Shameless Quick & Easy Mac & Cheese. By Evie Arnaude

Because there’s nothing more comforting than warm cheese and butter! And a night in during the holiday crush with a tried-and-true comfort food is what we all need now.

Don’t you hate it when you’re looking for a great recipe and it starts with some long, languid story you never wanted to know? Me, too. So, I’ll cut to the chase: Sometimes you need to stuff your face with a shameless mac and cheese. Now, there are ways to make this recipe healthier —mac-free/cheese-free/veggie-overload— mine makes no attempts at being healthy. In fact, it’s an age-old, no-fail recipe where I add even more “shameless” ingredients. Why? Because that’s what real mac and cheese are all about.

The recipe is a classic, right off the Campbell’s condensed cheddar cheese soup can.

There are four main parts to this: Cheesy soup, pasta, and breadcrumbs prepped with tons of butter.

All you’ll need, for the “cheese”:

1 can Campbell’s condensed cheddar cheese soup

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup milk (I use whole fat, but do what you like)

1 cup pasta (I prefer rigatoni, but you do you, friends!)

Prepare the soup as directed. Because Mac & cheese is a personal thing, and some like a thinner cheese, you may want to keep a little bit of extra water handy to add while stirring.

Cook the pasta separately al dente.

In a separate small skillet, melt one stick of butter on low heat. Pour in a half cup of seasoned breadcrumbs and stir it up. Add more butter if you want to, because, well, there’s no going back now.

Combine the pasta and cheese into a 2-quart casserole dish, pour the breadcrumb/butter goodness on top. (Don’t have a casserole dish? Throw it on anything oven-safe and flat! Who are we kidding here?) Go ahead and just sprinkle more breadcrumbs on top like glitter. I’ve seen some people cut butter pats and place them on top, too.

Bake at 350 for 15 – 20 minutes. You want the top to be a little bit crispy and for the mac and cheese to boil and scream “Eat me!”. It’s just shamelessly delicious.

If you love me as much as I love you (and I really do love you!), then please help me grow by forwarding this {love} Letter to a friend! And I'd love to have you join us on instagram, facebook & twitter.

The Crush Letter
The Crush Letter is a weekly newsletter curated by Dish Stanley on everything love & connection - friendship, romance, self-love, sex. If you’d like to take a look at some of our best stories go to Read Us. Want the Dish?