Make this macaroni and cheese up ahead of time and finish it on the campfire. Easy, creamy, and oh so cheesey! Perfect campfire food!
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Try my Campfire Orange Cinnamon Rolls. Premade Cinnamon rolls cooked up in orange peels on the fire. Easy, fun, and delicious!
Are you a camping person? I’m not. Not really. But if you live in Minnesota and are from the Midwest it’s a bit of a prerequisite to be an outdoorsy kind of person.
Don’t get me wrong, I can do the camp thing as good as the next person. When I camp, however, it’s with my Chemex, and down blanket, and real food. Like this campfire macaroni and cheese. This campfire macaroni and cheese is one of the recipes I make every. single. time we go camping. Every time. It’s a family favorite.
It’s easy to prep this macaroni and cheese recipe ahead of the camping trip and, because it’s cooked on the campfire, it will still have all the great flavor and fun of a true campfire meal. Without having to be a hotdog.
During the summer months, I always keep a stock of the disposable aluminum pans because they are brilliant for campfire cooking! For campfire macaroni and cheese I will sometimes make one big ol’ batch OR sometimes make mini ones that are personalized for each person. It completely depends on my mood and stock of pans.
Smaller pans take a shorter amount of time to cook and can be fun for family members to personalize. Use a Sharpie to write their names on!
Combine your cooled, cooked macaroni with the cheeses, cream, and butter. Top with a whole lot of parmesan cheese love and then…
Butter crackers make macaroni and cheese better! Especially after they get toasty and golden from sitting on the fire.
Kids love using potato chips as the crumble on their macaroni and cheese. Let them use a strange flavor like Dill Pickle or Barbecue for added fun!
Let me tell you about the best part of making campfire macaroni and cheese. Okay, let’s skip the telling and get right to the showing…
Campfire macaroni and cheese can be a pre-made meal perfect for camping meals! You can close that pan up and pop it into the fridge until it’s time – acouple of days is fine. Pack it up, and take it with you. Then put it on your campfire to get melty and delicious. Campfire food is the best. Everything tastes better after being made outside.
Don’t cook this on a super hot flaming fire or you will have burned macaroni. yuck!
Put it on the fire when the flames just died down and you have good coals. For about 15 minutes.
The goal is simply to make it hot and melty. Everything is already cooked.
Score! Campfire recipes that aren’t from a tube or comes in a tube! That’s my kind of campfire meal.
Go ahead and experiment with different kinds of cheeses, pasta, toppings, and fresh herbs. This recipe is wonderfully adaptable to your family’s favorite type of mac & cheese.
A creamy, cheesy macaroni and cheese that is easily started and home and finished on the campfire. Perfect for easy campfire cooking!
Ingredients
7ozpkg elbow macaroni
1cupgrated sharp cheddar cheese
1cupgrated Parmesan cheese
1/2cupgoudaor similar soft cheese
1/3cupcream
3Tablespoonscold buttercubed
Salt and pepperto taste
Check out our Kitchen Reference Guide for help with unfamiliar terms.
Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Let cool.
Stir your cream into your pasta.
Add the cheese and butter cubes.
Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Spray your foil pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour your prepared pasta into the pans (or single large pan, if using)
Cover with aluminum foil (sprayed with cooking spray) or another foil pan (also sprayed) and seal well.
Store in the fridge or cooler until ready to cook.
Cook above hot coals (about 3 inches above) for 10-12 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Video
Notes
I bake these in the oven, sometimes, at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes depending on the size of the pan. If your macaroni and cheese isn’t a bit on the wet side it won’t store well. Be sure that it has plenty of wetness to help it stay moist and non-clumpy.
NOTE: There have been several questions about mixing the cream, butter, and cheese into the warm noodles and THEN cooling. Go ahead. That should make the time it takes on the fire shorter.
I usually don’t do that because I have found my family likes to mix up their own personalized versions of these. So setting up the pasta, cheese, and cream for them to mix while cold is the easiest way to personalize these.
Save this recipe to your Pinterest board for later…
A few other recipes I use when camping are…
Easy Lemon Poppyseed Scones (make these up ahead and breakfast is done!)
3 Ingredient Cookies (I have the kids whip up a batch of these and throw them in a zip lock)
Grilled Grilled Cheese (I know, it seems too easy!)
2 Ingredient French Toast (This is so easy to whip up and then cook on a cast iron skillet. So good!)
Do you have any easy camping recipes you can share and use repeatedly? Share the love and either leave link or recipe in the comments below. Thank you!
Finally, using a plain yogurt is one of the best options for replacing milk in kraft mac and cheese! A plain whole milk yogurt or a greek yogurt would work well. Mix it in the same way you'd mix in sour cream, until it is well incorporated. This may have a slightly tangier flavor, but that is a personal preference.
Add more milk if you haven't already. More milk leads to less dry mac and cheese. If that doesn't work and you've already tried, use a different type of cheese. Velveeta works well.
For a mac and cheese recipe, consider the combination of sharper cheddar cheeses and a flavorful Parmesan. This cheese adds a boost of fruity, nutty notes to your favorite macaroni recipes. Parmesan is also ideal for grating on top of mac and cheese before you bake it to add golden color.
Gruyere is a classic addition because it melts much like Cheddar, but has a lovely nutty flavor. Other classics include Gouda, Muenster, Parmesan, fontina, Havarti and Monterey Jack. Brie works well too, just make sure you remove the rind before mixing it in.
It will be richer and creamier. It's actually a very good substitute for regular milk. I've often used evaporated milk in mac&cheese which makes it better than milk. Both heavy cream and evaporated milk are much better in mashed potatoes, too!
Note 1: Milk: The evaporated milk lends a really nice flavor and creaminess, it's the "secret" to this mac and cheese! It also thickens faster since it's not straight from the fridge and cold. If you'd prefer to not use evaporated milk, whole milk or 2% works (whole is best).
In fact, you can substitute sour cream for milk almost anytime the recipe calls for less than a cup of milk. One of the most common ingredients to use milk with is potatoes. Spuds love dairy, so if a recipe calls for milk, sour cream almost always works in its place.
Gordon Ramsay's mac and cheese is a simplified recipe. Just boil pasta in milk and then, add butter, cheese, salt, and pepper to it. Merge all the elements and Gordon Ramsay's mac and cheese will be ready in no time.
It actually works very well! This is the best substitute because the cream cheese serves as a binder and thickening agent, the sour cream lightens the mixture and adds tanginess, and the pasta water (you could also use chicken broth) thins it out into a creamy consistency while adding binding power.
Sour cream is the perfect ingredient to substitute for milk when making mac and cheese, giving it a rich and creamy flavor without sacrificing texture. It's easy to add in, and you can adjust it to your liking — add extra sour cream for more creaminess, and counter with extra cheese for more cheesiness.
You can add extra cheese and breadcrumbs and finish the thing in the oven for something you might actually bring to a potluck, but even a quick saute or spin in the toaster oven, of panko bread crumbs and olive oil tips boxed mac and cheese into a meal worth actually setting the table for.
Skip the draining step, and add more milk as the noodles cook, if needed. Once al dente, stir in an extra 1 cup of shredded cheese and voila: less powdered cheese flavor, more homemade vibes and a hint of cheesy goodness infused right into the macaroni itself.
Ree loves to boost the flavor of her homemade macaroni and cheese with dried mustard, cayenne pepper, paprika, and thyme, and you can do the same with boxed mac and cheese. Just add one or more of the spices to the pot along with the powdered cheese, milk, and butter, whisking to combine.
To take your frozen mac and cheese up a notch, you can add some delicious toppings. Consider sprinkling breadcrumbs, grated cheese, or even crumbled bacon on top. These additional toppings will not only enhance the flavor but also add a delightful texture to your baked mac and cheese.
Introduction: My name is Van Hayes, I am a thankful, friendly, smiling, calm, powerful, fine, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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