All you need is 3 ingredients and 1 pot to make this decadent and creamy stovetop mac ‘n’ cheese. The extra protein in evaporated milk is the key to getting a classic creamy texture and rich flavor.
This is an amazing recipe to have in your back pocket. Keep a can of evaporated milk in your pantry, and then as long as you have cheese and macaroni noodles, you can whip this up quickly.
Instead of the usual flour or cornstarch used to make a macaroni and cheese sauce, this recipe uses the starchy pasta water and the high-protein of the evaporated milk to form an emulsified sauce. The recipe is also a very convenient ratio that can easily be scaled up and down depending on your needs.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
- Video: Making Evaporated Milk Mac And Cheese
- Why Does This Recipe Work?
- What Is An Emulsion?
- Use Very Little Water When Cooking The Pasta
- What Kind Of Milk?
- The Ratio To Double or Quadruple and Beyond
- Extra-High Protein Mac n Cheese
- Reheating Instructions
- More Macaroni And Cheese Recipes
- Podcast Episode: Making The Easiest Mac And Cheese
- Creamy Evaporated Milk Mac n’ Cheese Recipe
Video: Making Evaporated Milk Mac And Cheese
Why Does This Recipe Work?
For this mac and cheese recipe, you don’t have to make a separate sauce that is then mixed with the cooked pasta. Instead, the sauce is made right in there with the cooked pasta, so you only dirty one pot.
And, amazingly, this recipe’s only ingredients are macaroni, evaporated milk, and cheese (plus water and salt, of course). But it’s the way the pasta is cooked, and the very particular properties of the evaporated milk that emulsify to create the sauce. If you want to make the sauce even creamier, you can add an extra ingredient – some cold butter.
There are similar recipes out there, but I think I’ve managed to make this the easiest and cheesiest it can be. My simple ratio below also allows you to make as much or as little as you need and still have it turn out perfectly.
What Is An Emulsion?
This recipe is all about maintaining an emulsion. In cooking, that means a mixture of two liquids that wouldn’t usually smoothly mix together. Some emulsions are temporary, like oil and vinegar in a salad dressing. Others are more permanent, like egg yolks and oil combining into mayonnaise.
For this macaroni recipe, it’s the cheese sauce that is the emulsion. Many cheese sauces use flour and butter to make a roux or add cornstarch, which is the base for the emulsion which keeps the sauce smooth and held together. Here, it’s instead the starch contained in the pasta water and the specific kind of milk we’re using that play that role.
Years ago, when developing a one-pot pasta recipe (now on my sister site, COOKtheSTORY, but originally posted here) that cooked the pasta in stock and cream, I realized that I could add the cheese directly in and still get a wonderful emulsion for the sauce. I simplified that even further with this easy mac and cheese recipe.
Use Very Little Water When Cooking The Pasta
We’re cooking the pasta in very little water, to concentrate that starch as the pasta cooks. Then the starchy water is part of the sauce, and part of what helps with the emulsion.
We also use starchy pasta water for my Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese where the water emulsifies with the processed cheese for an easy, creamy sauce.
What Kind Of Milk?
For this recipe you need to use evaporated milk. It has a large proportion of milk proteins, which also helps a lot here to create the rich, creamy sauce. Read here from Serious Eats about the science behind how this mac n cheese sauce works.
I want to be very clear here that I mean canned milk that is labeled “Evaporated Milk.” NOT canned milk that is labeled “Condensed Milk.” Condensed milk is often sweetened and you do not want to use that.
Also, when it comes to your choice of evaporated milk, you do not want a low-fat or fat-free or skim version. You want the full-fat evaporated milk. Sometimes this states “whole milk” but sometimes it just says “Evaporated Milk.” To be sure that you have the correct one, avoid anything labeled as reduced fat, low-fat, fat-free or skim, and you’ll be fine.
Don’t substitute other kinds of milk here or the recipe won’t have the desired result. If you don’t have evaporated milk, scroll down a tad and try one of the other great mac and cheese recipes linked to there.
