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What do you drink with Mac and Cheese?
I’m wondering what people choose to drink with a Mac and cheese meal? This has long been a conundrum for me. Probably for 20 years I have finished making the mac only to stop for a minute and think “should I have milk? Water? Soda/pop? Something else?”
Seriously, I have this question almost every time. Doesn’t matter if it’s homemade mac or kraft box. For the last 8 years it hasn’t really come up because I just didn’t buy mac and cheese (box “dinner”), but now I have a kid coming into the age where they want it occasionally so it’s back on the menu.
Am I being weird about this?
Are there other foods that people have a hard time pairing with a drink?
Well you've already got dairy with the cheese so you don't need the milk and you've got a lot of calories so you don't need a sugary fruit drink. If water is too boring for the kids maybe try a quality diet root beer?
As someone born and raised in Wisconsin, I can assure you this is factually incorrect. :)
For starters, the "cheese" in most box-made Mac and Cheese is hardly worthy of the name. But even then, the actual quantity of dairy provided by the cheese is usually pretty minimal and certainly nowhere near an actual serving of dairy.
But, mostly, I feel like a good 2% milk (and yes, 2%, not 1% and—*shudder*—especially not skim) is the best complement to the mouth feel of a good Mac and Cheese. While other drinks will just wash away that savory cheesey feel, milk further accentuates it without erasing it. (For children 12 and under, chocolate milk is an acceptable substitute.)
I'm over 12 years old and I do protest! Chocolate milk is perfectly acceptable for any occasion.
Haha, I thought I might get called out on that comment by milk lovers. True, there isn't much cheese in the box stuff but I guess if you're already adding half a stick of butter then a glass of 2% isn't that much more. And as a full grown man-child I'll also accept chocolate milk as a viable alternative.
In my opinion, it doesn't really need to have a beverage. Not all meals do. But if you want a beverage, I would go for red wine. To be honest, I think wine can go with basically any meal, so it isn't a very inspired answer. But I still think it's a good answer. To clarify, this is for a homemade Mac and cheese. High quality pasta, roux based sauce, strong cheeses, and some sort of greens (my favorite is snap peas).
Agree with wine, but I would go with a punchy white instead of red.
What do you mean by "punchy"? Like a heavy oaked Chardonnay?
Personally I prefer red wine to white wine almost all the time. Unfortunately that has meant that I haven't explored what white wines have to offer as much as I would like. I would definitely be interested in a white to try next time I make Mac and cheese.
I’m not a big chardonnay fan actually! By punchy I mean acidic/tart. Mac and cheese is a very fatty dish, obviously, so something which can cut through that is ideal. I also want something a little more fruit-forward, since cheese and fruit is a classic pairing.
Putting it together, my preferred wine with mac and cheese is something like a riesling. It’s a very tart wine and they often have notes of apple.
Thanks! I am going to try a riesling next time I make Mac and cheese. Riesling and Gewurztraminer are probably the biggest deficiencies of my wine understanding. In my defense, I don't think those varietals make it into the California wine industry very often.
Also I agree with you about chardonnay. I have had some interesting chablis recently, but I still don't care for the varietal as a whole. Buttery, Rombauer style chardonnay is probably my least favorite wine style.
Reporting in from Riesling and Gewürztraminer country... there's a seasonal winery event here for mac and cheese recipe competition with wine pairing.
Mac and cheese pairing depends on the cheese, other seasonings, and any vegetable/meat/poultry/fish additions. It's usually cheddar-heavy, but cooking eliminates most of the sharpness. So for basic, you can pair with any moderate-to-high acidity white wine, like a dry to off-dry Riesling, Viognier, or Grüner Veltliner. If you haven't tried unoaked Chardonnay (the French sell it as Chablis), it's a great pairing with mild cheeses and would probably work well with mac and cheese. The acidity helps refresh your palate for each bite of cheesy, greasy goodness.
If you've spiced it up with red pepper or paprika, go with a dry to off-dry (under 1% RS) Gewürz.
Any meat additives (e.g. smoked brisket!) can probably use a lighter-bodied red wine with younger tannin, like Pinot Noir or a Rhone Grenache blend.
Lobster Mac gets Chablis or a very lightly oaked Chardonnay (not a butter-bomb).
A nice dry riesling would certainly do well (or a Gerwruztraminer, like Weldawadayathink said!) I think I might punch up the acidity even more and go for something like a Picpoul. Just alternate back and forth between the rich, mouth coating cheese and the tart, cleansing Picpoul forever.
Alternatively, a Cava would probably pair pretty well and feel very classy.
Water, but if you want to have a soda with some blue box for that 90's "too cool" experience, I won't stop you.
May want to consider a carbonated water to mix things up without drowning yourself in sugar?
As a kid I'd always have milk with it. As an adult I'll sometimes still have milk, but usually just have water to cut down on the calories.
I'd say Dr pepper. Probably not the healthiest but that was my first thought so I'm going with it
If OP is trying to avoid giving their kid sugary soda, Diet Dr Pepper is actually surprisingly good. Ditto for Caffeine Free Diet Dr Pepper too, if they want to also avoid giving their kid caffeine.
Dr Pepper Zero and especially the Dr Pepper Zero & Cream are super good, though I'm pretty sure the latter is phased out now for the Strawberry crap.
Speaking of cream flavored soda, I recently tried an Orange Cream Coke Zero that came as a sample in our HelloFresh box. I was surprised by how much I liked it, especially since I dislike regular Coke Zero... it tasted like a creamsicle float!
Water.
Water is delicious.
if it’s a strong cheese, an IPA. Non-alcoholic, just normal water.
i should note that i didn’t grow up with mac and cheese and if i ever make it from a box, i only use olive oil and no dairy at all.
By no dairy, you mean just no milk? But still use the “cheese” packet?
yup! but i don’t do the glugs of milk or whatever people normally do. i mostly do a white cheddar one, too. i only have it once or twice a year, though.
KD and Juice Box seems like a natural pair. A single serve Sunny D or pouch of Capri-Sun also works if you're a 90's kid.
If you're unconvinced of the virtues of any particular beverage, may I suggest making a spinning wheel of choices? A Box Dinner Sommelier, if you will. "You spun it, you drink it, mister/missy."
Since mac and cheeses is fat heavy I would choose something on the opposite spectrum to cut the fat.
So something like kombucha or a sipping vinegar.
Wine!
I've nearly given up soda pop for health reasons, but I do think cola goes well with mac and cheese. Water or a bland tea like chamomile would work. So would beer.
I'm a frequent partaker of a Kraft Mac and Cheese with Coke lunch/dinner myself.