What do you get when you mix tangy, spicy Korean kimchi into an ultra creamy, white cheddar mac and cheese? A downright delicious dinner, that’s what!

Mac ‘n cheese aficionados: this one’s for you! Quite possibly the creamiest mac and cheese EVER (thanks to a super secret sciency ingredient), we’ve added spicy kimchi for a unique take on a comfort food classic.

Kimchi mac and cheese.

Mac and kim-cheese.

Get it?

I crack myself up sometimes.

But this pun-derful recipe is more than just a clever name. While it may have originated there, when we made our first test batch we were blown away by the combination of tangy, spicy kimchi and creamy white cheddar cheese. It’s simply unreal.

That said, this recipe did not come together easily.

I have a thing about texture, and especially when it comes to mac ‘n cheese, the texture is paramount to my ultimate enjoyment.

Most mac ‘n cheese recipes start out with a flour roux; this is how I’ve always made it (and indeed my past mac ‘n cheese recipes have done just that) but for whatever reason this time I just wasn’t satisfied.

Roux-based cheese sauces have a tendency to get somewhat pasty, a texture that really isn’t ideal when you’re craving an ultra creamy mac ‘n cheese.

I tried changing proportions of flour and cheese. I tried different kinds of cheeses. I compared baked vs stovetop versions. Either I’d have a thick cheese sauce that maybe stayed creamy for 5 minutes before going pasty, or a thin and watery one; there was no perfectly creamy middle ground.

Then I discovered a secret ingredient that is nothing short of magic.

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