The Ratio To Double or Quadruple and Beyond
This recipe uses one full can of evaporated milk to avoid waste. But, you can easily halve the recipe. Actually, the recipe is very easy to scale up or down because it works as a nice ratio.
Ratio: For every ounce (by weight) of uncooked macaroni, use 1 fluid ounce of evaporated milk and 1 ounce (by weight) of shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces of shredded Cheddar equals 1 cup). Adjust salt to taste.
It’s actually even easier than that. To put it another way, for every cup of uncooked macaroni, use 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1 cup shredded cheese.
Extra-High Protein Mac n Cheese
Evaporated milk contains more protein than regular milk (often more than twice as much!), so that makes this recipe a great candidate for when you want an extra-high protein mac. Do the recipe below as written, but use a protein-enriched pasta (like Barilla Protein+ brand), and use bone broth (at least 3 cups of it) instead of water for cooking the noodles.
The resulting full batch of macaroni and cheese will have 150-170 grams of protein, depending on the brands of items that you use. If you’re serving 4 people, that’s 37-42 grams per serving, and if you’re serving 6 people it’s 25-28 grams per serving.
Reheating Instructions
If you make this and refrigerate the leftovers, you will find that the pasta will suck up the sauce. That happens whenever you have pasta in a sauce. For a regular macaroni and cheese recipe, I’d recommend that you hold back some of the sauce, refrigerate it separately, and then stir it in while reheating. That won’t work here because the sauce is made right in with the pasta.
Therefore, what I recommend is that you reheat it slowly, either at 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring in between, or on the stove over low heat, stirring often. But as you heat it, drizzle in a tablespoon or two of milk, evaporated milk, or even water. It’s going to need the moisture to reform a sauce around the noodles. Once it is fully warmed, reassess and decide if you want to add in any more liquid.
More Macaroni And Cheese Recipes
Need more cheesy recipes? Make sure to check out these favorites next.
- The Creamiest Mac and Cheese Recipe
- Taco Mac and Cheese
- Best Baked Macaroni n’ Cheese
- No-Boil Macaroni and Cheese
Podcast Episode: Making The Easiest Mac And Cheese
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Creamy Evaporated Milk Mac n’ Cheese Recipe
All you need is 3 ingredients to make this decadent and creamy stovetop mac n cheese.
- Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 12 oz. elbow macaroni (about 3 cups)
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk*
- 3 cups (12 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese**
- 2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces (optional)
Instructions
- Measure the macaroni and the salt into a 12 to 14 inch skillet or medium saucepan. Add enough water to just barely cover the pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer until a lot of the water is gone and the macaroni is al dente and just a tiny bit firmer than you’d like for the finished dish, 7-9 minutes. DO NOT drain the water away. Instead, add the evaporated milk directly to the pan containing the remaining water and nearly cooked pasta.
- Increase heat to medium-high and, while stirring continuously, bring it up to a simmer. Immediately drop the heat down to low and stir in the cheese and cold butter, if using. Stir continuously until cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened, about 1-2 more minutes.
- Taste and add salt and/or pepper to taste.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
* Two important notes about evaporated milk: (1) Make sure that you are using evaporated milk and not condensed milk. Condensed milk is often sweetened and you don’t want that. (2) Make sure that your evaporated milk is not reduced-fat, fat-free, low-fat or skim.
**I have had success with this recipe when using hand-shredded cheese as well as pre-shredded cheese. However, some commenters on social media who have tried it with pre-shredded cheese have noted a gritty texture. To be on the safe side, you might want to shred your own cheese for this one.
I couldn’t get the reply feature to work LOL so I’m commenting again – here are the cheeses that go into what my family calls crack and cheese:
*Velveeta (yes – not technically cheese but it adds that Je ne sais quoi that nothing else I’ve tried provides)
*Laughing Cow – Original
*Cream Cheese
*Cheddar cheese (mild and sharp)
*Boursin cheese
*Gruyere
These are my typical 7 (6 if you count the cheddar once)- but I have been known to throw in some smoked gouda when I’ve had it. I also make a bechamel sauce, using heavy cream and milk in the roux, and then add in the cheese. After I combine the sauce with the pasta – I top with more cheddar and bake.
