• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Hungry Enough To Eat Six
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Nancy Mock Food Writing
  • Hungry For Vermont
  • About Me
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • My Writing/Cook-Offs/Reviews
  • Delectable Destinations
  • Hungry For Vermont
  • About Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Winter

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    By Nancy Mock March 11, 2017 Updated February 2, 2022 Leave a Comment

    • Share134
    • Tweet
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    In the last few years we have held many cook-offs with our friends and they have all been glorious, gluttonous occasions filled with incredibly tasty and creative creations. We devoured meatballs at the Meatball Showdown, filled the kitchen with crock pots of bubbling and spicy chilis at the Friends' Chili Cook-Off, saw the sun rise as we smoked brisket and ribs for the Smoked Meat Cook-Off, and at the Lasagna Cook-Off we saw traditional recipes changed up to create lasagnas for breakfast, dinner and dessert! Most recently we gorged poolside on several styles of tacos, and washed them down with margaritas at the Taco& Margaritas Cook-Off.

    This cook-off however was one that many of us have been dreaming of since the very first cook-off. And the event landed at the perfect time: in the midst of bleak and freezing winter, but far enough beyond the holidays that no one felt guilty anymore about over-indulging.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    This was our Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off!

    Twenty-three big people and a handful of little ones filled our house: our biggest cook-off turnout yet.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    And all were eager for a mac n' cheese filled afternoon, so eager that some had not eaten at all yet that day!

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    In anticipation of ten different pans of macaroni & cheese that we knew were coming to our house, we converted our daughter's bedroom into the mac n' cheese room.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    She was a good sport about it, and in return hers was the best smelling room in the house!

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    This is a gooey and loaded macaroni & cheese that your hungry fans will really love. This recipe was the winner of the Chef's Vote at our Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off.

    The dishes were carefully laid out and labeled with the name and a number (written on jumbo pasta shells.)

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    I had lofty intentions to take careful, well-framed shots of all the macaroni and cheese entries, including some portioned out into bowls...

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    but it was not easy with a house full of people restless and ready to dig in.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    The eating finally began! Hungry guests and chefs alike filed into the room and loaded their plates with samplings from all ten different varieties.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    This is a gooey and loaded macaroni & cheese that your hungry fans will really love. This recipe was the winner of the Chef's Vote at our Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off.

    Some were careful to organize scoops of different mac n' cheeses around their plates to remember which was which but most of the plates that I saw were just loaded. Which only meant that they would be *forced* to come back for seconds and confirm their favorites. The entries in this carb-heavy cook-off were:

    Fritos on a bowl of pasta
    • Crack Mac (with Velveeta cheese, sausage, tomatoes and chiles, and topped with Fritos!)
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Green Goddess Macaroni & Cheese
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Kraft White Cheddar Mac n' Cheese (my son's last-minute entry!)
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Creamiest Mac N' Cheese Ever
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Chipotle Caramelized Onion Macaroni & Cheese
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Leftover Cheese Mac N' Cheese (with diced ham and sliced tomatoes)
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Buffalo Chicken Mac N' Cheese
    • Annie's Shells & White Cheddar (the favorite of one of the kids!)
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Traditional Macaroni & Cheese
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!
    • Three Cheese Mac N' Cheese
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    After so much fevered anticipation the crowd was finally able to relax, with plates of food on their laps and plenty of drinks chilling outside on the freezing deck: beer, wine, margaritas and maple whiskey.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    Kids ate off of their parents' plates and there was plenty more mac n' cheese when refills were needed.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    Our son's entry of a box of Kraft mac n' cheese was at our insistence, after he added his name to the list of guests bringing an entry: he did it as a joke but we held him to it! Almost everyone sampled this too, and it made for an interesting comparison to the homemade varieties. (Sometimes mac n' cheese cooked from a box still holds a strange and comforting appeal, a childhood throwback perhaps.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    But when set side by side with mac n' cheese bathed in homemade cheese sauce and everything baked up in a casserole there is no question that it does not hold up!)

