âšď¸ Skipped - page is already crawled
| Filter | Status | Condition | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP status | PASS | download_http_code = 200 | HTTP 200 |
| Age cutoff | PASS | download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH | 1.6 months ago |
| History drop | PASS | isNull(history_drop_reason) | No drop reason |
| Spam/ban | PASS | fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0 | ml_spam_score=0 |
| Canonical | PASS | meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed | Not set |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| URL | https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/p/boxed-mac-and-cheese-like-youve-never |
| Last Crawled | 2026-03-02 00:49:06 (1 month ago) |
| First Indexed | not set |
| HTTP Status Code | 200 |
| Meta Title | Boxed Mac & Cheese Like You've Never Had It Before |
| Meta Description | The Way Grown-Ups Secretly Want It |
| Meta Canonical | null |
| Boilerpipe Text | There is absolutely no shame in boxed mac and cheese. Itâs affordable, itâs easy, and it hits every time. But if youâve got 10 extra minutes and a couple fridge staples? You can turn it into three completely different meals that feel intentional â not âI gave up at 8:47pm.â
Want a visual? Please check out my full video on how I prep and serve each one!
This is a limited restock, so get yours before it is too late!
Click here to get yours!
All my recipes, fully unlockedâevery single one.
Direct access to me for questionsâno judgment, even if your last attempt was a âkitchen experiment.â
Community chat access to swap tips, share photos, and celebrate (or commiserate over) your cooking wins.
Ability to comment on any postâyour insights, questions, and feedback are always welcome.
join us ... you know you want to
On behalf of myself and my family, thank you for subscribingâwhether youâre reading along for free or supporting me with a paid subscription, I truly appreciate you. Your support keeps this work going and makes creating recipes, guides, and resources for you possible.
Pots & Pans
Knives
Everything Else
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links listed are affiliate links. This means if you order through those links, I will earn a small commission. HOWEVER, I would highly recommend looking online or in local restaurant supply stores, because for most of these items, youâll be able to find them cheaper there. If you wish to support me, subscribing here on Substack and over on
YouTube
is the best way. But when it comes to buying things, I just want you to have the best price.
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
15 minutes
Servings:
2-3
Box Mac and Cheese (1)
Medium Cheddar Cheese (2 oz)
Gruyere Cheese (2 oz)
Cream Cheese (Âź cup) for thicker and richer
Sour Cream (Âź cup) thinner and silkier
Green Onions (2 stalks)
Salt (to taste)
Water (6 cups)
Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
Whole Milk (Âź cup)
Prep
The first thing youâre going to want to do is fill your pot with six cups of water and set it to a boil
(that way itâs ready to go as soon as weâre done prepping)
.
Now you can shred your medium cheddar cheese and your Gruyère cheese. If you can,
PLEASE
use block cheese or freshly sliced cheese from the deli counter because pre-shredded cheese is going to have potato starch or corn starch coating that will make your cheese sauce grainy and too thick.
Then we can thinly slice some green onions and set those to the side to garnish at the end.
Cook
Now once your water is boiling, go ahead and add in a hefty pinch of salt, followed by your dried macaroni. Let that cook for right around six minutes, making sure to stir every minute or so so that way nothing sticks to the bottom and your pot doesnât overflow
(trust me, thatâs the absolute worst)
.
Once itâs finished cooking, use a cup or small bowl to capture some of that pasta water; then you can strain off your cooked pasta in a colander strainer.
Now, placing your pot back on low heat, go ahead and add in your unsalted butter, whole milk, grated cheeses, and our beloved cheese packet.
At this point, you have a decision to make:
Do you want your mac and cheese to be a little thicker and richer, or do you want it to be a little thinner and silkier?
Depending on what youâve decided, youâll either add in your cream cheese (for thicker and richer) or sour cream (for thinner and silkier).
Then on low heat, youâll continue to stir all this up until that cheese is melted and incorporated, adding in a tablespoon of your reserved pasta water at a time to help emulsify and get your sauce to the right consistency youâre looking for.
Once itâs fully melted and emulsified, you can go ahead and add back in your cooked macaroni and carefully fold it all together.
Plate
Now you can go ahead and move it to a plate once that macaroni is fully coated in that gooey and stringy cheese, and garnish the top with those thinly sliced green onions.
