If you like it hot, make this mac! Cook the pasta according to package instructions, then add chopped, precooked chicken (poached breast or shredded rotisserie both work well here) and then add 1/3 cup of your favorite Buffalo wing sauce. Feel free to experiment with other add-ins, like using baked beans in place of canned beans or spicy stewed canned tomatoes, such as Rotel, in place of the salsa. Mix in drained and rinsed canned black beans and 1/2 cup salsa, or more, to taste. Want another south-of-the-border take? Prepare mac and cheese according to package directions. Drain canned green chilies, such as Hatch chili peppers, and stir in along with precooked chicken - shredded rotisserie chicken works well, so does Mexican stewed chicken, like chicken tinga.

Prepare mac and cheese according to package directions. Liven up boxed mac with a little Southwestern flair. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and panko for a delightfully crispy topping.

Make mac according to package instructions, and then mix in 1/2 to 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger and 1 tablespoon of Sriracha hot sauce, or to taste. Hack #3: Sriracha + ginger + green onions + panko Serve sausages on the side, or slice them and mix into the pasta. Then add in the cheese sauce, according to package directions. The residual heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach. Add pasta back to the pot, and stir in a few handfuls of baby spinach. Hack #2: Sausage + baby spinachĪs your pasta is cooking, heat up precooked sausages, such as chicken-basil, until warmed, according to package directions. Once the pasta is made, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of chipotles in adobo and then crumble in a generous portion of bacon. While pasta is boiling, crisp four slices of bacon ( we like Al Roker's oven-baked method). Simply cook the macaroni according to package directions. This bacon-chipotle mac and cheese is spicy, smoky and totally savory.

Ways to make mac n cheese better