The Right Way To Add Beer To Your Mac And Cheese

Beer. Noodles. Cheese. They're three ingredients that taste awfully good by themselves, but you wanna know what? They taste even better when they're mixed together in a big bowl of beer mac and cheese. It's a tangy and sharp dish with a creamy texture and a sometimes hoppy flavor. Other times, it's malty and sweet. It all depends on the beer and the cheese you use to make the dish. It's the ultimate macaroni and cheese recipe made even better. 

If you've never tried making beer mac and cheese, don't worry. It's easy. Rich Higgins, master cicerone, certified sommelier, and former brewmaster, offered some pro tips to Chowhound, explaining exactly how he likes to make the dish. "For adding beer to mac and cheese, I make a beer-based mornay sauce, which sounds way fancier than it is," he said. Start by making a basic roux and add in your beer of choice followed by grated cheese. "If you want it extra creamy, then add equal parts milk and beer," leaving you with what is essentially a cheesy "beer gravy," Higgins said. Naturally, the exact taste of your cheesy beer gravy depends on the type of cheese and beer you use. For a recipe that's totally oriented toward Irish cuisine, for example, try Guinness beer. Or use a craft beer to localize the flavor.

Cheeses, like cheddar, gouda, Gruyère, and pepper jack infuse the pasta dish with flavors that are tangy, smoky, nutty, and spicy, respectively. Soft cheeses like gorgonzola or cream cheese make your pasta even creamier. Higgins also suggests using "a cheese like Chimay that's from a monastery that also brews beer" for extra tastiness.

Ingredients like butter, milk or cream, and seasonings like garlic or onion powder, plus salt and pepper, will take the flavor of your mac and cheese to new heights. For more complex flavors still, some home gourmands also add in the likes of Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and maybe a bit of mayo. Paprika or cayenne pepper make for a flavorful and spicy garnish on top of your dish.

As for Rich Higgins, he has his favorite way of making beer mac and cheese even hoppier. "You can bring your mac up to Beer Level 11," he said. And what do you need to do to accomplish that? Just "boil your pasta in beer rather than water," he advises.

Finally, you can take a culinary hint from the folks in Kentucky who first created beer cheese and used it as a dip. Add pretzels. Crumble up the pretzels of your choice and sprinkle the crumbs on top of the beer mac and cheese before you bake it. A little Parmesan or Romano on top jacks up the flavor even more. Of course, it would be sacrilege if you didn't wash everything down with your favorite craft brew to make this a beer-y tasty meal from first tap to last sip.