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
15 minutes
Servings:
2-3
Box Mac and Cheese (1)
Medium Cheddar Cheese (2 oz)
American Cheese (2 oz)
Yellow Onion (Âź)
Ground Beef (½ lb)
Bacon (2-3 slices)
Neutral Oil/Beef Tallow (2 tbsp)
Salt (to taste)
Water (6 cups)
Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
Whole Milk (Âź cup)
Seasoning
Granulated Garlic (½ tsp)
Onion Powder (½ tsp)
Smoked Paprika (½ tsp)
Salt (to taste)
Black Pepper (to taste)
Prep
Again, the first thing we are going to want to do is start by boiling six cups of water.
Now we can go ahead and give our yellow onion a rough dice. This can be as large or small of a dice as you prefer
(when I think about onions on a burger, there really is no set size)
. So many different places cut their onions in different sizes, so itâs really more about what you prefer.
If youâd like a guide on how to cut an onionâor really any vegetableâgo ahead and
click right here
.
Once those are cut, you can go ahead and add those to a bowl.
Then youâll go ahead and slice your bacon into pieces about half an inch thick, no larger or thicker than a finger width, adding those to the bowl with your onions.
Then also into that bowl, youâll add in your ground beef.
Now to season this, you can use any sort of premade seasoning blend that you prefer:
SPG, Lawryâsâjust as long as itâs a generic all-purpose seasoning
. Or if you want to, you can season it yourself with
granulated garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper
.
Once itâs seasoned, go ahead and mix all of that beef, bacon, and onion together to make sure your seasoning is coated all the way through.
The last bit of prep we need to do is to grate our cheeses, starting with our medium cheddar cheese and then our American cheese.
Remember, if you can avoid it, donât use pre-shredded cheese.
If for some reason youâre unable to grate your own cheese, then go to the deli counter and get freshly sliced cheese that you can then just cut up into thin strips.
Cook
Now at this point, your water should be boiling, so you can go ahead and add in your hefty pinches of salt, followed by your dried macaroni. Let that cook for six minutes, stirring every minute or so. Once your pasta is finished cooking, remember to reserve a little bit of pasta water before straining.
While that pasta is cooking, you are going to preheat a small pan. Preheat a ten-inch pan to medium-high heat and add in your neutral oil, followed by your beef mixture. Make sure to flatten it out as best you can to make sure youâre getting maximum coverage so that way you get maximum searage.
After two minutes on that first side, you can go ahead and flip and start breaking up all of your meat.
The important thing here is that you also have bacon in this mix, so try to make sure that none of that bacon gets pushed to the top because if that happens, itâs going to end up being
chewy
. You want to make sure youâre getting good contact with your bacon so that way it cooks all the way through at the same rate your ground beef does.
You could also just cook your bacon separately, but itâs not necessary.
After another two to three minutes, your meat mixture should be cooked all the way through, and you can remove it all into a bowl.
Now in that pot you boiled your pasta in, place it on low heat and add in your unsalted butter, milk, shredded cheeses, and cheese powder. Mix that all together until your cheese is fully melted and your sauce is emulsified
(feel free to add in a tablespoon of your reserved pasta water at a time to help with that emulsion and sauce thickness)
.
Then you can add in your cooked pasta as well as your meat mixture. When youâre adding in that beef, bacon, and onion, make sure you are scooping it from the bowl instead of dumping the whole bowl because at the bottom thereâs going to be a lot of drained grease that you donât want to add into your mac and cheese.
Then all you need to do is carefully fold it all together.
Plate
To serve this up, I recommend just a large spoon and a towel to hold the pot as you scarf this down on the couch
(but if you donât want to be like me, then I guess you could just put it in a bowl and eat it with a fork or whatever)
.
Prep Time:
5 minutes
Cook Time:
15 minutes
Servings:
2-3
Box Mac and Cheese (1)
Fontina (4 oz)
Cream Cheese (Âź cup)
Sun dried tomatoes (5-6 slivers)
Tomato Paste (1 tsp)
Garlic Powder (½ tsp)
Dried Oregano (½ tsp)
Salt (to taste)
Water (6 cups)
Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
Whole Milk (Âź cup)
Toppings
Sliced Mozzarella (4 oz)
Pepperoni (60g)
Parmigiano Reggiano (to taste)
Basil (3-4 leaves)
Prep
To start off, you want to fill a pot with six cups of water and bring that to a boil; then we can grate our fontina cheese. Iâm gonna sound like a broken record here, but please donât use pre-shredded cheese
(although I donât think Iâve ever seen pre-shredded fontina)
. If you canât find fontina at your deli counter to get sliced, then no worries. You can also just use a knife and slice it really thin as well.
Boomâthatâs all the prep.
