5 ms·

What's amazing to me, as someone who cooks, is that "mac n' cheese" (we call it "macaroni cheese" here in UK) as a pre-prepared meal is even a thing in the US.

What's amazing to me, as someone who cooks, is that "mac n' cheese" (we call it "macaroni cheese" here in UK) as a pre-prepared meal is even a thing in the US. I consider macaroni cheese as a "comfort food" - one of those things that's a perfect ratio of carbs and fat. But it's a very easy thing to make, even for a novice, in 20 minutes when you're taking your time. I remember my mother teaching me how to make it before going to university, the very first thing I'd ever cooked - I remember thinking, "wow, is that it?!". And it's the sort of thing that is always going to be at least 2x better if you make it yourself, because you use actual cheese (sounds so weird saying that as a Brit!), as mature as you like, and as much as you like. I'm very obviously not the target market now, but even as a cash and time-strapped student a lifetime ago, whose mum had tought him cooking basics just few months previously, I still don't get how someone could make a fortune out of this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

jdminhbg 6y ago
I am not sure how you make macaroni and cheese that it only takes 20 minutes. Just getting the water boiling, adding the macaroni, cooking it, and draining it is going to take at least 15. I am not a mac & cheese fan, much less an instant mac & cheese fan, but it's not at all surprising to me that convenience foods exist. And for what it's worth, it's much more popular in Canada than the US.
- hervature 6y ago
  Where we call it KD after the biggest producer of it, Kraft Dinner.
  - caymanjim 6y ago
    In the US, the same product is labeled "Kraft Macaroni & Cheese", and in the US everyone calls it "macaroni & cheese" or "mac & cheese". It's the identical product as Kraft Dinner. I wish that branding caught on in the US, because it's so much easier to say "KD".
- hcho 6y ago
  We have kettles and water boils in about 2 mins.
- hahamrfunnyguy 6y ago
  Easy. You set the water to boil on the stove. While that's going you start the roux, which is just butter and flour. That takes about two minutes to cook, then you can add your milk and salt and turn down the heat. Add your pasta to the water. Now add your cheese to the sauce. I know how much I need so I just cut off a hunk and crumble it up into pieces into the pot. Once the cheese has melted, your pasta should be done so drain it and stir it into the pot with the cheese. You are done, enjoy your mac and cheese. The box stuff is easier because it's less steps, but doesn't take any less time to prepare.
  - mikepurvis 6y ago
    Yup. I grew up on Kraft Dinner, but this is what I make for my kids now. It’s an easy, fast, cheap pantry meal, up there with curry lentils on rice and spinach quiche.
  - thrower123 6y ago
    I've still never figured out why people bother making a roux, unless it's because they like that mediocre flavor. Just using the same Kraft Dinner technique, except using real cheese cubed instead of the orange powder, is the best tasting and easiest method.
    - gen220 6y ago
      I think it might depend on the cheese you’re using! In my experience the roux makes a big difference. We use a blend of Gruyere, Fontina and Cheddar (in 1-2-2 proportion). The hard, soft, and middling textures mix best when they’re gently cooked together in our experience. In the states most recipes will have you finish in a casserole dish with bread crumbs, but we find it actually tastes better if you skip that step, for whatever reason. If anybody has suggestions on other cheeses to add/substitute in this mix I’m all ears!
  - megameter 6y ago
    The way my mom did it(and how I cooked it last night) does not even use a real roux: after dumping the pasta water, stir in chopped butter and then shredded cheese directly. The pasta's hot so everything melts in moments. This makes a non-creamy mac, but it's equally edible in my estimate.
- cptskippy 6y ago
  > I am not sure how you make macaroni and cheese that it only takes 20 minutes. Just getting the water boiling, adding the macaroni, cooking it, and draining it is going to take at least 15. While the noodles are draining you take some of the noodle water, some milk, and some cheese and mix it together in the still warm pot over the lowest heat setting on your stove top? But seriously what were you doing those 15 minutes? You could have your cheese sauce ready to go and put the noodles almost directly into it. I think to answer the op's question, the reason boxed mac & cheese is so popular is two part. American's don't have the time or energy to prepare a meal, and they don't know how to. Making a single dish is easy, making multiple dishes for a meal is tricky when you're not familiar with the kitchen. Americans don't cook anymore.
  - gnicholas 6y ago
    > American's don't have the time or energy to prepare a meal, and they don't know how to. As someone who occasionally ate mac 'n cheese and top ramen in college, I think it partly comes down to what tools and ingredients are available to you. I did not have access to a stove/pots/pans/colander. I had access to a shared microwave that was in the lounge in my dorm. So making my own mac 'n cheese was not possible (never mind the fact that we didn't have ready access to ingredients, and that cheese would go bad or be stolen from the fridge). As an adult, I enjoy making mac 'n cheese for my kids, using a yogurt-based recipe and incorporating riced cauliflower to make it somewhat less unhealthy. But college-student-me didn't have access to the ingredients/tools to make that possible.
    - Symbiote 6y ago
