homemade KRAFT EASY MAC --copycat lunch recipe in jars

This homemade Kraft Easy Mac is even better than the store-bought stuff.

homemade Kraft Easy mac

Mac and cheese is perhaps my number one desert island food. Mixed from a box, crafted from a roux, or served in the finest of restaurants, I’ll take it all. I make my own, to be sure, and add fancy ingredients like Gruyere and beer. (Really, I add beer to my mac and cheese, and it makes it fancy, not to mention crazy delicious.) But when you can get creamy, oh-my-gosh-so-good, cheesiest-ever mac and cheese in minutes from the microwave, well, yeah. I’m going to do that.

Need more mac and cheese?

Check out this roundup of slow cooker mac and cheese recipes.
Make crock pot beer mac and cheese.
I’ve been making this beer mac and cheese for years.
Try microwave mac and cheese in a mug.
Try this Easy Mac copycat recipe.
How about mac and cheese cupcakes?

For those no stranger to the boxed-food aisle, when you need lunch or a snack or dinner in minutes, there’s Easy Mac. Grab a container, add some water and stick it in the microwave. Ta da. Done. I know. But this recipe? It’s even more addictive and just as fast to make. Plus, it’s only three ingredients and it’s homemade.

Make a batch in the microwave, then divide what you don’t eat right away into pint-size mason jars or Tupperware containers. Refrigerate, and when you need said lunch or snack or dinner over the next few days, just remove the lid of the mason jar (or crack the lid of the Tupperware container) and stick it in the microwave. Easy. Mac.

If Velveeta isn’t your thing, I understand (see “Gruyere” above). You may substitute freshly-shredded cheddar cheese for the Velveeta in this recipe. The magic of Velveeta is that it melts so well and makes for a super creamy mac and cheese, but shredded cheddar will work too. Or a mixture of your favorite cheeses for mac and cheese. Do use a large bowl to make this, even if it fits in a smaller one. The water boils up when cooking the pasta, so the larger bowl helps prevent the water from boiling up and then over.

So if the kids are clamoring for mac and cheese, now, now, now, then you actually can give them mac and cheese now, now, now. And tomorrow and the next day. Although if they are that demanding I might not let them know how quickly I made the stuff. No, I might hang out in the kitchen with my book and glass of wine and shout “soon, soon!”