Cook
Once your water is boiling, add in a hefty pinch of salt, followed by your dried pasta, and let that cook for 6 minutes. Make sure to stir it every minute or so so that your pasta doesnât stick, and then once itâs finished, you can reserve some pasta water and strain out the rest.
Now while you wait for that pasta to cook, we can go ahead and start making our sauce. Instead of using our pot, weâre going to need a 10-inch stainless steel oven-safe skillet
(that way this will give us the most surface area to build our âpizzaâ)
. Start on low heat and add in your unsalted butter, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Cook this down for about two minutes until that raw tomato paste has lost its smell.
Then you can add in your whole milk, followed by your cheese packet, your shredded cheese, as well as your cream cheese. Now carefully stir all this together until your cheeses have fully melted and emulsified into your sauce. Feel free to add in a tablespoon at a time of that reserved pasta water to help with that emulsification and to get it to the right consistency.
Once itâs fully melted and emulsified, you can add in your cooked pasta and very carefully fold it all together
(I really mean very carefully because weâre doing this in a skillet and not a pot, so itâs really easy to accidentally fling some of your macaroni out onto the countertop)
. Once itâs nicely mixed, go ahead and kill your heat and flatten out your macaroni.
At this point, you can layer the top with your fresh sliced mozzarella as well as your pepperonis.
Truthfully, you can top it with whatever you want. Treat it like a pizza if you want: onions, chicken, Italian sausage, olivesâTHEN GO FOR IT. If itâs something that needs to be cooked, just know that it needs to be cooked before you add it to the top of your âpizza.â
Once itâs fully dressed, you can throw it into the oven directly under your broiler for three to four minutes, or just until your mozzarella is melted.
Plate
Now once youâve taken your mac and cheese out of the oven, go ahead and finish it with a few leaves of torn basil and a fresh grate of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I do recommend eating this one immediately because, like a pizza, once that mozzarella on top cools down, itâs not very cheese-pull-y anymore.
No posts |
| Markdown | [](https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/)
# [](https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/)
Subscribe
Sign in
# Boxed Mac & Cheese Like You've Never Had It Before
### The Way Grown-Ups Secretly Want It
[](https://substack.com/@ianfujimoto)
[Ian Fujimoto](https://substack.com/@ianfujimoto)
Feb 28, 2026
33
Share
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!INIp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1b7b0ef-d820-40b2-82bb-f6bf952ef346_6411x3183.jpeg)
There is absolutely no shame in boxed mac and cheese. Itâs affordable, itâs easy, and it hits every time. But if youâve got 10 extra minutes and a couple fridge staples? You can turn it into three completely different meals that feel intentional â not âI gave up at 8:47pm.â
***
Want a visual? Please check out my full video on how I prep and serve each one\!
***
## **Apron Restock Alert!\!**
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x60Q!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F57076fcb-0946-46ae-b8ad-2fca8153b7f0_4672x4672.jpeg)
This is a limited restock, so get yours before it is too late! [Click here to get yours\!](https://www.hedleyandbennett.com/products/ian-fujimoto-x-h-b-crossback-apron)
***
## **What you get with a paid subscription to the Not a Chef newsletter:**
- All my recipes, fully unlockedâevery single one.
- Direct access to me for questionsâno judgment, even if your last attempt was a âkitchen experiment.â
- Community chat access to swap tips, share photos, and celebrate (or commiserate over) your cooking wins.
- Ability to comment on any postâyour insights, questions, and feedback are always welcome.
[join us ... you know you want to](https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/subscribe)
- On behalf of myself and my family, thank you for subscribingâwhether youâre reading along for free or supporting me with a paid subscription, I truly appreciate you. Your support keeps this work going and makes creating recipes, guides, and resources for you possible.
***
### **Tools I UseâŚ**
- [Pots & Pans](https://www.amazon.com/shop/iankyo/list/1RFMYHCNL3RXC?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d&ccs_id=31fc08e1-9fbf-4885-8b49-16af9a712be6)
- [Knives](https://natetheblademaker.com/)
- [Everything Else](https://www.amazon.com/shop/iankyo?ccs_id=a7e0f47a-ed66-4a8d-9ca8-760a788ec887)
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links listed are affiliate links. This means if you order through those links, I will earn a small commission. HOWEVER, I would highly recommend looking online or in local restaurant supply stores, because for most of these items, youâll be able to find them cheaper there. If you wish to support me, subscribing here on Substack and over on *[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@IanKyo)* is the best way. But when it comes to buying things, I just want you to have the best price.
