The Canned Soup You Should Be Adding To Mac And Cheese

There are all kinds of ways to jazz up your macaroni and cheese since, let's be honest, it usually needs some kind of flavor boost. Our list of chef-recommended upgrades for mac and cheese includes lemon pepper, lobster, mustard, pimentos, and more. One of the easiest ways to add extra flavor, however, is to incorporate it directly into the recipe — which can be easily done with canned cream of mushroom soup.

All you need to do is start with a basic recipe for the dish, although our not-so-basic deluxe three-cheese mac and cheese will also work. Instead of the milk, though, you're going to use the canned soup thinned out with whatever amount of milk is necessary to equal the amount of liquid in the recipe, or use some heavy cream. As soup is thicker and more flavorful than milk, your mac and cheese will be extra rich and tasty, not to mention chock full o'mushrooms. 

Of course, if you want to be an overachiever, you could always forego the canned soup and substitute some homemade mushroom soup. (As you'll note, we've thoughtfully supplied a recipe for this, as well.) Either way, you'll have a deliciously savory pasta dish.

Not into 'shrooms? No problem! Other canned soups can also take the place of all or part of the liquid in a macaroni and cheese recipe, as long as they're of the "cream of something" variety. If they're condensed soups, they'll be the kind you mix with milk instead of water. Perhaps the most obvious addition would be a cheese soup, since you can never have too much cheese in a dish that has cheese right in the name. If you're going with a plain variety, try adding in some bacon bits. If it's nacho cheese soup (or sauce), chopped jalapeños are always appropriate.

Cream of chicken soup would be a great addition to your mac and cheese if you're planning to add leftover rotisserie chicken, since it will enhance the overall chickeny flavor. With cream of shrimp, you can, of course, add shrimp, but canned crab (or krab) would also work well, or even a smidgen of lobster if that's the kind of thing you typically have in the fridge.

One slightly out-of-the-can addition would be cream of tomato. Think about it, though: Tomato soup clearly has an affinity for cheese, as it is often partnered with grilled cheese sandwiches. Macaroni and cheese is yet another cheese and carb combo, so tomato soup's sweet-sour-savory flavor would enhance this dish, as well.