Dehydrated Macaroni and Cheese Easy Meal-in-a-Jar
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I have been dreaming of cooking up a macaroni and cheese recipe that is kinda like easy mac for years. It’s not anything new, I’ve just never done it. And I felt like it would be super cool and super handy to have on hand. Yes, I do can macaroni and cheese, but I also wanted to explore making a dehydrated meal in a jar that would rehydrate with even room temperature water. AND I FINALLY DID IT. After reading a ton on dehydrating pasta, making dehydrated meal packs, and studying the measurements on the freeze dried additives I added, I came up with a pretty dang good recipe that we enjoyed.
Does it replace homemade macaroni and cheese? Absolutely NOT.
It’s not a replacement, but rather a convenience. Whether it’s because we’re crazy busy and need a quick lunch or dinner, or we are able to prepare it without electricity, or we pack a couple in a bag when we’re traveling for quick and simple snacks or meals, it all comes in handy when your kitchen is not close by or easily used. People get in stitches when I can macaroni and cheese, but what they don’t realize is that macaroni and cheese in jars can be easily dumped and heated by me for a quick meal when I’m crazy busy or even sick and I know my kids are eating something good. I have a very purposeful pantry. Grubhub and Doordash don’t deliver way out here! Same with dehydrated meal packs. They’ll come in handy when I need them, but if I’m blessed with plenty of time to cook, I’m absolutely whipping up macaroni and cheese from scratch. Most of ya’ll throwing stones about my home canned mac and cheese probably buy kraft in the box, but go off!
Dehydrated Pasta
​I actually wrote a blog post about dehydrating pasta, how and why, so read that here! Dehydrated pasta is pasta that has been cooked and then dried back to to make it like “minute rice” where it just needs to be rehydrated before use. You can do it with room temperature water and give it about 30 minutes, or use boiling water and it’ll be ready in a few minutes. It’s also great for adding to recipes to speed up dinner time, like slow cooker meals and soups. Toss it in, rehydrate, and serve!
Dehydrated foods get overlooked because everyone nowadays is obsessed with a freeze dryer. Which, yeah, they’re pretty amazing, but you’re looking at a $150 or less machine versus a couple thousand dollar machine, so you do what works best for your budget. I have a dehydrator, not a freeze dryer, so that’s what I’ll be sharing. And it never fails, I’ll always get the “but it’d taste better if you freeze dried it.” Actually… pasta dehydrates just fine. Once you cook it, drain and cool it off, it doesn’t continue cooking in the dehydrator. Many dehydrated foods have a really great texture as opposed to freeze dried. They’re two different methods and create two different products, so it really isn’t fair to compare them.
Choosing Your Portion Size
While this recipe could absolutely be stored in 4 half-pint jars, I choose to use pint jars because you can add the hot (or room temperature) water directly to the jar and let it rehydrate there. LESS DISHES. Pint jars would be great for kid meals on the go, college students, and even for take and go lunches for work. They’re easy to pack, small, and work great with hot water or in the microwave. I use a quart for an emergency meal so I know I have one meal in a jar. It just works for my brain that way. BUT, I also use pint jars to I have quick and easy meals, or sides, in case I’m sick or unable to cook for some reason. Use the jar size that works for you!
Let’s assemble one of my favorite pantry staples!
Equipment You Might Want:
- Food Dehydrator
- Mesh Dehydrator Mats
- Mixing Bowl
- Jar Funnel
- 4 pint or 1 quart canning jar
- Lids
- Mason Jar Vacuum Sealer
Ingredients:
- 3 cups dehydrated macaroni
- 1 cup cheese powder
- 2 Tbs heavy cream powder
- 1 1/2 Tbs butter powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
Step 1: Prep
Allow dehydrated pasta to cool to room temperature before adding to jars. Be sure and cook the pasta FIRST, rinse and cool, and dehydrate it or it will not work when trying to rehydrate this recipe.
Fill each pint jar to the 1 cup line with dehydrated macaroni. If using 1 quart jar, add all the dehydrated pasta to the jar. Using pint jars allows you to “make” the easy mac in the jar as opposed to using half-pint jars in case you were wondering about my math skills.
