Creamy Garlic Herb Macaroni and Cheese

Why This Creamy Garlic Herb Macaroni and Cheese Works

During cooking, the butter, garlic, and flour turn into a paste that grabs onto the milk. As the milk heats, the flour swells and thickens it, so the liquid turns into a smooth, creamy base instead of staying runny. By the time the cheddar and mozzarella are stirred in, they melt into that thick base and stay evenly spread, instead of clumping or sinking. The herbs and seasonings mix into the hot sauce and spread through every spoonful.

Once the macaroni goes in, the pasta starch and the thick cheese sauce cling to each other. The sauce seeps into the little curves of the elbows, so it doesn’t slide off. In the oven, the top layer of sauce and Parmesan dries a bit and browns, so there’s a light crust while the inside stays soft and creamy. The pasta sits in that hot sauce as it bakes, soaking it up just enough to be tender but not mushy.

Mistakes To Avoid

Boiling the macaroni until it’s very soft makes the final dish mushy. Once it bakes in the sauce, the pasta keeps softening, so overcooked noodles turn into a thick, pasty layer instead of separate, tender pieces.

Letting the garlic brown too much in the butter quickly leads to a bitter, harsh taste that spreads through the whole sauce. The tiny burnt bits stay in the cheese mixture and can make every bite taste slightly burnt.

Skipping the step of cooking the flour in the butter long enough leaves the sauce with a raw, pasty texture. The flour doesn’t blend in smoothly, so the cheese sauce can feel grainy and a little gummy instead of creamy.

Adding the cheese while the milk mixture is boiling hot often makes the sauce turn oily and stringy. The cheese can separate into clumps and fat, so the macaroni ends up coated in a greasy sauce instead of a smooth one.