10 Cheeses You Should Never Add To Homemade Macaroni And Cheese

I've written over a dozen cookbooks for people with various food sensitivities, and one thing virtually every book has in common is that it contains a recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese. This gooey, creamy pasta dish is beloved for a reason: It tastes amazing, even when you use different cheeses and non-standard ingredients. I've created mac and cheese recipes with all kinds of cheesy ingredients, from vegan nutritional yeast to a classic sharp cheddar and medium cheddar combo. 

There are so many types of cheese that work great for homemade macaroni and cheese, and switching up the queso is an excellent way to boost flavor or create something a little different (but still delicious) from what you've had before. But some cheeses? Nope. While technically, you could use them in homemade mac and cheese, you probably shouldn't because they'll create odd flavors or textures that won't yield the creamy, flavorful results you're looking for. These are some cheeses you should avoid.

Ah, processed cheese food. Although processed cheeses do, in fact, typically contain a little bit of cheese and have a cheesy element, they can't technically be called "cheese." Many of them make a mighty fine grilled cheese because of how gooey they melt up, but it's not a good fit for mac and cheese. This is because processed cheese foods like Cheez Whiz and Velveeta also contain additional non-cheese ingredients like extra salt, colorings, and emulsifiers that could leave your dish feeling a little flat, oily, gritty, or salty. 

While there's an argument to be made that Velveeta makes a pretty good boxed macaroni and cheese, there are so many other cheeses you can use when you're making homemade; these will taste a lot better and give you the consistency you want in your creamy cheese sauce. So, skip the processed cheese food in favor of a real, 100% cheese that will yield the flavor and texture you truly want, like shredded cheddar, and leave the processed cheese food for the quick, nearly instant boxed mac and cheeses. If it's the quick melting that draws you to processed cheese foods for macaroni and cheese, try brie instead. It's creamy and smooth, melts like a dream, and is yummy when combined with a less mild cheese like gouda or gruyère for a sharper bite. 

Feta is a crumbly sheep's milk (or sheep's and goat's milk) cheese with a salty tang that's delicious on salads and with Mediterranean food. But for homemade mac and cheese? It's not so great. First, feta is a crumbler, not a melter. When you add it to the béchamel to make a homemade macaroni and cheese, it'll never get that silky, gooey, melty characteristic that makes mac and cheese so darn satisfying. 

The briny flavors of feta hold up well in a Greek salad or with some olives and hummus, but they're overpowering for macaroni and cheese. The result is a salty, grainy, slightly gamey cheese sauce that doesn't honor the spirit of the original, so it won't satisfy in quite the same way. If you're looking to use a sheep's milk cheese that will do the cheesy pasta dish justice, try Manchego, which will melt into a smooth, creamy consistency.

I'm a huge blue cheese fan, so I understand the temptation to add one of these flavorful fromages to macaroni and cheese, but it's not a great idea. While the origins of Roquefort, gorgonzola, and other blue cheeses are different, they all share common traits, including the blue veins that run through them, a crumbly texture, and a sharp, distinct flavor. It's these shared characteristics that make blue cheese unsuited for homemade cheesy mac. 

While blue cheeses will melt, they don't melt into something creamy. They'll leave your sauce chunky and grainy. And the strong flavor can be overpowering when it's the primary note in your main dish — blue cheese works better as a flavor accent instead of as the star of the show. Finally, the color and look of the macaroni and cheese could be a little alarming. If you're hankering for some blue cheese flavor in your homemade macaroni and cheese, sprinkle a little on the top after it's cooked or mix a small amount of crumbled blue cheese with the breadcrumbs. Don't use too much because a little goes a long way.

If you've ever had the cheese on pizza stretch across the table as you take a bite of it, then you already know the primary issue with putting mozzarella cheese into homemade macaroni and cheese sauce: It's too stringy! Mozzarella is delicious, but it melts up incredibly stringy, whether you're using processed or fresh mozzarella. That stringy texture is fantastic on pizza, where part of the fun is the stretchy cheese, but it's less so in mac and cheese. 

Mozzarella can melt inconsistently, too, which could result in a clumpy sauce when mixed with the roux base for the cheesy sauce. The other issue with mozzarella in macaroni and cheese is its mild flavor. The mild, slightly salty flavor profile can work well on Italian foods like pizza or lasagna, but it'll result in a mac and cheese that's relatively flavorless. White cheddar, Monterey Jack, and smoked gouda are better choices if you're looking for a light-colored but still flavorful cheesy mac.

