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Quickest Macaroni and Cheese Sauce

A homemade macaroni and cheese sauce recipe that’s ready in 5 minutes. It’s super cheesy and delicious!

I like macaroni and cheese in all its forms. From a box (which we call Kraft Dinner, or KD, in Canada even if it’s not Kraft brand) or homemade. It’s hard to beat cheese and carbs.

I tend to make homemade macaroni and cheese more often than the packaged variety. I typically make a traditional béchamel-based cheese sauce. However, what I love about the packaged kind is that it all comes together so quickly. I decided to try to make a quicker homemade macaroni and cheese sauce. It took a bit of tweaking and testing but I finally got it down. This sauce tastes deliciously creamy and very very cheesy and is ready in 5 minutes. Wow, right?

Ingredients For Quick Cheese Sauce

There are only 4 required ingredients for this sauce recipe! You need shredded Cheddar cheese, flour, salt, and milk. You could add some extra seasoning in there if you want, like I do with my stovetop version of easy homemade Cheese Sauce. That one includes mustard and cayenne for some extra flavor. 

But this quickest mac and cheese sauce recipe? We’re not even using the stove and we’re getting it done in about 5 minutes. Perfect for those crazy busy nights when you need comfort food quick.

Really Fast Homemade Macaroni And Cheese

Boil the pasta, 1 pound of macaroni elbows is perfect. While they cook, measure 3 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese into a blender. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of salt. Put the lid on the blender and give it a shake or two to disperse the flour.

Add 2 cups of cold milk and pulse until well blended. The cheese will be grainy in there, not fully incorporated or anything. Don’t worry. That’ll get fixed soon enough.

Transfer mixture to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time, until it’s very thick and hot, 3-4 minutes. The cheese might not be totally incorporated at this point. Stir more to melt the cheese and make it smooth. Add any additional seasonings such as pepper or paprika and mix in.

Drain the noodles when they’re cooked. Add the cheese sauce to the cooked pasta and stir. That’s it! Your easiest homemade mac and cheese is ready to enjoy.

More Cheesy Recipes

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Quickest Macaroni and Cheese Sauce Recipe

  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 1 minute
  • Cook Time: 4 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 68 servings 1x
  • Category: Sauce
  • Method: Microwave
  • Cuisine: American

DESCRIPTION

A homemade macaroni and cheese sauce recipe that’s ready in 5 minutes. It’s super cheesy and delicious!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 cups cold milk

Instructions

  1. Measure cheddar into blender. Sprinkle with flour and salt.
  2. Put lid on blender and shake to disperse flour.
  3. Add milk and pulse until well blended. The cheese will be grainy.
  4. Transfer to microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time, until very thick and hot, 3-4 minutes.
  5. Stir well to make it smooth.

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Notes

This makes enough sauce to coat 1 pound of uncooked elbow macaroni pasta. Cook according to package directions and then drain before mixing with the hot cheese sauce.

This post originally appeared in September 2017 and was revised and republished in January 2024.