Macaroni and Cheese - 3 Quick & Easy Recipes!

Macaroni and cheese is probably one of the top favorite comfort foods for many people. A dish that children love and that adults remember from a time that was not so complicated.

My mother used to make a couple of different macaroni and cheese recipes depending on ingredients and time available. I’m going to share them with you, plus one of my own versions.

All of these recipes are inexpensive and easy, though you can make them more expensive if you choose to add some optional ingredients.

3 Pints of water

3 Teaspoons of salt

1 and 2/3 cups of your favorite macaroni

3 Tablespoons of Miracle Whip

1 – 24 ounce jar or can of your favorite spaghetti sauce. I like the garden variety best with vegetable chunks in it, but whatever you prefer is fine.

1 lb. of your favorite cheddar cheese shredded

Put the water and salt into a 2-quart pan and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the macaroni, keeping a close watch on it and stirring it frequently so it doesn’t become a clump. Cook just until the macaroni is al denté, or just tender. Do not overcook into mush.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the macaroni is done, drain the water off with a sieve or a mesh drainer and place the macaroni into a 9 x 14 inch pan.

Open the jar of spaghetti sauce and pour it into the pan onto the macaroni. Mix the macaroni and sauce well.

Next measure out the Miracle Whip and mix that well into the macaroni and spaghetti sauce mixture.

Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the top and bake for about 45 minutes when the cheese should be getting crisp around the edges.

Serves 9 to 12 people. Serve with a quick to prepare vegetable or salad.

Variations:

1. If you like, you can fry about 1 cup of chopped onion to tenderness, and at the same time brown one pound of ground sirloin in the same pan with the onion, both to be mixed into the macaroni just before adding the spaghetti sauce, Miracle Whip, and cheese. Be sure to drain the excess fat off the meat before adding it to your casserole.

2. Vegetarians can add 1 package of Morning Star Meat Starters Griller’s Recipe Crumbles that are entirely vegetable content. They’re in the frozen food section of the grocery store and will easily fool most meat lovers into thinking they really are meat.

This is a very simple recipe that my mother would make when she had way more chores to do than time in the day.

With 5 kids, an acre sized garden and canning to do, plus 8-10 head of cattle and some chickens and pigs depending on her, time was dear.

We kids helped as much as we could with all the chores, but even so there was many a time my mother did not get to bed before it was almost time to get up again and start over.

I often made this quick dish myself after I got my own apartment and was short of cash. I like the leftovers too, hot or cold, and often ate this as a kid for breakfast -- cold.

Ingredients

3 pints of water

3 Teaspoons of salt

1 and 2/3 cups of your favorite dry macaroni

1 - 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, or if you prefer, stewed tomatoes

1 pound of shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar, but any cheddar will work fine)

This is a good dish for beginner cooks because it’s quick and easy.

Put the water and salt into a 2-quart pan and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the macaroni, keeping a close watch on it and stirring it frequently so it doesn’t become a clump. Cook just until the macaroni is al denté, or just tender. Do not overcook into mush.

While the macaroni is boiling, find a pan that is about 9 x 14. I like to use one of my rectangular cake pans with a lid because I can keep the leftovers covered with the lid in the frig and stack other things on the lid if necessary. But any pan, oven safe dish, or casserole dish is fine so long as the dimensions are close to 9 x 14.

Open the can of tomatoes and pour the contents into the baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the macaroni is done tender, pour it into a sieve or strainer basket to drain the water off. Put the macaroni into the pan with the tomatoes and stir well.

Finally, arrange the shredded cheddar cheese evenly over the top of the macaroni and tomatoes. Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 45 minutes until the cheese is crisp around the edges. Makes about 9 to 12 servings. Serve with a quick to prepare vegetable or salad.

3 Pints of water in a 2-quart pan

3 Teaspoons of salt

1 and 1/3 cups of your favorite dry macaroni

2 Tablespoons of butter

4 cups of Colby cheese

A few dashes of black pepper

Put the salt and the water into a pan and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the macaroni, keeping a close watch on it and stirring it frequently so it doesn’t become a clump. Cook just until the macaroni is al denté, or just barely tender. Do not overcook into mush.

Drain the macaroni with a sieve or basket drainer to remove the water. Place the macaroni back into the pan you boiled it in and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter. Place a lid on the pan with the macaroni and butter in it and let it set for about 3-5 minutes for the butter to soften.

Once the butter is soft, mix the butter through the macaroni well so that the macaroni will be less likely to stick together. Next put about ½ cup of the Colby cheese into the macaroni and mix it in.

Place a serving of macaroni onto a plate, sprinkle with about a quarter of a cup of Colby cheese or however much you desire, sprinkle with pepper if desired, and serve with a quick to prepare vegetable or salad.