All that cheese grating can be a real pain, so it's tempting to save time when you're making homemade macaroni and cheese by adding pre-shredded, packaged cheese. It will indeed cut down on prep time, but it probably won't yield the results you want. Yes, it should melt just fine in the sauce, depending on the type of queso you use. And sure, it will bring the flavor of the cheese you use to the sauce, too. The issue, however, is that many packaged, pre-shredded cheeses are coated in anti-clumping agents, and those will leave your sauce grainy and with a slight powdery texture that's not very pleasant. 

Typically, these anti-caking agents include potato starch or cellulose, which work wonders at keeping the cheese from sticking together in the package. But in your sauce, those ingredients could impart strange textures and dampen the flavor of the cheese to produce a chalky, insipid macaroni and cheese that'll make you wish you'd just used boxed mac instead. There's not really any way around this: You'll need to hand-grate the cheese. But that's what your kids are for (or a food processor with a cheese shredder blade).

If you're making Mexican street corn or enchiladas, crumbly cotija is perfect, but it's not ideal when you're making homemade macaroni and cheese. Cotija cheese is a salty, hard, crumbly, tangy queso that's delicious in so many dishes, but the salty flavor and crumbly texture don't work very well in macaroni and cheese. Cotija doesn't melt as much as it softens when it's warmed up, so it will leave your sauce grainy instead of providing the creamy texture that's so satisfying in macaroni and cheese. 

The tangy flavor can cause salt overload, too. If you really want that cotija flavor in a homemade cheesy mac, try mixing it in with the breadcrumbs or sprinkling a little on the finished dish. It'll give you that funky, salty flavor without overpowering the dish or making your sauce grainy. Alternatively, try using pepper jack cheese to add a little Southwestern flair.

Cottage cheese is a superstar dairy ingredient. It's packed with protein, and it has a mild, slightly salty flavor that blends well with so many ingredients, ranging from savory to sweet. But what it doesn't blend well with is macaroni and cheese. First, it isn't a melty cheese. While that lumpy texture is fantastic in a lot of things, it isn't ideal in the cheesy pasta dish, especially when it won't melt into your sauce. 

It can also leave your sauce watery and virtually flavorless — none of the things that make the cheesy pasta such a soul-satisfying dish. It's just too bland to use as the main cheese in your cheesy mac. If you're thinking of adding cottage cheese to lower the fat and calorie content of mac and cheese, consider using a blend of low-fat and full-fat cheese instead. This will lighten the dish up but still provide the flavor and texture you're seeking. 

If you're a huge fan of grated parmesan on top of pasta, you're not alone. Hard Italian cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano, Asiago, and Romano are part of what makes Italian food so darn delicious. But this hard, crumbly cheese isn't ideal mixed into the cheese sauce in a homemade mac and cheese. Its low moisture content makes melting more of a challenge, and the result can be a grainy sauce. 

It's also quite salty, so using it as your main choice in macaroni and cheese can make the dish overpoweringly salty. If you're a fan of that funky flavor, you can mix grated parmesan, Romano, or Asiago in with your breadcrumbs that you sprinkle on top of the casserole. But whatever you decide to do, skip the green, shelf-stable shakers of parmesan and grate a little of the fresh stuff instead. Your taste buds will thank you. 

We know it's not technically cheese — the USDA considers the individually wrapped American cheese as a pasteurized processed cheese food. Sure, it has some cheese in it, but it also adds other fats, oils, and emulsifiers. But in the U.S., many people use American cheese interchangeably with real cheese, particularly on things like grilled cheese sandwiches or burgers, and it can be a delicious addition to those foods. 

Adding it to mac and cheese, however? It's not a great idea. Sure, it melts well. But like other processed cheese foods, it can leave you with an oily, gloopy mess when you try to melt it in the cheese sauce. It's also usually saltier than actual cheese and doesn't have a strong flavor profile, which can leave your macaroni and cheese flavorless. So, skip the processed American cheese slices and instead grate some cheddar or another moderately soft cheese for a more flavorful, smoother sauce.

Given its soft, creamy texture, cheese spread may seem ideal for homemade macaroni and cheese (and some of it might make an excellent sauce), but you should always proceed with caution when using this kind of spread to make the cheese sauce. While some basic cheese spreads (like softened cream cheese) can work well when you mix in some other type of cheese for additional flavor, others could cause a whole host of issues — from flavorlessness to off flavors to weird textures to excessive saltiness. 

I once decided I was going to use a port wine cheese spread to make a homemade macaroni and cheese, and it wound up in the garbage because of the weird flavor and grainy texture. Lesson learned. It's always okay to experiment, but check the ingredients. If it has lumpy bits, isn't made from actual cheese (like vegan cheese spreads), or has some type of overpowering flavor (say, port wine?), it's probably best to stick with one of the classic cheeses. If you're looking for the creaminess of cream cheese, it can work, but add some sharp cheddar to counteract blandness and provide more flavor.