***
# Level 1 - The Sleeper Mac & Cheese đĽąâĄď¸đ¤Ż
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fxcc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ea42c35-4d3f-44f7-ad58-d642183b6f76_6389x4259.jpeg)
Prep Time: **10 minutes**
Cook Time: **15 minutes**
Servings: **2-3**
#### **Ingredients:**
- Box Mac and Cheese (1)
- Medium Cheddar Cheese (2 oz)
- Gruyere Cheese (2 oz)
- Cream Cheese (Âź cup) for thicker and richer
- Sour Cream (Âź cup) thinner and silkier
- Green Onions (2 stalks)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (6 cups)
- Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
- Whole Milk (Âź cup)
#### **Preparation:**
1. **Prep**
- The first thing youâre going to want to do is fill your pot with six cups of water and set it to a boil ***(that way itâs ready to go as soon as weâre done prepping)***.
- Now you can shred your medium cheddar cheese and your Gruyère cheese. If you can, **PLEASE** use block cheese or freshly sliced cheese from the deli counter because pre-shredded cheese is going to have potato starch or corn starch coating that will make your cheese sauce grainy and too thick.
- Then we can thinly slice some green onions and set those to the side to garnish at the end.
2. **Cook**
- Now once your water is boiling, go ahead and add in a hefty pinch of salt, followed by your dried macaroni. Let that cook for right around six minutes, making sure to stir every minute or so so that way nothing sticks to the bottom and your pot doesnât overflow ***(trust me, thatâs the absolute worst)***.
- Once itâs finished cooking, use a cup or small bowl to capture some of that pasta water; then you can strain off your cooked pasta in a colander strainer.
- Now, placing your pot back on low heat, go ahead and add in your unsalted butter, whole milk, grated cheeses, and our beloved cheese packet.
- At this point, you have a decision to make:
#### Do you want your mac and cheese to be a little thicker and richer, or do you want it to be a little thinner and silkier?
- Depending on what youâve decided, youâll either add in your cream cheese (for thicker and richer) or sour cream (for thinner and silkier).
- Then on low heat, youâll continue to stir all this up until that cheese is melted and incorporated, adding in a tablespoon of your reserved pasta water at a time to help emulsify and get your sauce to the right consistency youâre looking for.
- Once itâs fully melted and emulsified, you can go ahead and add back in your cooked macaroni and carefully fold it all together.
3. **Plate**
- Now you can go ahead and move it to a plate once that macaroni is fully coated in that gooey and stringy cheese, and garnish the top with those thinly sliced green onions.
***
# Level 2 - Cheese Burger Mac & Cheese đĽđđ§
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2bzh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb88541f3-00c4-4aed-b40d-a82fbeaf531b_6071x4047.jpeg)
Prep Time: **10 minutes**
Cook Time: **15 minutes**
Servings: **2-3**
#### **Ingredients:**
- Box Mac and Cheese (1)
- Medium Cheddar Cheese (2 oz)
- American Cheese (2 oz)
- Yellow Onion (Âź)
- Ground Beef (½ lb)
- Bacon (2-3 slices)
- Neutral Oil/Beef Tallow (2 tbsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (6 cups)
- Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
- Whole Milk (Âź cup)
##### Seasoning
- Granulated Garlic (½ tsp)
- Onion Powder (½ tsp)
- Smoked Paprika (½ tsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Black Pepper (to taste)
#### **Preparation:**
1. **Prep**
- Again, the first thing we are going to want to do is start by boiling six cups of water.
- Now we can go ahead and give our yellow onion a rough dice. This can be as large or small of a dice as you prefer ***(when I think about onions on a burger, there really is no set size)***. So many different places cut their onions in different sizes, so itâs really more about what you prefer.
- If youâd like a guide on how to cut an onionâor really any vegetableâgo ahead and [click right here](https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/p/how-to-cut-every-vegetable?r=4vgpi3).
- Once those are cut, you can go ahead and add those to a bowl.
- Then youâll go ahead and slice your bacon into pieces about half an inch thick, no larger or thicker than a finger width, adding those to the bowl with your onions.
- Then also into that bowl, youâll add in your ground beef.
- Now to season this, you can use any sort of premade seasoning blend that you prefer: ***SPG, Lawryâsâjust as long as itâs a generic all-purpose seasoning***. Or if you want to, you can season it yourself with ***granulated garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper***.
- Once itâs seasoned, go ahead and mix all of that beef, bacon, and onion together to make sure your seasoning is coated all the way through.