      At university in London, we had a good kitchen with two stoves, two ovens, a lockable part of a huge fridge each, a lockable cupboard each, and a cleaner every day. (She would not clean up dirty dishes, but would do normal cleaning.) I had a colander and a grater, which people probably borrowed. We bought a couple of utensils throughout the year, like a large roasting tin for Christmas Dinner. I bought scales for baking. The university gave international students a pan and other basic stuff. There was a fancy supermarket nearby (though they had the cheapest spirits), a normal one about 15 minutes walk away, and a cheaper one 10 minutes beyond that. I usually went to the normal one. Cooking together was great. Sharing that kitchen were people from England, Wales, Hong Kong, Jamaica, China, Italy. Friends who came by added Japan, Germany, France, Thailand. The Welsh guy and his boyfriend were most organised, and about once a month got everyone who wanted to to help cook (or at least clean) for ~10-15. Normally, ~4 of us cooked in alternating pairs for the other 2. Macaroni cheese would have been a bit disappointing for the lack of vegetables. If I only had a few minutes and was eating myself, I'd prefer to use those 2 minute ramen things. All of this seems fairly normal to me. The large group meals were only possible in 1st year with the large kitchen, but everything else continued in later years, renting houses or apartments.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Just getting the water boiling, adding the macaroni, cooking it, and draining it is going to take at least 15. Really depends on the heat output of your burner (for the get it boiling part); most elbow macaroni is, IIRC, 7-10 minutes cook time, draining takes seconds, and most of the sauce can be done while the noodles are cooking. 20 minutes total is perfectly reasonable. OTOH, where the box saves you is in how busy you are, since it doesn't take multitasking, and cleanup, since it's one-pot, while sauce and noodles in parallel takes two.
- GordonS 6y ago
  Ach! I forgot you don't have electric kettles in the US because of some crappy power supply issues! When making any kind of pasta, I boil the water in a kettle first, then pour it into a pan on the hob (aka stove) - so pasta starts cooking in 3m or so. Anyway, without a kettle I guess it's still doable around the 20m mark, as long as you have a gas or induction hob, and while the pasta is cooking you grate the cheese and make the sauce. And on the sauce, I make a roux, add full-fat milk, add the cheese and season - easy. If you want to get fancy, chopped onions and chunks of pre-cooked (or tinned) ham mixes things up.
  - cbm-vic-20 6y ago
    Electric kettles aren't that rare here in the states...
    - SECProto 6y ago
      Electric kettles are much less powerful on a 120v circuit (US household) than a 240v circuit (ie uk). A quick look at an online retail shop confirms british kettles are rated at 3000W, while american ones are 1500W. I actually have a bit of a hack when I'm in a major rush - I'll put half the water I need in the electric kettle, and half on the stovetop.
      - wavefunction 6y ago
        My 120v kettle is definitely faster than itself plus some stove-top boiled water, strangely enough.
      - drewzero1 6y ago
        Yeah, the maximum rated output for a standard US electrical outlet is 1500W. Alec Watson of the YouTube channel Technology Connections[1] did an interesting video a while back about the fact that basically all plug-in electric heaters sold in the US output 1500W. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jmSjy2ArM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jmSjy2ArM
  - zwily 6y ago
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
astura 6y ago
Making mac and cheese from scratch is not at all difficult, and a lot of grocery stores even sell discount cheese ends intended to be used in mac and cheese. (I use them for other stuff more often though) However, nothing beats the incredibly addictive, comforting taste of boxed mac and cheese - yes I crave that artificial taste, it's incredible. Plus you can make it with ingredients most people have on hand literally 24/7 - only butter and milk, you don't have to plan ahead and I only need to dirty a single pan. Plus it's CHEAP, like, really, really cheap. Beyond that, boxed mac and cheese is more popular in Canada (where they call it "KD" - short for "Kraft Dinner") than the US - it's not exactly "har, har, americans dumb."
- Symbiote 6y ago
  I've never looked at the "Mac & Cheese" (though I think I've seen in a shop for American expats). I assumed you just poured water over it, or something. Are you saying you still need butter and milk to make it? In which case, the real thing only requires having cheese (which keeps a fairly long time), flour and pasta (both keep indefinitely) in addition.
  - astura 6y ago
    I am very well aware, I've made the "real thing" at least 100 times. I very rarely have enough cheese in my house for mac and cheese, especially the right kind of cheese. If I want to make it from scratch I have to plan ahead. However, I always, always, always have butter and (oat) milk in the house though, 24/7, so boxed mac and cheese is always an option. I still strongly prefer the taste of boxed, it's simply amazing in an indescribable way.
matthiaswh 6y ago
I tease my wife every time she is making Annie's that it's literally simpler to make my own Mac and cheese recipe, which she absolutely loves. Boil the noodles in milk, add seasoning, stir in cheese. Still, we always have Annie's on hand. Shrug.
- sergers 6y ago
  Annie's isn't even that much healthier. Made it for my wife, she prefers KD. We been dabbling from scratch, much better results
salamandersauce 6y ago
In my mind it's in it's own category. Yes, homemade mac and cheese is "better" but it's also very different. I don't really consider it the same thing just as I don't really compare fancy swiss dark chocolate and a Dairy Milk bar. Sometimes you want one over the other.
canadianfella 6y ago
British people have no right to criticize another country’s food.

