Now you might have a happy memory of enjoying mac and cheese as a kid, but have you ever given the thought to how did it come into being? I mean, who was the mastermind behind this amazing dish? Well, if you don’t know, let me tell you a little bit about this amazing dish. That is because of its ease of preparing, its rich and creamy texture, and its cheesy flavor. Macaroni and cheese are undoubtedly the most popular and loved comfort food of all time. It is deliciously served with Cauliflower Nuggets and Vegan Coleslaw. Plus, in this article, we have talked about everything there is to talk about when it comes to vegan macaroni and cheese. It is the best thing that has ever happened to you. This vegan macaroni and cheese recipe is so creamy and flavorful. Even when you feel untimely hunger pangs, mac and cheese can come for your rescue!Īre you looking for a vegan mac and cheese recipe? Look no further this is by far the best vegan mac and cheese recipe it is so reminiscent of my mom’s mac and cheese recipe. It is super easy to make, and thus you can enjoy it literally any time of the day. When you don’t have anything else to make, simple mac and cheese are all you need. You can serve it as a side dish or enjoy it as a main course. Note: I am told that Bojangles, Roy Rogers, Wawa, and a few smaller, regional chains also serve mac and cheese.A simple mac and cheese is everything! I mean, who doesn’t love mac and cheese? It is creamy, cheesy, and very wholesome.
Sure, one could argue that Noodles & Company - with its stripped-down version of table service and bussing - is a touch too polished to be ranked in the same list as KFC and Popeyes, but to that I say: who cares, it’s good.
The pro move here is to try the classic, unadorned variety before advancing to barbecue pork mac, complete with crispy jalapeños. This version has good flavor, the right cheese-to-noodle ratio, and has achieved a superior level of texture through the final sprinkling of unmelted shredded cheese on top.
You should not be surprised to learn that a purveyor of noodle dishes knows how to put out a bowl of mac and cheese. In my teenage years, when Panera was the ultimate after-school hangout for high schoolers with sophistication, it was not uncommon to see teens ordering mac and cheese in a bread bowl, as few but 16-year-old metabolisms can handle.
Made with white cheddar, for a change of pace, Panera Bread’s mac and cheese is intensely rich and creamy, almost to the point of excess. The big distinguishing factor here is the rotini noodles, which trap the cheese sauce in between their spirals, resulting in a satisfying - possibly perverse - squish with every bite. The rotisserie chain’s bright orange mac and cheese tastes pretty similar to Kraft’s classic box version. I find that it often needs more seasoning when the sauce is too watery and thus blander.
The noodles trend towards mushy, and the cheese can sometimes be grainy.Ī favorite of Anthony Bourdain’s, this mac and cheese is about on par with KFC’s, only creamier. May I present a ranking:Ī perfectly okay, albeit basic, example of a fast-food mac and cheese. Having grown up in the suburbs and eaten all of those mac and cheeses at one point or another in my life, I feel uniquely qualified to judge those national, chain-ified offerings.
And then there are the fast-casual chains - Panera Bread, Noodles & Company - that dress up the dish with nicer cheeses and real dine-in silverware, striving for a bougier image even while serving the comfort food of our childhoods. Others, like Boston Market, lean into Thanksgiving or family meal traditions by offering mac and cheese with mashed potatoes, rotisserie chicken, sweet corn, and cornbread. Some of those chains, like KFC and Popeyes, are oriented around southern-style fried chicken, so giving another nod to soul food with a side of mac and cheese makes sense for brand identity. Whether that’s purely a product of nostalgia for Kraft stove-top varieties, or because highly processed foods are engineered to be more addictive, it feels like a missed opportunity that more chains aren’t, like Chick-fil-A as of today, serving mac and cheese alongside their fries and nuggets.īut even before Chick-fil-A jumped on the cheese-slathered macaroni train, a few enterprising fast-food and fast-casual brands had already pioneered the art of the quick-serve mac (for many chains, the secret is that it’s probably pre-made, either kept frozen or stored in warm batches). Macaroni and cheese, a generally perfect combination, is one of those rare foods whose processed versions, orange cheese and all, often just taste better than its artisanal iterations.