- The last bit of prep we need to do is to grate our cheeses, starting with our medium cheddar cheese and then our American cheese.
#### Remember, if you can avoid it, donât use pre-shredded cheese.
- If for some reason youâre unable to grate your own cheese, then go to the deli counter and get freshly sliced cheese that you can then just cut up into thin strips.
2. **Cook**
- Now at this point, your water should be boiling, so you can go ahead and add in your hefty pinches of salt, followed by your dried macaroni. Let that cook for six minutes, stirring every minute or so. Once your pasta is finished cooking, remember to reserve a little bit of pasta water before straining.
- While that pasta is cooking, you are going to preheat a small pan. Preheat a ten-inch pan to medium-high heat and add in your neutral oil, followed by your beef mixture. Make sure to flatten it out as best you can to make sure youâre getting maximum coverage so that way you get maximum searage.
- After two minutes on that first side, you can go ahead and flip and start breaking up all of your meat.
- The important thing here is that you also have bacon in this mix, so try to make sure that none of that bacon gets pushed to the top because if that happens, itâs going to end up being ***chewy***. You want to make sure youâre getting good contact with your bacon so that way it cooks all the way through at the same rate your ground beef does. ***You could also just cook your bacon separately, but itâs not necessary.***
- After another two to three minutes, your meat mixture should be cooked all the way through, and you can remove it all into a bowl.
- Now in that pot you boiled your pasta in, place it on low heat and add in your unsalted butter, milk, shredded cheeses, and cheese powder. Mix that all together until your cheese is fully melted and your sauce is emulsified ***(feel free to add in a tablespoon of your reserved pasta water at a time to help with that emulsion and sauce thickness)***.
- Then you can add in your cooked pasta as well as your meat mixture. When youâre adding in that beef, bacon, and onion, make sure you are scooping it from the bowl instead of dumping the whole bowl because at the bottom thereâs going to be a lot of drained grease that you donât want to add into your mac and cheese.
- Then all you need to do is carefully fold it all together.
3. **Plate**
- To serve this up, I recommend just a large spoon and a towel to hold the pot as you scarf this down on the couch ***(but if you donât want to be like me, then I guess you could just put it in a bowl and eat it with a fork or whatever)***.
***
# **Level 3 - Pizza Mac & Cheese đđĽđ§**
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UvC9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05e9bcb4-4009-4965-bee2-e0c1b9080c08_8132x5421.jpeg)
Prep Time: **5 minutes**
Cook Time: **15 minutes**
Servings: **2-3**
#### **Ingredients:**
- Box Mac and Cheese (1)
- Fontina (4 oz)
- Cream Cheese (Âź cup)
- Sun dried tomatoes (5-6 slivers)
- Tomato Paste (1 tsp)
- Garlic Powder (½ tsp)
- Dried Oregano (½ tsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (6 cups)
- Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
- Whole Milk (Âź cup)
Toppings
- Sliced Mozzarella (4 oz)
- Pepperoni (60g)
- Parmigiano Reggiano (to taste)
- Basil (3-4 leaves)
#### **Preparation:**
1. **Prep**
- To start off, you want to fill a pot with six cups of water and bring that to a boil; then we can grate our fontina cheese. Iâm gonna sound like a broken record here, but please donât use pre-shredded cheese ***(although I donât think Iâve ever seen pre-shredded fontina)***. If you canât find fontina at your deli counter to get sliced, then no worries. You can also just use a knife and slice it really thin as well.
#### Boomâthatâs all the prep.
2. **Cook**
- Once your water is boiling, add in a hefty pinch of salt, followed by your dried pasta, and let that cook for 6 minutes. Make sure to stir it every minute or so so that your pasta doesnât stick, and then once itâs finished, you can reserve some pasta water and strain out the rest.
- Now while you wait for that pasta to cook, we can go ahead and start making our sauce. Instead of using our pot, weâre going to need a 10-inch stainless steel oven-safe skillet ***(that way this will give us the most surface area to build our âpizzaâ)***. Start on low heat and add in your unsalted butter, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Cook this down for about two minutes until that raw tomato paste has lost its smell.
- Then you can add in your whole milk, followed by your cheese packet, your shredded cheese, as well as your cream cheese. Now carefully stir all this together until your cheeses have fully melted and emulsified into your sauce. Feel free to add in a tablespoon at a time of that reserved pasta water to help with that emulsification and to get it to the right consistency.
