How To Thicken Macaroni And Cheese? - 5 Easy Ways

It’s impossible to talk about comfort food without mentioning mac and cheese. It is a fairly straightforward dish that is as simple as it is delicious.

It’s fairly easy to make with a handful of basic ingredients and is usually ready in a matter of minutes. However, whether you’re making homemade or boxed mac and cheese, it’s important to measure the ingredients or you may end up with a runny cheese sauce.

When this happens, the first thing you can do is go back to the recipe to see if you missed anything or added too little or too much of something.

Small mistakes can be easily fixed and you can adjust the ingredients accordingly. But what if it doesn’t work?

How do you thicken macaroni and cheese?

There are 5 easy ways to thicken a runny cheese sauce: you can use cornstarch as a thickening agent, use a little egg yolk, add more cheese, make a little more béchamel sauce, or simmer until excess water evaporates .

You can try whichever option you find most appealing and you are sure to thicken the cheese sauce to the desired consistency and flavor.

Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to thicken cheese sauce to better understand the situation when you need to fix your mac and cheese ASAP:

How to thicken cheese sauce

Don’t worry if your cheese sauce ends up a little runnier than you wanted. Everyone makes mistakes, even with something as simple as macaroni and cheese. The good news is that it can be easily fixed.

Depending on what you have in your pantry and what seems most doable to you, here are 5 ways to thicken macaroni and cheese sauce.

1. Use a starch thickener

Thickeners, like cornstarch and flour, are pantry staples and are often found in any kitchen. Using them to thicken sauces is a very common method for a wide variety of dishes.

You can use either one depending on your preferences and what you have on hand. The process is quite easy and will give you the desired results within a few minutes.

How to thicken cheese sauce with cornstarch or flour

1. Mix 1 to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch or flour with about a half cup of cold water.
2. Shake it well to make sure there are no lumps.
3. Slowly mix it into the cheese sauce, one teaspoon at a time.
4. Do not rush into the process and do not add the mixture at once.
5. Allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes so that there is not an excess of starchy flavor in the macaroni and cheese.
6. Check the thickness of the sauce to see if it is the desired consistency. If you think it’s still a bit runny, you can try adding more cornstarch or flour.

2. Use the egg yolk

If you don’t have cornstarch or flour in your kitchen, you can use the next best alternative to thicken your cheese sauce: egg yolk.

Egg yolk is a great thickening agent and is preferred by some cooks to thicken their sauces. The method is quite easy and very similar to using cornstarch or flour.

How to thicken egg yolk cheese sauce

1. 1. Beat one egg yolk well in a separate bowl.
   2. Slowly add the cheese sauce to the egg mixture until you have about 1 cup of the liquid to work with.

1. Next, gently whisk the egg yolk into the rest of the cheese sauce in a saucepan over low heat.
2. Stir frequently until the cheese sauce thickens to the desired consistency.

Note : You probably won’t need to add a whole egg yolk to the cheese sauce. Sometimes a little will suffice and the sauce will thicken easily. Don’t add too much and use your best judgment to decide how much is enough.

3. Cook over low heat

A basic technique that doesn’t require any additional ingredients, simmering cheese sauce is a great way to thicken it and remove any excess moisture.

Often the primary and most preferred method, simmering a liquid should be the first thing you try when working with a liquid sauce.

How to thicken cheese sauce by simmering it

1. Put the cheese sauce in a saucepan and put it on the fire.
2. Adjust the heat and bring it to a simmer.
3. Stir the cheese sauce regularly so that excess water evaporates.
4. Be sure to keep an eye on the sauce as it simmers to prevent it from burning.
5. Turn off the heat when it reaches the desired consistency.

Note : Do not let it boil over high heat, as it can cause the dairy to separate and ruin the texture of the sauce.

4. Add more cheese

There is no such thing as excess cheese. Adding more cheese is a 3-in-1 solution to making your cheese sauce not only thicker, but creamier and cheesier as well.

You can use grated or diced cheese for this method, as both are excellent thickening agents.

How to thicken cheese sauce by adding more cheese

1. Pour the cheese sauce into a saucepan and place on the stove over low heat.
2. Add the grated or diced cheese to the sauce while stirring constantly to blend the ingredients.
3. Turn off the heat when all the cheese has been incorporated into the sauce and thickened to your needs.

Note : If you go overboard with the cheese and add too much, which is very likely if you are a cheese lover like us, you could end up with a sauce that is too thick. You can solve this problem by adding a tablespoon of milk to the sauce to thin it out a bit.

5. Add a new bechamel sauce

All cheese sauces start out as a béchamel sauce that is made from milk thickened with flour, butter, and a few other ingredients.

For this method, you need to go back to basics and make a new béchamel sauce to add to the runny cheese sauce. It is one of the best methods you can go for without altering the taste of the cheese sauce.

How to thicken cheese sauce by adding a new béchamel

1. Make a new béchamel sauce in a separate pan by combining flour, grated nutmeg, bay leaf, butter, onion, and milk.
2. Cook over low heat until it starts to boil.
3. Turn off the heat and let it rest covered for 15 minutes.
4. Strain the mixture to remove excess onion and bay leaf to achieve a smooth consistency.
5. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
6. Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute.
7. Keep stirring to form a roux and gradually add the strained milk mixture.
8. Stir well with a whisk until everything is well combined.
9. Once ready, add it to the liquid cheese sauce, making sure to simmer it until both sauces have been well incorporated into each other.
10. Check the desired consistency and be careful not to burn the cheese sauce.

Related questions

Now that we’ve covered everything there is to know about how to thicken cheese sauce for the perfect mac and cheese, here are some additional questions we thought you might have:

How do you fix a thick cheese sauce?

A thick, lumpy cheese sauce is just as much of a problem as a runny sauce. You can end up with thick mac and cheese for a number of reasons, adding too much cheese or flour being two of the most common.

Luckily, there are easy ways to fix thick mac and cheese, even using basic, readily available ingredients.

In order for the sauce to recover its perfect consistency, you have to add some liquid in the form of water, milk or cream. Be sure to add just a little or you could end up with a bland cheese sauce with diluted flavors.

Another great but not-so-used trick is to add broth. You can try chicken, beef or vegetable broth, depending on your taste, which will not only help soften the texture, but will add great flavor to the sauce without diluting its taste.

How do you fix bland cheese sauce?

If for some reason your cheese sauce becomes bland, you can start by adding a little salt. If that doesn’t work, you can try adding black pepper, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, mustard powder, or some Italian seasoning.