A Michelin-star mac and cheese recipe has been shared by a chef who says most versions are stodgy, dense and one-dimensional - but this method solves all of those issues08:39, 25 May 2026If you're a lover of macaroni cheese but find yourself struggling to prevent it turning out "stodgy", you might want to take note of a recipe shared by Jack Croft, who co-runs a string of restaurants with his business partner, Will Murray. "Most mac and cheese is stodgy, dense and one-dimensional," he explained in a YouTube video. "But this version from a three-Michelin-star chef solves all those issues."‌That celebrated chef is none other than TV personality Heston Blumenthal, widely regarded as a trailblazer of multi-sensory cooking. Jack kicked things off by placing dry macaroni pasta into a pan, adding water and lightly seasoning it with salt. "We're just going to cook this until it's parboiled," he continued.‌Jack then introduced a "really nice depth" of chicken stock - something he described as "classic Heston" - before infusing it with rosemary, a small amount of thyme and black peppercorns for around 25 minutes.‌"The macaroni has only been on the boil for around five minutes and at this point you should pass this off [sieve] and place it back into the pan and then add just a touch of olive oil," he added.Jack went on to explain that the following stage is to "reduce our white wine - any sort of white wine will do". He elaborated: "Continue to reduce it until you have something that's a little bit sweet and a little bit acidic - and that will help balance out the mac and cheese."‌Regarding the cheese, Jack champions Gruyère, a firm Swiss cheese that brings a subtle saltiness to the dish. "I prefer to use this over cheddar because you can get a bit more meltiness," he explained as he grated it.Jack also chose slices of American cheese, plus cream cheese, which should be stirred in towards the end. "It's a really nice hack - rather than using Béchamel sauce - the cream cheese has a really nice acidity," he said. "And that kind of cuts through all the fat from this cheese as well."The cheese should then be combined with cornflour to thicken the sauce, creating a "more velvety" texture. By this point, the stock should be nicely warmed through, Jack continued before heating it back up to approximately 80C and noting that it doesn't need to reach boiling point.‌"Then add the cheese to the pan and you will see it slowly starts to thicken," he added. "You can already see the gloss and the sheen that you get from cornflour."While continuing to cook out the cornflour using a "very gentle heat", Jack stirred the mixture for five minutes. "Whilst that's cooking, put just a little bit of butter in there, a little bit of sage and some thyme - and we're just going to toast some panko breadcrumbs," Jack went on.He then set aside a small amount of the sauce and stirred in the cream cheese. "Skipping this stage will result in lots of little micro lumps," Jack warned. "I always like to add a little bit of Dijon as it really nicely balances out the mac and cheese."‌This mixture should then be gradually reincorporated into the sauce base in stages. "Before we check and adjust the seasoning of the sauce, it's always a good idea to add the sauce to the pasta first, which has already been seasoned slightly," Jack said.He continued: "Then we just bring the whole thing together - we almost want it to be over-moist at this stage because it will definitely thicken up as the starch in the pasta continues to cook."But as one final "trick", Jack added more "little dices" of the Gruyère. Once prepared, he transferred everything into a dish, sprinkled on a touch more salt, before baking at 180C for 15 to 20 minutes.Article continues below"It should be loose enough for the sauce to bubble," Jack concluded. "And there it is - you can taste all the herbs, a nice bit of acidity, it's nice and sweet and although it's a slightly different technique, it takes about the same amount of time as making a normal mac and cheese."