- Once itâs fully melted and emulsified, you can add in your cooked pasta and very carefully fold it all together ***(I really mean very carefully because weâre doing this in a skillet and not a pot, so itâs really easy to accidentally fling some of your macaroni out onto the countertop)***. Once itâs nicely mixed, go ahead and kill your heat and flatten out your macaroni.
- At this point, you can layer the top with your fresh sliced mozzarella as well as your pepperonis.
#### Truthfully, you can top it with whatever you want. Treat it like a pizza if you want: onions, chicken, Italian sausage, olivesâTHEN GO FOR IT. If itâs something that needs to be cooked, just know that it needs to be cooked before you add it to the top of your âpizza.â
- Once itâs fully dressed, you can throw it into the oven directly under your broiler for three to four minutes, or just until your mozzarella is melted.
3. **Plate**
- Now once youâve taken your mac and cheese out of the oven, go ahead and finish it with a few leaves of torn basil and a fresh grate of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I do recommend eating this one immediately because, like a pizza, once that mozzarella on top cools down, itâs not very cheese-pull-y anymore.
Not a Chef is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
33
Share
#### Discussion about this post
Comments
Restacks
Top
Latest
Discussions
No posts
### Ready for more?
Š 2026 Ian Fujimoto ¡ [Privacy](https://substack.com/privacy) â [Terms](https://substack.com/tos) â [Collection notice](https://substack.com/ccpa#personal-data-collected)
[Start your Substack](https://substack.com/signup?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_content=footer)
[Get the app](https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&utm_content=web-footer-button)
[Substack](https://substack.com/) is the home for great culture
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please [turn on JavaScript](https://enable-javascript.com/) or unblock scripts |
| Readable Markdown | [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!INIp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe1b7b0ef-d820-40b2-82bb-f6bf952ef346_6411x3183.jpeg)
There is absolutely no shame in boxed mac and cheese. Itâs affordable, itâs easy, and it hits every time. But if youâve got 10 extra minutes and a couple fridge staples? You can turn it into three completely different meals that feel intentional â not âI gave up at 8:47pm.â
Want a visual? Please check out my full video on how I prep and serve each one\!
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!x60Q!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F57076fcb-0946-46ae-b8ad-2fca8153b7f0_4672x4672.jpeg)
This is a limited restock, so get yours before it is too late! [Click here to get yours\!](https://www.hedleyandbennett.com/products/ian-fujimoto-x-h-b-crossback-apron)
- All my recipes, fully unlockedâevery single one.
- Direct access to me for questionsâno judgment, even if your last attempt was a âkitchen experiment.â
- Community chat access to swap tips, share photos, and celebrate (or commiserate over) your cooking wins.
- Ability to comment on any postâyour insights, questions, and feedback are always welcome.
[join us ... you know you want to](https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/subscribe)
- On behalf of myself and my family, thank you for subscribingâwhether youâre reading along for free or supporting me with a paid subscription, I truly appreciate you. Your support keeps this work going and makes creating recipes, guides, and resources for you possible.
- [Pots & Pans](https://www.amazon.com/shop/iankyo/list/1RFMYHCNL3RXC?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d&ccs_id=31fc08e1-9fbf-4885-8b49-16af9a712be6)
- [Knives](https://natetheblademaker.com/)
- [Everything Else](https://www.amazon.com/shop/iankyo?ccs_id=a7e0f47a-ed66-4a8d-9ca8-760a788ec887)
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links listed are affiliate links. This means if you order through those links, I will earn a small commission. HOWEVER, I would highly recommend looking online or in local restaurant supply stores, because for most of these items, youâll be able to find them cheaper there. If you wish to support me, subscribing here on Substack and over on *[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@IanKyo)* is the best way. But when it comes to buying things, I just want you to have the best price.
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fxcc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1ea42c35-4d3f-44f7-ad58-d642183b6f76_6389x4259.jpeg)
Prep Time: **10 minutes**
Cook Time: **15 minutes**
Servings: **2-3**
- Box Mac and Cheese (1)
- Medium Cheddar Cheese (2 oz)
- Gruyere Cheese (2 oz)
- Cream Cheese (Âź cup) for thicker and richer
- Sour Cream (Âź cup) thinner and silkier
- Green Onions (2 stalks)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (6 cups)
- Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
- Whole Milk (Âź cup)
1. **Prep**
- The first thing youâre going to want to do is fill your pot with six cups of water and set it to a boil ***(that way itâs ready to go as soon as weâre done prepping)***.
