We asked 3 chefs to name the best boxed mac and cheese, and they all chose the same one (it’s not Kraft!)

Cheese macaroni. Just reading this combination of words makes your eyes light up, doesn’t it? RIGHT. As the wise Antoni Porowski once said: “Mac and cheese is something that can actually be so personal.” And while everyone thinks they (or their mom, grandpa, or twice-removed first cousin) have the best recipe ever, we can probably all agree on one thing: macaroni boxed cheese is, ultimately, a bit of the best.

It turns out that chefs wholeheartedly agree that it’s pretty hard to beat any particular box.

Point blank, Chef Greg Pawlowski of iL Modo in Fort Worth, Texas, confirmed what many of us adults, kids, and kids at heart have probably noticed is the best boxed macaroni on the shelf : “Velveeta Shells & Cheese”. The creamy consistency, he explains, is key to this premium boxed mac and cheese, as Velveeta’s creamy cheese sauce ensures each noodle is evenly coated (no pockets of dry cheese powder are allowed!). “Of the many choices…it can’t be beat.”

Pawlowski is not alone either. “For me, it’s all about the shells and Velveeta cheese,” says Jonathan Sawyer, James Beard Award winner and executive chef of Kindling. “It’s undeniably the best sauce on the market and it was a “luxury” for me when I was little. It was 50 cents more than other brands, so it felt like we were having a party every time it was in the pantry.

Now an adult, Williams chooses to keep Velveeta cheese blocks on hand to prepare the dish she serves to her catering clients. For Williams, the signature cheese sauce coats each noodle perfectly and also serves as the base for all kinds of flavorful enhancements, especially if you toss it in with a freshly grated cheese, like Gruyere, Gouda, or Parmesan. “We do smoked Gouda mac and cheese (at Rouge),” she says. “Sometimes we add truffle on top, toasted breadcrumbs, and I always use Velveeta cheese.”

If you, too, want to maximize the entire surface area of ​​your boxed mac and cheese, while avoiding gummy noodles, take inspiration from Williams and, my other favorite person to quote, (the unfortunately only fictional one) Moira Rose of Schitt’s. Creek: Stir in more cheese…and not in the order you’d expect.

“Before adding your Velveeta sauce to your noodles, grab any type of grated cheese. Let’s just say you shaved some parmesan. Mix your cooked and drained noodles In cheese,” says Williams. “Then as you add the hot sauce over (the noodles), it starts to melt that (shredded) cheese, and that’s what gives the cheese pull…and you’ll have little pockets of cheese . SO GOOD.”

This article was originally published on The Kitchn. See it here: We asked 3 chefs to name the best boxed mac and cheese, and they all chose the same one