Add Buttermilk To Your Boxed Macaroni And Cheese

When I make macaroni and cheese from the (blue) box, I rarely stray from the instructions. As far as processed foods go, this one is pretty dialled in, and I’m not one to mess with perfection.

But the other night, after two martinis and a shot of Fernet, I remembered I had buttermilk in my fridge, and my inhibitions were lowered just enough to stray from Kraft’s exacting specifications.

The swap is a simple one: Instead of using regular “sweet” milk — which is what my grandmother always called it — use the same amount of buttermilk for a tangier, more flavorful macaroni. However, since buttermilk is lower in fat than it’s uncultured cousin, make sure to use real, full-fat butter.

The combination of the creamy, salty butter and lactic acid-heavy buttermilk makes for a more intriguing, slightly refined bowl of mac, without compromising on the Kraft-iness of it all.