Others, like Boston Market, lean into Thanksgiving or family meal traditions by offering mac and cheese with mashed potatoes, rotisserie chicken, sweet corn, and cornbread. Some of those chains, like KFC and Popeyes, are oriented around southern-style fried chicken, so giving another nod to soul food with a side of mac and cheese makes sense for brand identity. Whether that’s purely a product of nostalgia for Kraft stove-top varieties, or because highly processed foods are engineered to be more addictive, it feels like a missed opportunity that more chains aren’t, like Chick-fil-A as of today, serving mac and cheese alongside their fries and nuggets.īut even before Chick-fil-A jumped on the cheese-slathered macaroni train, a few enterprising fast-food and fast-casual brands had already pioneered the art of the quick-serve mac (for many chains, the secret is that it’s probably pre-made, either kept frozen or stored in warm batches). The pasta will absorb some of the creaminess as it sits in the fridge.Macaroni and cheese, a generally perfect combination, is one of those rare foods whose processed versions, orange cheese and all, often just taste better than its artisanal iterations. When you reheat you may need to stir in a little milk or cream to get it nice and creamy again. If you have leftovers store in the fridge.You won’t want to use the pre-shredded cheese because it has a coating on it and will not melt nearly as smooth as the block you shred on your own. Make it your own! My husband likes all things spicy, so he adds a little hot sauce to his.They will be ready about the same time and then you just have to mix them together. To get this done in about 20 minutes cook your pasta in one pan, and in the other make the sauce.

You want something short like shells, cavatappi, rotini or the classic elbows

Seasonings – salt, pepper, and dry mustard.

Cheese – I think white cheddar and American cheese is best.

Pasta – you can use whatever short cut pasta that you have.

Panera mac and cheese noodles