Clearly this is a special event side dish
This recipe is a definite winner, far superior to any boxed version. I customized it with a mix of cheeses, using half mild and half sharp cheddar, which I think comes down to personal preference. I will definitely be making this again.
After I tried it as is, I added other cheeses as well. My holiday mac and cheese typically has 7 to 8 cheeses in it, I didn’t use but 6 for this.
6-8 different cheeses?! That is amazing, Candace! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. I’d love to hear your favorite combo of cheeses.
I made this and it was really creamy. So good! Thank you.
Rhonda, So happy you liked it! Thanks for coming back to let me know 🙂
Hello!
Thank you for responding to my comment!
I was talking about the cheese. I am sorry I was not clear! The ingredient list for the cheese states 3 cups of cheese. I was wondering if it was supposed to be 3/4 cup of cheese.
Apologies. It is 3 cups of shredded cheese. The ratio is for every cup of uncooked macaroni, use 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1 cup shredded cheese.
3 cups does not equal 12 oz . Is it 3 cups, or 3/4 cups?
While 3 cups does not equal 12 fluid ounces, 12 ounces of elbow macaroni is about 3 cups before cooking. Hope that clears things up, Sharon.
Thank u so much It was so good I need more of your recipe please and God bless you
You’re welcome, Polly! I’m so happy you loved it. A great way to get more of my recipes is to sign up for my email list! You can find a form here – https://thecookful.com/start-here/
Best and easiest Mac and cheese recipe ever!! Me and my children loved it!
Thank you, Silecia! So happy it was a hit for your family.
Made it! So fast and easy!! I wrote up a recipe card for this one to pass on to future generations! Thanks so much, it’s delish!
Thank you, Deborah! I’m so thrilled you love it. If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!
This recipe is great!! So easy and soooo good! Thank you so much❤️
Shanna, I’m delighted that you like it. Thanks for coming back to let me know! If you get a chance, can you come back and leave a 5-star rating on the recipe as well. But either way, I appreciate your kind words 🙂
Pleasantly surprised by the easiness and the gooey cheesy result. I know evaporated milk or cream cheese works great at making creamy Mac and Cheese, but this really makes this a quick side dish for week nights or to throw together for a quick BBQ.
To try it, I measured 5 oz. of curly noodles with a 5 oz. can of evaporated milk (yes they make them) that I keep on hand for baking. How cool is it that it is the same oz. even of the cheese. Easy to remember!
Additional note that I let the noodles go to a small puddle of water then added the milk and at first I was worried it was too watery, but I kept stirring with a low boil, added the cheese, and it ended up about as perfect as a mac and cheese can be. Thanks for the super cool ‘trick’
You’re welcome, Andrea! I’m so glad you enjoyed the easy formula and had great results.
Love this simple recipe. Thank you for sharing it. I added some onion and garlic powder, slap ya mama, and touch of nutmeg along with the black pepper. How delish!!!!
Oh, I bet it was amazing with those added seasonings. Thanks for sharing how you made the recipe your own, Patti!
This was delicious and easy!!! It will be a new lunch /dinner staple in our house! Thank you!
That’s wonderful to hear, Gia! It’s so easy and delicious. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know.
Absolutely delicious and so easy!
Thank you, Ashley! I’m thrilled you loved it.
Awesome Mac and cheese! I added 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard and 1/8 teaspoon of smoked Spanish style paprika. Family loved it!
Those are wonderful additions, Jo! If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!
Will try the recipe soon !
Wonderful! I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Freezable?
I actually haven’t tried it. But dairy isn’t always the best when frozen since it can separate. Given the high protein of the evaporated milk though, it might be ok. I’d say let it thaw in the fridge and then while heating it up, stir it a lot to keep the sauce together. And you will likely need to add extra evaporated milk or water because the pasta will have soaked up a lot of the liquid. You want to make it creamy again.