- Now you can shred your medium cheddar cheese and your Gruyère cheese. If you can, **PLEASE** use block cheese or freshly sliced cheese from the deli counter because pre-shredded cheese is going to have potato starch or corn starch coating that will make your cheese sauce grainy and too thick.
- Then we can thinly slice some green onions and set those to the side to garnish at the end.
2. **Cook**
- Now once your water is boiling, go ahead and add in a hefty pinch of salt, followed by your dried macaroni. Let that cook for right around six minutes, making sure to stir every minute or so so that way nothing sticks to the bottom and your pot doesnât overflow ***(trust me, thatâs the absolute worst)***.
- Once itâs finished cooking, use a cup or small bowl to capture some of that pasta water; then you can strain off your cooked pasta in a colander strainer.
- Now, placing your pot back on low heat, go ahead and add in your unsalted butter, whole milk, grated cheeses, and our beloved cheese packet.
- At this point, you have a decision to make:
#### Do you want your mac and cheese to be a little thicker and richer, or do you want it to be a little thinner and silkier?
- Depending on what youâve decided, youâll either add in your cream cheese (for thicker and richer) or sour cream (for thinner and silkier).
- Then on low heat, youâll continue to stir all this up until that cheese is melted and incorporated, adding in a tablespoon of your reserved pasta water at a time to help emulsify and get your sauce to the right consistency youâre looking for.
- Once itâs fully melted and emulsified, you can go ahead and add back in your cooked macaroni and carefully fold it all together.
3. **Plate**
- Now you can go ahead and move it to a plate once that macaroni is fully coated in that gooey and stringy cheese, and garnish the top with those thinly sliced green onions.
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2bzh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb88541f3-00c4-4aed-b40d-a82fbeaf531b_6071x4047.jpeg)
Prep Time: **10 minutes**
Cook Time: **15 minutes**
Servings: **2-3**
- Box Mac and Cheese (1)
- Medium Cheddar Cheese (2 oz)
- American Cheese (2 oz)
- Yellow Onion (Âź)
- Ground Beef (½ lb)
- Bacon (2-3 slices)
- Neutral Oil/Beef Tallow (2 tbsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (6 cups)
- Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
- Whole Milk (Âź cup)
##### Seasoning
- Granulated Garlic (½ tsp)
- Onion Powder (½ tsp)
- Smoked Paprika (½ tsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Black Pepper (to taste)
1. **Prep**
- Again, the first thing we are going to want to do is start by boiling six cups of water.
- Now we can go ahead and give our yellow onion a rough dice. This can be as large or small of a dice as you prefer ***(when I think about onions on a burger, there really is no set size)***. So many different places cut their onions in different sizes, so itâs really more about what you prefer.
- If youâd like a guide on how to cut an onionâor really any vegetableâgo ahead and [click right here](https://ianfujimoto.substack.com/p/how-to-cut-every-vegetable?r=4vgpi3).
- Once those are cut, you can go ahead and add those to a bowl.
- Then youâll go ahead and slice your bacon into pieces about half an inch thick, no larger or thicker than a finger width, adding those to the bowl with your onions.
- Then also into that bowl, youâll add in your ground beef.
- Now to season this, you can use any sort of premade seasoning blend that you prefer: ***SPG, Lawryâsâjust as long as itâs a generic all-purpose seasoning***. Or if you want to, you can season it yourself with ***granulated garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper***.
- Once itâs seasoned, go ahead and mix all of that beef, bacon, and onion together to make sure your seasoning is coated all the way through.
- The last bit of prep we need to do is to grate our cheeses, starting with our medium cheddar cheese and then our American cheese.
#### Remember, if you can avoid it, donât use pre-shredded cheese.
- If for some reason youâre unable to grate your own cheese, then go to the deli counter and get freshly sliced cheese that you can then just cut up into thin strips.
2. **Cook**
- Now at this point, your water should be boiling, so you can go ahead and add in your hefty pinches of salt, followed by your dried macaroni. Let that cook for six minutes, stirring every minute or so. Once your pasta is finished cooking, remember to reserve a little bit of pasta water before straining.
- While that pasta is cooking, you are going to preheat a small pan. Preheat a ten-inch pan to medium-high heat and add in your neutral oil, followed by your beef mixture. Make sure to flatten it out as best you can to make sure youâre getting maximum coverage so that way you get maximum searage.
- After two minutes on that first side, you can go ahead and flip and start breaking up all of your meat.
