlic

My oil's heated

And just adding, oop

Adding the cloves in

And I'm just gonna simmer it for about 45 to 55 minutes until the garlic is super tender and the oil is infused

It already smells so good in here

Garlic oil actually stays good for about a month in the fridge

You can use the oil for roasting veggies, you can use it in a salad

Just take this and do whatever you want with it

We're making liquid gold right here

Just gonna let this go and get started on the next part

Next up is making homemade bread crumbs, so, loaf of bread

And all you're gonna do is tear it up

And you wanna do pretty small pieces

Look, if you have time, making your own breadcrumbs is totally worth it

I will admit that it something that I usually don't do myself

But if you don't wanna do it, you can use panko or you could use regular breadcrumbs

This sourdough smells so good

It's gonna make great breadcrumbs

Once you've got a tray of bread, just pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350

Just dry it out and get those nice crispy bits

It smells so good in this room

It's like garlic city over here

The garlic is super tender, the oil is infused, so now take the garlic oil off the heat and put it through a strainer

Gonna let it cool to room temperature while I work on my breadcrumbs

I've got my toasted breadcrumbs, they were in the oven for about 20 minutes and now they're nice and dried out, toasty, like that

So adding them to a bowl of a food processor

Big guy if you have it

Okay, so ready to blitz

I want the breadcrumbs to be mostly fine with a few bigger chunks

So for this recipe I need about two cups of breadcrumbs

Look at that, so there's one

It's a loose interpretation of two cups

So you can see with these breadcrumbs that they're mostly fine on the bottom, but then there's some bigger pieces up top

I personally like the uneven texture but you can make them more fine at home if you want to

I've got some Parmesan cheese here

And then I've got that garlic oil that was infused

Parmesan garlic breadcrumbs, what is better than that? So my breadcrumbs are done, I'm gonna reserve this until we're ready to bake the mac and cheese

The last step for my three-hour mac and cheese is making a bechamel once more

Again, add the butter

So it's the same process

As soon as the butter's melted, you can add the flour

I wanna get it to be golden brown, have a nice nutty flavor

So my roux is ready

Now it's time to add the milk and the rest of the seasoning

Gonna add a big pinch of salt

Black pepper

Some nutmeg

And a little cayenne

You might think of nutmeg as typically a sweeter spice or something used in desserts

But it's actually used in a lot of sauces

And again, we've got that cayenne to also add some heat

So my sauce is really thick and creamy now

Add the cheese

I've got white cheddar, I've got Gruyere, and I've got Fontina which doesn't have a lot of flavor but again it's super melty and is gonna make this like cheese bowl city

Population oven mac and cheese, so cheesy! I've got some pre-cooked Cavatappi here

And oh my god

One more addition, I mashed up some of the garlic confit

I'm gonna add it to the pasta with the cheese

So I did about three cloves, which gives the flavor of garlic without being overpowering

If you're a garlic fanatic, by all means, add more

So I've got my buttered baking dish here

And I'm just gonna add the pasta

So just pat it in an even layer

And now I've got my garlicky Parmesan breadcrumbs

And just put them in an even layer

I grew up with mac and cheese that was done in the oven

So to me, this is the most nostalgic recipe

And I like my breadcrumbs to be a bit uneven, so I've got some bigger pieces, some smaller pieces

I also like some of the mac and cheese to like, poke out and get a little brown

Anyway, this is ready to bake

Gonna bake this for about 50 minutes until it turns golden brown and we're ready to eat

I've got my beautiful baked mac and cheese

It smells so good

And I think I'm gonna try it

Mm, the breadcrumbs are so crunchy

Oh my god, it's like just lightly perfumed with garlic

You hear the crunch? (light jazz music) And there you have it, a three minute, 30 minute, and three hour mac and cheese

Whether it's Thanksgiving or dinner at the dorms, you should always have time to make a great bowl of mac and cheese

Let me know in the comments which one your favorite is

I'm gonna take this home and eat it on my couch tonight, so with that, goodnight

(light jazz music)