Keep This In Mind For The Smoothest Mac And Cheese Sauce Ever

There is never a wrong time to make mac and cheese. The popular meal of cheesy noodles satisfies picky eaters and major foodies alike, but the simplistic dish can be rather complicated to perfect. One of the mistakes you are probably making with homemade mac and cheese is messing up the consistency of your cheese sauce. It is far too easy to combine all your ingredients and end up with a cheese sauce that is too clumpy, too thin, or far too grainy for anyone's liking. To avoid this, you'll want to turn toward an acidic mixture for some assistance. Home cook and owner of the blog Thee Moody Foody Fabrizio Villapando shared his secret ingredient for a perfect cheese sauce exclusively with Daily Meal: sodium citrate.

This small mixture makes a big difference when added to your cheese sauce, melting your cheese evenly and maintaining a silky consistency while cooking. When asked how we can avoid unsavory textures and consistencies in our homemade mac and cheese sauce, Villapando recommended adding sodium citrate. The chef claimed this technique "eliminate[s] grainy and broken sauces."

Simplified, sodium citrate is the salt of citric acid. While the name may sound technical and science-y, it is perfectly safe to eat and can be found online or at most grocery stores.

Next time you want to serve up some extra gooey, creamy mac and cheese, don't forget to add this secret ingredient to your cheese sauce. In order to properly utilize sodium citrate as a binding agent, slowly mix the powder into your dairy base (usually milk or heavy cream, depending on your recipe), then add your cheese after the sodium citrate is fully incorporated. The exact amount of sodium citrate will depend on the ingredients in your mac and cheese recipe and the number of servings you plan to make. Cheese sauce expert Fabrizio Villapando warned Daily Meal that chefs should be cautious of "temperature controls and ratios” if they are using "a more traditional technique [for your cheese sauce] such as a bechamel."

If you need sodium citrate in a pinch and can't find it at your local grocery store, you can technically make it yourself by combining citric acid and baking soda. Lemon juice can also work if you don't have any citric acid on hand. If you do decide to make your own sodium citrate, be sure to dilute the mixture in a small bit of water before adding it to your cheese sauce.