A pantry-stable base that turns into a creamy, tangy cheese sauce in minutes — made with real shredded cheese instead of the orange powder from a box. Keep the dry base on hand for weeknight mac and cheese on demand.
What You Need
- For the dry base (makes about 1 cup, enough for 4 batches):
- 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (adds savory depth)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (for color and depth)
- Per batch when cooking: 2 tablespoons butter, 1¼ cups milk, 1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar, 8 oz cooked pasta
Method
- Whisk all the dry base ingredients together and store in an airtight jar — this keeps for months in the pantry.
- To make one batch of sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in ¼ cup of the dry base until smooth.
- Slowly whisk in the milk and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens slightly, about 3–4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar until fully melted and smooth.
- Toss with hot cooked pasta and serve immediately.
Tips & Notes
- This base gets you most of the way to a boxed mix without the mystery ingredients, but it still relies on real cheese added at cooking time — a true shelf-stable cheese powder requires a food dehydrator to dry shredded cheese into flakes before grinding, which is a more advanced project.
- Sharp cheddar gives the most "classic" mac and cheese flavor; mix in a little Gruyère or Parmesan for depth.
- Nutritional yeast rounds out the umami and can be increased if you like a bolder cheese flavor.
#mac and cheese#cheese sauce#homemade staples#pantry#dinner
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