Baked Beans Are The Slept-On Upgrade For Boxed Mac And Cheese

Boxed mac and cheese can easily satisfy your next midday craving for a warm and savory meal in a snap. As long as you have access to a stove and a bit of butter and milk, you can make lusciously creamy noodles and cheese in under 15 minutes. However, adding protein-rich ingredients to this popular kid-friendly meal may be necessary to keep your tummy satisfied for more than an hour or two. While you can always elevate boxed mac and cheese with creamy, tangy ingredients, you may be looking to upgrade your next box with ingredients with varying textures and bolder flavors. Sure enough, baked beans are the ingredient you need to enhance your next box of macaroni and cheese.

Baked beans are typically made with bean varieties like navy, great northern, and pinto and cooked in a sweet and savory sauce composed of various spices, ketchup or barbecue sauce, and a touch of sweetness from brown sugar or molasses. This popular side dish is an easy, flavorful way to enhance both the taste and texture of mac and cheese while simultaneously transforming the favored snack into a more complete meal. Not only can you prepare and serve baked beans and mac and cheese in more ways than one, but there are also several varieties of baked beans to choose from, which can change the resulting flavor of this simple dish.

Surprisingly, there are nine regional styles of baked beans that can impart a range of different flavors and ingredients to your next box of mac and cheese. While Southern-style baked beans have a smokier flavor from the added bacon and barbecue sauce, Carolina baked beans are made with a decent amount of apple cider vinegar and mustard for an extra tangy bite. Whether you're making baked beans from scratch or using your favorite canned variety, many sweet and savory options are available.

When it comes to adding your chosen mixture of beans to boxed mac and cheese, you have a few options. If you want to keep these two popular foods separate, prepare boxed mac and cheese in a separate saucepan and serve prepared baked beans on the side. This way, you can control the amount of beans you want in each cheesy bite of noodles.

Alternatively, combine these two favorite foods in the same saucepan for one complete meal. Once macaroni has been cooked and drained, whisk together your cheese sauce ingredients and add in baked beans to create a uniform cheesy bean-based sauce. Then, all you need to do is stir in macaroni and serve. Now that you're privy to the many flavors of baked beans and ways to combine them with your next box of mac and cheese, you're ready to experiment with more ways to enhance this tasty dish.

To add more depth to baked bean mac and cheese, mix in some cooked and seasoned ground beef for a makeshift hearty chili roni. As another option, since macaroni and cheese is a standard side dish for many barbecue-inspired meals, try adding some barbecue pulled pork to the mix. Your meat's smoky and savory qualities will meld with the cheese sauce, giving the noodles more flavor. Make sure your meat of choice is fully cooked before adding this extra ingredient to the prepared mac and cheese.

You can also add more color and nutrition to your next box of mac and cheese with veggies. After baked beans have been successfully incorporated, add steamed peas, sauteed kale or spinach, and even roasted broccoli. Once you've decided on any extra bulkier additions, consider the proportions of your mac and cheese sauce base and adjust accordingly.

To accommodate baked beans and the added inclusion of cooked meat or veggies, you may want to add more depth to your sauce by adding a scoop of sour cream, extra milk, and real shredded cheese. Use your favorite spices to add more flavor. While there are plenty of ingredients you can use to upgrade boxed mac and cheese, for a simple and filling addition that's full of extra flavor and protein, use homemade or canned sweet and savory baked beans.