You Don't Know Mac: Recipe: Mac & Cheese "In A Mug"

I recently found a recipe on Pinterest for making single serve Mac & Cheese in a mug in the microwave.

Since I have a massive amount of dry pasta sitting in my cupboard, and hardly any time to make a full bechamel sauce these days, I figured I'd give this microwave option a try. Can't have the blue box all the time...

I had just had a party where I served cheese and wine and crackers and there was a bit of cheese left over, so I figured this might be the perfect opportunity to try the recipe.

Not to mention, I was really excited to not spend a ton of time cooking since I had just spent the entire morning preparing for guests to arrive, and then spent a fair amount of the evening cleaning up afterwards.

First, the recipe calls for 1/3 cup of dry elbow macaroni to be mixed with 1/4 cup of water in a large mug (or in my case, bowl) and then put in the microwave for 6 minutes, stirring at 4, 2, and 1 minute left.

I noticed that I needed to use a lot more water than the recipe called for. My noodles actually started to cook and harden after 2 minutes. I would probably try 1/2 cup water for every 1/3 cup pasta next time. Reminder to self: will need to experiment with ratios...

Then, add 1/3 cup cheese (the recipe calls for shredded Cheddar Jack, but I just used the leftover sharp cheddar cubes I already had).

I placed the noodles and cheese back into the microwave for another 30 seconds. Then, after a simple stir and a splash of milk, it turned out pretty great, other than my noodles that were a little hard, but I'm guessing that's from the moment when they almost cooked without water.

In the future, I would probably want a little bit more in my serving, but it's not too hard to mess with the proportions. Not a bad idea for a lazy night after work when I need a quick bite.