My DD makes boxed variety all the time. She adds extra Velveeta and sun dried tomatoes.

I make smoked Gouda mac and cheese with bacon bits.

Ohhhh.....yummm!

Funny....younger generation has discovered mac and cheese! What a memory jogger! Times were really tough in the early 80's when the kids were young. Luckily they both loved "yellow noodles"! My DH's brother worked at a grocery store, and often would get the blue boxes for next to nothing, or free if they were out of date. I felt guilty feeding them that everyday, but they really liked it, and by doing that we were able to stretch those food dollars. Today I still make it, but add additional cheese, milk/buttermilk, butter what ever is handy.

Early years of marriage and young kids were lean years. I had an elderly neighbor that got commodities and the cheese was the best cheese. She didn't like cheese so gave me all of it every month. I made lots of mac and cheese, cheese toast, and cheese pizza. I think that is why we like homemade mac and cheese. The cheese was that good.

My oldest son (29) makes the best mac & cheese I have ever had. I very rarely eat M&C, because I'm lactose intolerant and don't eat grain products anymore. But I'll have a couple of bites of his because it's so tasty. I finally asked him how he makes it, what he puts into it. He said "I put all the red spices in the cupboard in it." 🤣🤣🤣

Bologna
 

My grandchildren ask for Mac & cheese & bolony. They actually wanted beefaroni. I fried off the ground beef, added the cheese from the box, a jar of spaghetti sauce, & the pasta. They love it & ask for it every time they're at my house. They don't want just the Mac & cheese anymore. Now my husband & I prefer the real stuff. Real cheese & baked. So yummy!

we used to call it "Smacks and Knees." When I was young and in college and working (til 9PM) I could eat an entire box by myself when I got home. Now one box makes 3 meals for me.

My Mom made awesome mac and cheese. She topped it with some Romano or Parmesan. I love any kind of mac and cheese. If I were on death row eating my last meal it would be any kind of pasta with good red sauce and mac and cheese lol
At that point carbs wouldn't matter. :D

No secret or fancy ingredients here. Not from a box, no processed cheese food.

2 c elbows (my preference is Barilla, they are twisty elbows)
2 T flour
1/4 c flour
2 c milk (usually 2% as that is what I have on hand for my coffee)
2 c shredded white sharp cheddar (real cheddar, in a block - no fillers or anti-caking agents as in the pre-shredded pack)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a casserole dish.

Cook elbows as directed on box. Take out a minute or 2 earlier than suggested time. Drain.

While cooking elbows, melt butter in large saucepan (I think mine is 3 qt). When melted, add flour and stir for a few minutes.

Add milk and whisk in. Season with pepper and salt (keep in mind that cheese is already salty, so you shouldn't use too much salt). Some use white pepper to avoid the black specs, but I don't bother. DH does not like a lot of pepper, so lI really only use a half dozen or so grinds.

Continue whisking until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat.

Stir in shredded cheddar, then cooked pasta (this is why I use a fairly large saucepan - that way, only one cheesy, messy pan to clean up).

Pour into prepped casserole. Bake for 30 minutes.

This can easily be scaled up, or down, as needed. If I use 3 c pasta, I bake in a 9 x 11 glass pan. If I use 4 c, I go to a 13 x 9.