The Casserole Redditors Are Calling "Literally the Best"

Over the course of my life, I’ve moved from the boxed mac and cheese of childhood to trying all sorts of homemade macaroni and cheese recipes. Most had a béchamel sauce and various levels of sharp cheddar cheese, but I even tried some fancy versions with add-ins like truffle or lobster.

So when I heard that a macaroni ‘n cheese recipe on Reddit had been upvoted nearly 3,000 times, I knew I needed to try it.

The "Secret" Ingredient In Reddit's Famous Mac and Cheese

The recipe, from an unnamed cookbook, is suspiciously simple—you just cook the elbow pasta, mix together a few seasonings, and layer the pasta in a baking dish with the seasonings and cheese before baking.

However, it has one “secret” ingredient that I’ve never seen in a mac and cheese recipe: condensed cream of mushroom soup. As soon as I saw that, I was sucked in. Here in Minnesota, we have a thing called “hotdish,” a noodle casserole bathed in cream of mushroom soup. So, this mac and cheese was taking a page from hotdish by using its magic ingredient.

Condensed cream of mushroom soup is a miracle of engineering, a thick, creamy, unbreakable sauce that can be baked with other ingredients and magically meld them together. It’s also loaded with umami, a meaty flavor that, in this case, comes from mushrooms. If you are not a mushroom lover, Reddit users recommend subbing cheddar cheese soup.

This mac has another notable ingredient, scrawled next to the recipe by the original owner of the cookbook: “Picconing” cheese. Piconning is a city in Michigan, and they make a variety of Colby there that the cookbook owner must have preferred. I used a medium Colby, as many Reddit users recommend. I swerved a little from the recipe by shredding the cheese instead of cubing it.

How To Make Reddit's Macaroni and Cheese

• One 6-ounce package 7-minute macaroni
• One 10 1/2- or 11-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon grated onion 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound American cheese, cubed (or use Picconing cheese or mild Colby)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook the macaroni in boiling, salted water; drain and rinse. Combine the mushroom soup, milk, onion, salt, and pepper.

Alternate layers of macaroni, soup mixture, and cheese in a greased 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake, covered, for about 45 minutes. Makes six servings. It couldn't be easier.

The Verdict

This mac and cheese is good. I recommend skipping the salt, as the soup and cheese are salty enough, but the mushroom soup makes this mac more flavorful than those made with milk-based sauces.

Even though my husband doesn’t like mushrooms, he enjoyed this dish because the mushrooms were just tiny bits, and the sauce was so cheesy. The chef in me wants to top it with crumbs or throw in some veggies, but the point of this recipe is to have the shortest ingredient list with the biggest bang for the buck. It succeeds at that, and will shake up your next potluck.