{"id":2114743,"date":"2025-02-12T16:47:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T22:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=2114743"},"modified":"2025-02-12T16:47:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T22:47:53","slug":"martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Martha Stewart&#8217;s Secret Ingredient for a Perfect Mac and Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"We owe a lot to professional kitchen goddess Martha Stewart. She taught us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/martha-stewart-jadeite-collection\/?srsltid=AfmBOorm9vNUCFMj3FfkrP8sDhSFqGXoKnfx4plRC3haTJ7Zubo3TI0g\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to collect jadeite<\/a>, the best way to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/martha-stewart-pierogi\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pierogi<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/how-to-get-the-smell-of-garlic-off-your-hands\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to clean hands that stink like garlic<\/a>. That was before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/martha-stewart-documentary\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Martha's documentary<\/a> gifted us more whimsical ideas, like starting a garden or building a Turkey Hill-inspired chicken coup.\r\n\r\nFans will be in her debt once again, because she leaked the secret ingredient for perfect mac and cheese.\r\n<h2>What is Martha's secret ingredient?<\/h2>\r\nIn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DE5X4W0yayJ\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this Instagram reel<\/a> of a TV clip, she reveals that the secret ingredient for perfect mac and cheese is tomato paste, which most of us have never thought to add. The tip comes from her mother, Martha Kostyra, aka \"Big Martha.\" The culinary matriarch made several appearances in her daughter's shows before she passed away in 2007.\r\n\r\nIn the clip, we see that her mac and cheese recipe contains 4 tablespoons of tomato paste, added to the milk right at the start. Once the tomato paste is whisked with the milk and spices over medium-low heat, the cheese (a combo of cheddar and Swiss) is added to create the sauce\u2014no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/how-to-make-a-roux\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">roux<\/a> required.\r\n\r\nYou know tomatoes and dairy work well together\u2014think of a grilled cheese with a fat slice of tomato or a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/baked-feta-pasta\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">creamy pasta bake<\/a> with cherry tomatoes and feta. The reason they're so complementary is that dairy has a primarily fatty, savory flavor while tomato (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tomato-a-fruit-or-vegetable\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">which is a fruit<\/a>, after all) adds a balancing acidity and brightness. The slight sweetness of the concentrated tomato paste helps cut through the richness of a pan of mac and cheese, lending more complexity to the final dish.\r\n<h2>What else makes Martha's mac and cheese special?<\/h2>\r\nYou can find Martha's family recipe on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marthastewart.com\/318223\/mrs-kostyras-mac-and-cheese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her website<\/a>. In addition to the tomato paste, the recipe also calls for 1\/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to add the slightest bit of heat, much as the tomato paste adds that welcome acidity. (You may have noticed, Big Martha says on the show that she doesn't use cayenne in her recipe. That ingredient still shows up in what Martha Stewart's website calls \"Mrs. Kostyra's Mac and Cheese.\") Instead of bread crumbs, Martha simply tops the dish with a few dots of butter, and she likes to add plenty of black pepper as well.\r\n\r\nThere's one more unconventional ingredient in this recipe: sour cream, for serving. You know, in case there's not enough dairy on the plate already!\r\n\r\n[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[\/cf]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s the reason Martha&#8217;s macaroni is ever-so-slightly pink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7801,"featured_media":2114754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[303719,303720,303745],"categories-v2":[308324,308345,308369],"coauthors":[343846],"acf":{"long_pin_file":false,"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false,"ncv_moat_option":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Martha Stewart&#039;s Secret Ingredient for Perfect Mac and Cheese<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Martha Stewart's Secret Ingredient for Perfect Mac and Cheese","description":"Her secret ingredient for mac and cheese is tomato paste, which I have never thought to add. 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For the past six years, she has covered restaurant reviews, recipes, breaking news, fast food taste tests, industry trends, and competitive eating. She most recently helmed The Takeout, a Midwest-based food website, and previously served as managing editor at The Onion. She also contributes to Food &amp; Wine magazine.<\/p>","twitter":"","instagram":"","facebook":"","public_email":"","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marnie-shure-13001819b","tiktok":"","youtube":"","location":"Chicago, IL","school_and_year":"Knox College","education":"Knox College, bachelor's in creative writing","highlights":"","expertise":"Food News","short_bio":"","user_nicename":"marnie-shure","type":"guest-author","nickname":""}},"images":{"2114754":{"image_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese-TOH-credit-Getty-2.jpg","post_data":{"ID":2114754,"post_author":"8116","post_date":"2025-02-12 09:55:16","post_date_gmt":"2025-02-12 15:55:16","post_content":"","post_title":"Martha Stewart Mac And Cheese Toh Credit Getty (2)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"inherit","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese-toh-credit-getty-2","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-02-12 09:55:40","post_modified_gmt":"2025-02-12 15:55:40","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":2114743,"guid":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese-TOH-credit-Getty-2.jpg","menu_order":0,"post_type":"attachment","post_mime_type":"image\/jpeg","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"post_meta":{"_wp_attached_file":["2025\/02\/martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese-TOH-credit-Getty-2.jpg"],"mdd_hash":["5218e1b4a68d6cd85fd1a601d1b2e526"],"mdd_size":["181915"],"_syndication_rights":["1"],"_wp_attachment_image_alt":["Baked mac and cheese skillet with an insert of Martha Stewart on the bottom right"],"_wp_attachment_metadata":["a:6:{s:5:\"width\";i:1200;s:6:\"height\";i:1200;s:4:\"file\";s:60:\"2025\/02\/martha-stewart-mac-and-cheese-TOH-credit-Getty-2.jpg\";s:8:\"filesize\";i:181915;s:5:\"sizes\";a:0:{}s:10:\"image_meta\";a:12:{s:8:\"aperture\";s:1:\"0\";s:6:\"credit\";s:0:\"\";s:6:\"camera\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"caption\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"created_timestamp\";s:1:\"0\";s:9:\"copyright\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"focal_length\";s:1:\"0\";s:3:\"iso\";s:1:\"0\";s:13:\"shutter_speed\";s:1:\"0\";s:5:\"title\";s:0:\"\";s:11:\"orientation\";s:1:\"0\";s:8:\"keywords\";a:0:{}}}"],"_one_time_use":["0"],"_image_licensor_id":[""],"_image_licensor_name":[""],"_license_type":[""],"photographer_credit_name":["Taste Recipes, Getty Images (2)"],"_wp_attachment_source_url":[""],"_wp_attachment_license":[""],"_wp_attachment_license_url":[""]}}},"current_site_slug":"toh-com","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Martha Stewart's Secret Ingredient for Perfect Mac and Cheese","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Her secret ingredient for mac and cheese is tomato paste, which I have never thought to add. 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