    When the feasting began to wane we set out a basket of ballots. Guests were asked to vote for their top three mac n' cheeses, and there was a second round of voting for just the chefs to choose their favorites.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    And these votes were not cast lightly: there were quiet discussions, loud discussions, and lots of pacing through the Mac N' Cheese room to ponder the myriad flavors, textures and cheesiness. Once we had all the votes in hand the tallying and tabulating began, handled by my husband, Anna and Paul.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    This was another very serious and lengthy deliberation that took place closed doors. It's possible that tabulation time was somewhat hindered by the effect of pounds of pasta and cheese (and a bit of drink) on the judges' brains!

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    The winners were finally announced and taking the top spot: winner of the Popular Vote was the spicy Buffalo Chicken Mac N' Cheese submitted by Becca!

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    And the winner of the Chef's Vote was the decadent Crack Mac submitted by Kari & Eli!

    More than any other cook-off to date, this was no doubt our best. Macaroni & cheese is a dish that almost everyone loves, adults and kids alike. It's a dish that can be as simple or as decadent as you wish, and one that is easy to pull together no matter what the level of cooking skill you have. From the simplest, straight-forward pan of pasta and cheese sauce the variations that we saw at our cook-off were so varied and creative: spiced up with chipotle peppers and buffalo sauce; loaded with the savory depth of basil and garlic; paired with diced ham and tomatoes which is classic and always delicious; made with multiple cheeses to make creamy and rich dish. If you are considering hosting your first cook-off, a Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off would be a great choice.

    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    Don't just lay there dreaming about a Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off... make it happen!

    Here are recipe links for the two winning recipes from our Cook-Off:

    Crack Mac and Cheese
    Gooey and loaded with creamy flavor, your hungry fans will really love Crack Mac and Cheese. With spicy sausage and tomatoes, it's addictive.
    Take me there
    Fritos on a bowl of pasta
    Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
    This mac and cheese was the winner at our Mac N' Cheese Cook-Off! It's a hearty macaroni & cheese with chicken and a spicy buffalo bite.
    Take me there
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    And if you're in the mood for more cheesy posts, check these out!

    • Today's 6-Ingredient Recipe is for Herbed Cheese Hasselback Potatoes. Have you ever tried making Hasselback Potatoes? They take a little up-front prep, but the end result is quite worth it. On HungryEnoughToEatSix.com.
    • Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese is this year's Cinematic Christmas Feast! This year we both chose to make foods from 'Home Alone'.
    Macaroni & Cheese Cook-Off: Our Most Anticipated Cooking Competition!

    More Winter

    • Tips & Recipes For All Those Winter Root Vegetables
    • Mardi Gras King Cake, made with Fillables Cake Pans
    • Spicy and Easy Vegetarian Chili
    • Striped Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

    Reader Interactions

    Ask Me Anything! Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Woman smiling and standing next to rack with baking equipment.
    Hungry Enough To Eat Six.com

    Hi-ya! I'm Nancy Mock and I live in beautiful northern Vermont with my family.

    Hungry Enough To Eat Six is food inspiration through recipes, photography, and story!

    Find a recipe now - head to the Recipe Index.

    Seasonal

    • Blueberry Ketchup Recipe
    • Strawberry Cream Cheese Icebox Cake
    • Cherry Trifle In A Jar
    • The Best Recipes Using Radishes
    • Lilac Infused Whipped Cream
    • Cucumber Radish Salad with Lemony Vinaigrette

    Trending Recipes

    • Easy Spearmint Iced Tea Recipe

    • The Best Fruits of the Forest Pie Recipe

    • Fresh Basil Tomato Salsa

    • Homemade Irish Brown Bread Recipe

    • Cheesy Cheddar Kielbasa Rice

    • Sausage, Peppers & Onions on the Grill | Fair Food at Home

    As seen on:

    Logos for various websites

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    • Instagram
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest

    About Me

    • ABOUT ME
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • DISCLAIMER
    • WEBSITE TERMS OF USE

    Newsletter

    • SIGN UP! for my newsletter

    Contact

    • CONTACT ME

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Banner with website logos

    © 2013-2022 Nancy Mock, Hungry Enough To Eat Six: Unauthorized use and/or duplication of content from this site without express and written permission is strictly prohibited. Contact Nancy Mock through the About Me page for permissions.

    ©2022 Foodie Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme