{"id":4956,"date":"2026-05-15T09:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/?p=4956"},"modified":"2026-05-15T09:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:49:18","slug":"government-cheese-mac-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/15\/government-cheese-mac-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Cheese Mac &#038; Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Government Cheese Mac &amp; Cheese<\/h2>\n<p>A nostalgic, ultra-creamy mac made the old-school way\u2014rich cheese sauce, tender elbows, and that cozy baked (or stovetop) finish that tastes like childhood.<\/p>\n<h3>Ingredients<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>2 cups elbow macaroni<\/li>\n<li>4 tbsp butter<\/li>\n<li>4 tbsp all-purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>3 cups milk (warm)<\/li>\n<li>3 cups \u201cgovernment cheese\u201d (or sharp cheddar), shredded<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd tsp salt<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd tsp black pepper<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd tsp paprika (optional)<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd tsp mustard powder (optional, boosts cheese flavor)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Instructions<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Boil the pasta<\/strong><br \/>\nCook macaroni in well-salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make the roux<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook 1\u20132 minutes until lightly golden (don\u2019t brown).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Build the sauce<\/strong><br \/>\nSlowly whisk in warm milk. Keep whisking until smooth and thickened (about 3\u20135 minutes).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Melt the cheese<\/strong><br \/>\nLower heat. Stir in shredded cheese, salt, pepper, paprika, and mustard powder. Mix until silky smooth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Combine<\/strong><br \/>\nFold in the drained macaroni until fully coated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Finish your way<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Stovetop (extra creamy):<\/strong> Serve immediately.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Baked (classic crust):<\/strong> Transfer to a buttered dish, bake at 180 \u00b0C (350 \u00b0F) for 15\u201320 minutes until bubbly and lightly golden on top.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Tips for the Best Texture<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Warm the milk before adding to avoid lumps.<\/li>\n<li>Grate cheese from a block for smoother melting.<\/li>\n<li>Add a splash of milk before serving leftovers to bring back the creaminess.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Tasty Add-Ins (Optional)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Crispy beef bacon or turkey bacon bits<\/li>\n<li>A pinch of cayenne for heat<\/li>\n<li>Breadcrumbs + a little melted butter for a crunchy topping<\/li>\n<li>Diced jalape\u00f1os for a kick<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Comforting, simple, and deeply satisfying\u2014this is mac &amp; cheese the way many remember it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government Cheese Mac &amp; Cheese A nostalgic, ultra-creamy mac made the old-school way\u2014rich cheese sauce, tender elbows, and that cozy&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recipe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4958,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4956\/revisions\/4958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}