Beer Is A Boozy Mac And Cheese Booster — Here's The Easy Way To Add It In

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We adults still look back fondly to the days of simple mac and cheese, but it's understandable to want to punch it up for dinner nowadays. You may already be aware that beer and cheese pair well together because of how well beer washes down the taste of fatty foods, but is beer a good addition to plain mac and cheese to turn it into a delicious dinner (for adults), or does it only seem like a good idea if you've already had a few beers? We asked Jamie Milne, content creator and author of the cookbook "Everything Delish."

According to Milne, "Adding a splash of beer to mac and cheese is such a great way to deepen the flavor of the sauce." She goes on to explain that the ideal way to add beer is while you're making the sauce, and that you should replace some milk in the cheese sauce recipe rather than just pour in the beer (extra liquid is an easy way to get thin sauce). Milne says that, depending on how much you're making, swapping ¼ cup of milk with beer should get you the flavor we're looking for. As she put it, "After melting the butter and whisking in the flour to make the roux, add a splash of beer and milk, then stir in the cheese. This lets the alcohol cook off while the flavor stays in the sauce."

Keep in mind that, as with any dish which involves cooking booze, some of the alcohol will evaporate but you can't cook away 100% of it, and beer cheese sauces tend to retain plenty of alcohol. If that's a concern, you might consider using a non-alcoholic beer to add these extra flavors. Still, if this is a style of cooking with beer you've never heard of, it's a great way to add a malty, pleasantly bitter complexity to what's otherwise just cheddar, milk, and pasta. According to Milne, beer "doesn't make the dish taste like beer, but it adds that extra layer of flavor that makes the mac and cheese taste even more savory and balanced."

What style of beer works best here? Before you start cooking with beer, it helps to know what flavors you'll be working with. Here, you'll want a beer which won't overpower the creamy taste of the cheese. Milne recommends a lighter style like Labatt Blue or Blue Moon, since they have "a mild malt flavor and light bitterness" which helps them quietly merge into the cheese sauce. A strong IPA could make your mac and cheese overly bitter, while a beer that's too light might be too watery to make a noticeable difference. However, some folks happily use hoppier pale ales while others make darker mac and cheese dishes with stouts like Guinness, so it comes down to preference.