3 Ways to Upgrade Boxed Mac and Cheese (Broccoli Casserole, Cowboy Cups & More) | Allrecipes

I'm going to give you a clue about what we're going to do today. Macaroni with cheese in a box. I'm going to show you three ways to turn this shortcut into something special. Sometimes, you just need a little starting point when it comes to being creative in the kitchen. And everyone loves macaroni with cheese, so why not start there? The first thing I'm going to do are some cow glasses of macaroni with cheese. They are a great dinner that your children will love, but also a perfect aperitif for a party. We all know how it starts. Put the boxes in boiling water. While the pasta is cooking, I have the second part, which is the taco meat. Well, this is just a little minced meat that is seasoned with a package of taco seasoning. Once the meat is cooked with the taco seasoning, you just have to add a little purple onion. I want to add it later because I want it to stay crunchy. And also a can of Rottel. And I'm also going to add the juice. It is always good to have some convenience products in the pantry. You must cook them at least 2 or 3 minutes less than what it says in the package because we are going to cook them again. You don't want them to be. The ingredients are always the same. Milk, butter and the package. Come back. Come back. You just have to add the butter. Now, from 50 to 100% more butter than it says. It will give it more flavor. And then the milk. If you want some macarons with richer cheese than the box ones, you can use half and half. But at least whole milk for me. There is that color. That's what we call nostalgia. The smell, the look and the flavor. And we are going to combine the two. Enhance that taco flavor. It already smells good. Our cheese will act as glue to keep everything together. It will also, luckily, create a small crust around the edges. Very good. Grease your muffin pan. And then you want to make a small hole so that later it can contain our good things. Very good. Then you want to press the macarons well with cheese around the molds so that they stay together. And then this goes to the oven at 400 degrees. You want it pretty hot because everything is cooked. We are just trying to make it a little crispy. And then we'll finish it. It's going to be good. M H M I told you that if the mold closed a little. Look how good they look. They need to rest for a minute. That way they will stay better together. If I try to take them out when they are so hot, they will undo themselves. Then, they need to cool down a bit. But this is the fun part. If you are going to serve them for dinner, just take them out with the ingredients. Or if you are going to make it as an aperitif, go ahead and cover them in a fun way, as if it were a taco. Very good. I like a little sour cream, pickled jalapeño and, finally, a little cilantro. You can also add a little spicy sauce or taco sauce. And those are our little taco cups. Of course, you can eat them with a fork or just do it all. There is a lot to do. Don't worry at all that this started with a box of macarons with cheese. Do you know what I mean? You just have to do it. For my next trick. Have you ever had macarons with cheese for breakfast or dinner? You are about to do it. So I'm going to brown some sausage for breakfast. I'm going straight to it. The best food in a single pan. As you add it, you scrape the flavor from the bottom. And then, while it cooks, the macarons will absorb that liquid. They will become very rich and creamy. And then wait to see how I finish it. Once it starts to boil over low heat, just stir from time to time. This takes less time to cook the macarons with cheese in this way, instead of waiting for the water to boil and then add the macarons. We are going to turn it into a breakfast. Very good. I'm going to turn off the fire, probably. I'll add some of that real cheese. And now we're going to give it a touch of shakshuka. I'm going to create little wells here. I'll shell some eggs. I'm going to take a little more cheese and put it around to make it look nice. Just a little salt in the egg. I'll put it directly in the oven to cook it until the whites set. Oh, that's heavy. It looks like a breakfast. And I love breakfast for dinner. I'm going to finish it with a little green onion. A little pepper in this. Those eggs. And I can't help it. This is a breakfast, a brunch. I don't know if I've ever mixed eggs with my macarons with cheese, but I love it. That sausage, that spicy sauce, the egg gives it a touch of richness, especially when the yolk is mixed with the macarons with cheese. I cooked a little bacon for the final dish. This is the best. This is how it becomes a dinner. I call this a casserole of macaroni with cheese and ranch bacon. These are my favorite dishes, but I'm going to keep the consistency and I'll continue with this. But I'm going to put the white cheddar cheese shells on it just to give it a little flavor. The box says to cook from 8 to 10 minutes. I'm going to start with 5 because it's going to cook a second time. I'm going to cut the bacon. I'm going to put a little strong white and yellow cheddar cheese. Use whatever you have or whatever you want to use here. Okay, this is going to enhance the flavor a lot. I'm also going to add some chives. Well, if you have leftover roast chicken or whatever, you're also going to add it. Okay, you're going to add everything. I'm also going to use a little cream cheese. You have to make sure it softens. And that's it. We have to drain the pasta. With the noodles. Also with the cream cheese and with our butter packages. Oh, and milk. Using those packages really makes the process easier. There is no technique for it. Let's go with most of the cheese. I'm going to save a little for the top. The chives and the bacon. I'm going to add about two cups of chicken. It's called chicken with ranch bacon. Go ahead. Come on. It looks like dinner. A little sour cream. Dinner is about to be served. Sprinkle. I love a casserole with that crispy crust like breadcrumbs. So I'm going to do that. Add a little melted butter to the breadcrumbs. Ground pepper. Your family is going to devour it. I'm going to put this at 400 degrees. Well, again, over high heat because everything is cooked. We want everything to be bubbling and crispy, you know? Dinner is about to be served. These kinds of things are my guilty pleasure. I love stews like this. They have it all. I love them. Neither I nor anyone for whom I cook this would know that this came out of a box. We have added so many things that it gives a really fresh touch. It doesn't taste artificial at all. Everything tastes very rich. Creamy, salty. It gets that crunch from the top. And the broccoli still has a little fresh crunch. Restaurant-quality cheese macarons. Let's try it in a box. I know what my children are going to have for dinner tonight. I think we've hit the nail on the head. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, whatever. You can do a lot of things with a simple shortcut. Have you seen how I modify the Mac? What do you like to do to improve cheese macarons? Tell me in the comments below. I always love to learn how to make new chips.