Gluten-free mac and cheese
A glossy, smooth cheese sauce made with evaporated milk and a spoonful of cornstarch instead of flour, so every bite is creamy and gluten-free.
- 25 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.03 a serving
- 770 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
- 12 oz gluten-free pasta, elbows or shells
- 1 can evaporated milk, 12 oz
- ½ tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Each serving has about 770 calories, 32 g protein, 79 g carbs and 36 g fat, and costs about $2.03 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No cheddar cheese? Shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese works.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add the salt, cover and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
the cheddar and jack into a bowl and with the cornstarch until every shred is dusted.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: The cornstarch is what keeps the sauce smooth without any flour.Cook the pasta until just , tasting 2 minutes before the package time, then it.
Al dente. Al dente is Italian for “to the tooth”: pasta cooked until tender but with a slight firm bite in the center. It holds up in sauce and keeps softening a little after you drain it.
How you’ll know: Bite a piece a minute before the package time: tender, with a slight firm bite in the middle and no crunch.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Gluten-free pasta goes soft fast. Pull it with a little bite left, and don’t rinse it.Pour the evaporated milk into the empty pot, add the mustard and garlic powder, and warm it over low heat until steaming.
Low heat
Add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring until each handful before adding the next.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Low heat
Dolly’s tip: Keep it on low. If it bubbles hard, the cheese turns oily.Stir in the pasta, taste, add hot sauce and of salt if you like, and serve right away.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Dolly’s tip: Gluten-free pasta keeps drinking up sauce, so eat it hot and loosen leftovers with milk.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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