Fried Mac and Cheese
on Jan 19, 2015, Updated Jan 30, 2024
This Fried Mac & Cheese Balls Recipe is not your average appetizer. Mac and Cheese is perfect all on it’s own. But when you make them into balls toss them in a seasoned coating and fry them up in bite sized form you then have one amazing appetizer. Perfect for kids and adults. Perfect for dinner, game day or any party.
Fried Mac and Cheese
We had family movie night on Saturday and the kids were wanting to have appetizers instead of the normal chips, popcorn and candy. So we made up a batch of Copycat TGI Friday’s Potato Skins and these super simple bite sized Fried Mac & Cheese bombs (that’s what I like to call them, ha ha). Super simple and the kiddos LOVED them. We liked them so much that this recipe is now made it on my sons birthday menu.
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Over the holidays my daughter went for a nice dinner with a friend to The Cheesecake Factory. She came home raving over the food. She said she had enjoyed the Fried Macaroni & Cheese Balls for an appetizer. For days she kept insisting that we make some at home. So I decided to make her up a yummy homemade version.
The ingredients need for your Fried Mac & Cheese is pretty simple. Just whip up this homemade macaroni and cheese recipe or use store bought or left overs. Then with a few other simple ingredients you will be ready to fry up your little bites of yumminess. Serve them up with some marinara if you like.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb Macaroni
2 (8 oz) Packages of Sharp Cheddar Cheese Chunk
1 1/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Flour
1/4 cup Butter
2 Eggs
3 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Salt & Pepper to taste
Vegetable Oil (for frying)
DIRECTIONS
Boil macaroni until tender, drain and set aside.
Shred your cheese and set aside.
In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat.
Add flour and mix until light brown color (make a roux).
Add 1 cup milk and whisk until thick.
Add cheese one hand full at a time.
Mix until cheese is all melted and smooth.
Add cooked macaroni to pan and mix until well coated.
Add salt and pepper.
Transfer to container that will fit in your refrigerator, and refrigerator for 1 hour or until cold.
Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.
Form cold macaroni and cheese into 1″ balls and place on prepared pan.
Place in freezer for 1 hour.
Beat eggs and add 1/4 cup milk in a bowl to make egg wash.
Dip balls into egg wash then roll in bread crumbs to coat completely.
Heat oil in deep fryer to 320 or fill skillet 1/2-3/4″ deep and heat over medium high to 320.
Fry for about 3-4 minutes and drain.
Fried Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb Macaroni
- 2 8 oz Packages of Sharp Cheddar Cheese Chunk
- 1 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 2 Eggs
- 3 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Vegetable Oil, for frying
Instructions
- Boil macaroni until tender, drain and set aside.
- Shred your cheese and set aside.
- In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add flour and mix until light brown color (make a roux).
- Add 1 cup milk and whisk until thick.
- Add cheese one hand full at a time.
- Mix until cheese is all melted and smooth.
- Add cooked macaroni to pan and mix until well coated.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Transfer to container that will fit in your refrigertor, and refigerator for 1 hour or until cold.
- Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.
- Form cold macaroni and cheese into 1" balls and place on prepared pan.
- Place in freezer for 1 hour.
- Beat eggs and add 1/4 cup milk in a bowl to make egg wash.
- Dip balls into egg wash then roll in bread crumbs to coat completely.
- Heat oil in deep fryer to 320 or fill skillet 1/2-3/4" deep and heat over medium high to 320.
- Fry for about 3-4 minutes and drain.
I followed this recipe until I arrived to the milk which you add to the roux. One cup is definitely not enough as mixture just way too thick! I used 1/2 cup of flour as called for. I kept adding milk until it thinned out enough to coat the macaroni. Didn’t measure but more like another 2-3 cups more. The Mac’N Cheese balls were delicious!
Can you use left over Mac and cheese to fry these?
Can these be baked, rather than fried?
This looks so great! Thanks for the how-to as well. Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Pinned & Sharing on FB! Have a great week!
Kim
Hi! I’m going to make these tonight. I was just reviewing the recipe and noticed that it calls for 1 3/4 cup milk but I only see 1 cup in the sauce and 1/4 in the egg wash. Is the extra 1/2 cup to thin the sauce if necessary or did I misread somehow?
i only see 1 &1/4 cup milk in the recipe.