jdminhbg 6y ago

I am not sure how you make macaroni and cheese that it only takes 20 minutes. Just getting the water boiling, adding the macaroni, cooking it, and draining it is going to take at least 15. I am not a mac & cheese fan, much less an instant mac & cheese fan, but it's not at all surprising to me that convenience foods exist. And for what it's worth, it's much more popular in Canada than the US.

hervature 6y ago
Where we call it KD after the biggest producer of it, Kraft Dinner.
- caymanjim 6y ago
  In the US, the same product is labeled "Kraft Macaroni & Cheese", and in the US everyone calls it "macaroni & cheese" or "mac & cheese". It's the identical product as Kraft Dinner. I wish that branding caught on in the US, because it's so much easier to say "KD".
hcho 6y ago
We have kettles and water boils in about 2 mins.
hahamrfunnyguy 6y ago
Easy. You set the water to boil on the stove. While that's going you start the roux, which is just butter and flour. That takes about two minutes to cook, then you can add your milk and salt and turn down the heat. Add your pasta to the water. Now add your cheese to the sauce. I know how much I need so I just cut off a hunk and crumble it up into pieces into the pot. Once the cheese has melted, your pasta should be done so drain it and stir it into the pot with the cheese. You are done, enjoy your mac and cheese. The box stuff is easier because it's less steps, but doesn't take any less time to prepare.
- mikepurvis 6y ago
  Yup. I grew up on Kraft Dinner, but this is what I make for my kids now. It’s an easy, fast, cheap pantry meal, up there with curry lentils on rice and spinach quiche.
- thrower123 6y ago
  I've still never figured out why people bother making a roux, unless it's because they like that mediocre flavor. Just using the same Kraft Dinner technique, except using real cheese cubed instead of the orange powder, is the best tasting and easiest method.
  - gen220 6y ago
    I think it might depend on the cheese you’re using! In my experience the roux makes a big difference. We use a blend of Gruyere, Fontina and Cheddar (in 1-2-2 proportion). The hard, soft, and middling textures mix best when they’re gently cooked together in our experience. In the states most recipes will have you finish in a casserole dish with bread crumbs, but we find it actually tastes better if you skip that step, for whatever reason. If anybody has suggestions on other cheeses to add/substitute in this mix I’m all ears!
- megameter 6y ago
  The way my mom did it(and how I cooked it last night) does not even use a real roux: after dumping the pasta water, stir in chopped butter and then shredded cheese directly. The pasta's hot so everything melts in moments. This makes a non-creamy mac, but it's equally edible in my estimate.
cptskippy 6y ago
> I am not sure how you make macaroni and cheese that it only takes 20 minutes. Just getting the water boiling, adding the macaroni, cooking it, and draining it is going to take at least 15. While the noodles are draining you take some of the noodle water, some milk, and some cheese and mix it together in the still warm pot over the lowest heat setting on your stove top? But seriously what were you doing those 15 minutes? You could have your cheese sauce ready to go and put the noodles almost directly into it. I think to answer the op's question, the reason boxed mac & cheese is so popular is two part. American's don't have the time or energy to prepare a meal, and they don't know how to. Making a single dish is easy, making multiple dishes for a meal is tricky when you're not familiar with the kitchen. Americans don't cook anymore.
- gnicholas 6y ago
  > American's don't have the time or energy to prepare a meal, and they don't know how to. As someone who occasionally ate mac 'n cheese and top ramen in college, I think it partly comes down to what tools and ingredients are available to you. I did not have access to a stove/pots/pans/colander. I had access to a shared microwave that was in the lounge in my dorm. So making my own mac 'n cheese was not possible (never mind the fact that we didn't have ready access to ingredients, and that cheese would go bad or be stolen from the fridge). As an adult, I enjoy making mac 'n cheese for my kids, using a yogurt-based recipe and incorporating riced cauliflower to make it somewhat less unhealthy. But college-student-me didn't have access to the ingredients/tools to make that possible.
  - Symbiote 6y ago
    At university in London, we had a good kitchen with two stoves, two ovens, a lockable part of a huge fridge each, a lockable cupboard each, and a cleaner every day. (She would not clean up dirty dishes, but would do normal cleaning.) I had a colander and a grater, which people probably borrowed. We bought a couple of utensils throughout the year, like a large roasting tin for Christmas Dinner. I bought scales for baking. The university gave international students a pan and other basic stuff. There was a fancy supermarket nearby (though they had the cheapest spirits), a normal one about 15 minutes walk away, and a cheaper one 10 minutes beyond that. I usually went to the normal one. Cooking together was great. Sharing that kitchen were people from England, Wales, Hong Kong, Jamaica, China, Italy. Friends who came by added Japan, Germany, France, Thailand. The Welsh guy and his boyfriend were most organised, and about once a month got everyone who wanted to to help cook (or at least clean) for ~10-15. Normally, ~4 of us cooked in alternating pairs for the other 2. Macaroni cheese would have been a bit disappointing for the lack of vegetables. If I only had a few minutes and was eating myself, I'd prefer to use those 2 minute ramen things. All of this seems fairly normal to me. The large group meals were only possible in 1st year with the large kitchen, but everything else continued in later years, renting houses or apartments.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> Just getting the water boiling, adding the macaroni, cooking it, and draining it is going to take at least 15. Really depends on the heat output of your burner (for the get it boiling part); most elbow macaroni is, IIRC, 7-10 minutes cook time, draining takes seconds, and most of the sauce can be done while the noodles are cooking. 20 minutes total is perfectly reasonable. OTOH, where the box saves you is in how busy you are, since it doesn't take multitasking, and cleanup, since it's one-pot, while sauce and noodles in parallel takes two.
GordonS 6y ago
Ach! I forgot you don't have electric kettles in the US because of some crappy power supply issues! When making any kind of pasta, I boil the water in a kettle first, then pour it into a pan on the hob (aka stove) - so pasta starts cooking in 3m or so. Anyway, without a kettle I guess it's still doable around the 20m mark, as long as you have a gas or induction hob, and while the pasta is cooking you grate the cheese and make the sauce. And on the sauce, I make a roux, add full-fat milk, add the cheese and season - easy. If you want to get fancy, chopped onions and chunks of pre-cooked (or tinned) ham mixes things up.
- cbm-vic-20 6y ago
  Electric kettles aren't that rare here in the states...
  - SECProto 6y ago
    Electric kettles are much less powerful on a 120v circuit (US household) than a 240v circuit (ie uk). A quick look at an online retail shop confirms british kettles are rated at 3000W, while american ones are 1500W. I actually have a bit of a hack when I'm in a major rush - I'll put half the water I need in the electric kettle, and half on the stovetop.
    - wavefunction 6y ago
      My 120v kettle is definitely faster than itself plus some stove-top boiled water, strangely enough.
    - drewzero1 6y ago
      Yeah, the maximum rated output for a standard US electrical outlet is 1500W. Alec Watson of the YouTube channel Technology Connections[1] did an interesting video a while back about the fact that basically all plug-in electric heaters sold in the US output 1500W. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jmSjy2ArM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jmSjy2ArM
- zwily 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