- The important thing here is that you also have bacon in this mix, so try to make sure that none of that bacon gets pushed to the top because if that happens, itâs going to end up being ***chewy***. You want to make sure youâre getting good contact with your bacon so that way it cooks all the way through at the same rate your ground beef does. ***You could also just cook your bacon separately, but itâs not necessary.***
- After another two to three minutes, your meat mixture should be cooked all the way through, and you can remove it all into a bowl.
- Now in that pot you boiled your pasta in, place it on low heat and add in your unsalted butter, milk, shredded cheeses, and cheese powder. Mix that all together until your cheese is fully melted and your sauce is emulsified ***(feel free to add in a tablespoon of your reserved pasta water at a time to help with that emulsion and sauce thickness)***.
- Then you can add in your cooked pasta as well as your meat mixture. When youâre adding in that beef, bacon, and onion, make sure you are scooping it from the bowl instead of dumping the whole bowl because at the bottom thereâs going to be a lot of drained grease that you donât want to add into your mac and cheese.
- Then all you need to do is carefully fold it all together.
3. **Plate**
- To serve this up, I recommend just a large spoon and a towel to hold the pot as you scarf this down on the couch ***(but if you donât want to be like me, then I guess you could just put it in a bowl and eat it with a fork or whatever)***.
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UvC9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05e9bcb4-4009-4965-bee2-e0c1b9080c08_8132x5421.jpeg)
Prep Time: **5 minutes**
Cook Time: **15 minutes**
Servings: **2-3**
- Box Mac and Cheese (1)
- Fontina (4 oz)
- Cream Cheese (Âź cup)
- Sun dried tomatoes (5-6 slivers)
- Tomato Paste (1 tsp)
- Garlic Powder (½ tsp)
- Dried Oregano (½ tsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (6 cups)
- Unsalted Butter (4 tbsp)
- Whole Milk (Âź cup)
Toppings
- Sliced Mozzarella (4 oz)
- Pepperoni (60g)
- Parmigiano Reggiano (to taste)
- Basil (3-4 leaves)
1. **Prep**
- To start off, you want to fill a pot with six cups of water and bring that to a boil; then we can grate our fontina cheese. Iâm gonna sound like a broken record here, but please donât use pre-shredded cheese ***(although I donât think Iâve ever seen pre-shredded fontina)***. If you canât find fontina at your deli counter to get sliced, then no worries. You can also just use a knife and slice it really thin as well.
#### Boomâthatâs all the prep.
2. **Cook**
- Once your water is boiling, add in a hefty pinch of salt, followed by your dried pasta, and let that cook for 6 minutes. Make sure to stir it every minute or so so that your pasta doesnât stick, and then once itâs finished, you can reserve some pasta water and strain out the rest.
- Now while you wait for that pasta to cook, we can go ahead and start making our sauce. Instead of using our pot, weâre going to need a 10-inch stainless steel oven-safe skillet ***(that way this will give us the most surface area to build our âpizzaâ)***. Start on low heat and add in your unsalted butter, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Cook this down for about two minutes until that raw tomato paste has lost its smell.
- Then you can add in your whole milk, followed by your cheese packet, your shredded cheese, as well as your cream cheese. Now carefully stir all this together until your cheeses have fully melted and emulsified into your sauce. Feel free to add in a tablespoon at a time of that reserved pasta water to help with that emulsification and to get it to the right consistency.
- Once itâs fully melted and emulsified, you can add in your cooked pasta and very carefully fold it all together ***(I really mean very carefully because weâre doing this in a skillet and not a pot, so itâs really easy to accidentally fling some of your macaroni out onto the countertop)***. Once itâs nicely mixed, go ahead and kill your heat and flatten out your macaroni.
- At this point, you can layer the top with your fresh sliced mozzarella as well as your pepperonis.
#### Truthfully, you can top it with whatever you want. Treat it like a pizza if you want: onions, chicken, Italian sausage, olivesâTHEN GO FOR IT. If itâs something that needs to be cooked, just know that it needs to be cooked before you add it to the top of your âpizza.â
- Once itâs fully dressed, you can throw it into the oven directly under your broiler for three to four minutes, or just until your mozzarella is melted.
3. **Plate**
- Now once youâve taken your mac and cheese out of the oven, go ahead and finish it with a few leaves of torn basil and a fresh grate of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I do recommend eating this one immediately because, like a pizza, once that mozzarella on top cools down, itâs not very cheese-pull-y anymore.
No posts |
| Shard | 76 (laksa) |
| Root Hash | 14862242593741677076 |
| Unparsed URL | com,substack!ianfujimoto,/p/boxed-mac-and-cheese-like-youve-never s443 |