astura 6y ago

Making mac and cheese from scratch is not at all difficult, and a lot of grocery stores even sell discount cheese ends intended to be used in mac and cheese. (I use them for other stuff more often though) However, nothing beats the incredibly addictive, comforting taste of boxed mac and cheese - yes I crave that artificial taste, it's incredible. Plus you can make it with ingredients most people have on hand literally 24/7 - only butter and milk, you don't have to plan ahead and I only need to dirty a single pan. Plus it's CHEAP, like, really, really cheap. Beyond that, boxed mac and cheese is more popular in Canada (where they call it "KD" - short for "Kraft Dinner") than the US - it's not exactly "har, har, americans dumb."

Symbiote 6y ago
I've never looked at the "Mac & Cheese" (though I think I've seen in a shop for American expats). I assumed you just poured water over it, or something. Are you saying you still need butter and milk to make it? In which case, the real thing only requires having cheese (which keeps a fairly long time), flour and pasta (both keep indefinitely) in addition.
- astura 6y ago
  I am very well aware, I've made the "real thing" at least 100 times. I very rarely have enough cheese in my house for mac and cheese, especially the right kind of cheese. If I want to make it from scratch I have to plan ahead. However, I always, always, always have butter and (oat) milk in the house though, 24/7, so boxed mac and cheese is always an option. I still strongly prefer the taste of boxed, it's simply amazing in an indescribable way.

matthiaswh 6y ago

I tease my wife every time she is making Annie's that it's literally simpler to make my own Mac and cheese recipe, which she absolutely loves. Boil the noodles in milk, add seasoning, stir in cheese. Still, we always have Annie's on hand. Shrug.

sergers 6y ago
Annie's isn't even that much healthier. Made it for my wife, she prefers KD. We been dabbling from scratch, much better results

salamandersauce 6y ago

In my mind it's in it's own category. Yes, homemade mac and cheese is "better" but it's also very different. I don't really consider it the same thing just as I don't really compare fancy swiss dark chocolate and a Dairy Milk bar. Sometimes you want one over the other.

canadianfella 6y ago

British people have no right to criticize another country’s food.