In a small mixing bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and stir to combine well.
If using 4 pint jars, add 5 Tbs of the cheese powder mix to each pint jar and then evenly distribute the remainder between the jars. If using a quart jar, dump the entire batch of cheese powder mix into the jar using a jar funnel. Gently tap the jar to move the cheese powder down as it will all fit inside a quart jar.
Step 2: Storage
Wipe the top of the jar off with a clean, dry towel.
Add a lid and vacuum seal for shorter term storage, around 6 months. To increase shelf life storage, add a properly sized oxygen absorbers to the jar, add the lid, and vacuum seal. The macaroni and cheese should store several years this way!
You can alternatively break this up into meal packs into small mylar pouches, especially if you’re going to be hiking or on the trail.
Store jars in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight. Same with mylar bags, but I would put mylar in another container that’s rodent proof because they can chew right through that to get to the gold mine of a cheesy snack you leave for them!
Step 3: To Prepare
To prepare a PINT jar, add 1 cup of room temperature or boiling water straight to the jar. I add enough water to generously cover the pasta to start. Stir to combine, cover, and allow it to sit until rehydrated, up to 30 minutes. Periodically check and stir it and see if it needs a bit more water added while it rehydrates. Err on the side of less water and just add it as you need it because one it’s there, you can’t take it away and nobody likes a watery mac and cheese! To check if it’s done, eat a macaroni noodle and see how the texture is. To speed up the process, bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a small sauce pan, add the pint of dehydrated easy mac, and stir. Cook on low heat until the pasta is rehydrated, about 5 minutes. This method does require a bit more water, so watch that.
To prepare a QUART jar, dump the jar into a bowl and add 3 cups of water (room temperature or boiling) and do the same as the pint jars. A quart jar will feed my family of 4 with sides.
I hope this gets you started making your own meals that are shelf stable and easy to make without electricity so you’re prepared and eating good even during a storm!
Long-term food storage isn’t weird and it isn’t doomsday prepping; it’s just smart and logical.
Equipment
- 4 pint or 1 quart canning jar
- Lids
Ingredients
- 3 cups dehydrated macaroni
- 1 cup cheese powder
- 2 Tbs heavy cream powder
- 1 1/2 Tbs butter powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
Instructions
- Allow dehydrated pasta to cool to room temperature before adding to jars. Be sure and cook the pasta FIRST, rinse and cool, and dehydrate it or it will not work when trying to rehydrate this recipe.
- Fill each pint jar to the 1 cup line with dehydrated macaroni. Â If using 1 quart jar, add all the dehydrated pasta to the jar. Using pint jars allows you to "make" the easy mac in the jar as opposed to using half-pint jars in case you were wondering about my math skills.
- In a small mixing bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and stir to combine well.
- If using 4 pint jars, add 5 Tbs of the cheese powder mix to each pint jar and then evenly distribute the remainder between the jars. If using a quart jar, dump the entire batch of cheese powder mix into the jar using a jar funnel. Gently tap the jar to move the cheese powder down as it will all fit inside a quart jar.
- Wipe the top of the jar off with a clean, dry towel.
- Add a lid and vacuum seal for shorter term storage, around 6 months. To increase shelf life storage, add a properly sized oxygen absorbers to the jar, add the lid, and vacuum seal. The macaroni and cheese should store several years this way!
- You can alternatively break this up into meal packs into small mylar pouches, especially if you’re going to be hiking or on the trail.
- Store jars in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight. Same with mylar bags, but I would put mylar in another container that’s rodent proof because they can chew right through that to get to the gold mine of a cheesy snack you leave for them!
To Prepare
- To prepare a PINT jar, add 1 cup of room temperature or boiling water straight to the jar. I add enough water to generously cover the pasta to start. Stir to combine, cover, and allow it to sit until rehydrated, up to 30 minutes. Periodically check and stir it and see if it needs a bit more water added while it rehydrates. Err on the side of less water and just add it as you need it because one it's there, you can't take it away and nobody likes a watery mac and cheese! To check if it's done, eat a macaroni noodle and see how the texture is. To speed up the process, bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a small sauce pan, add the pint of dehydrated easy mac, and stir. Cook on low heat until the pasta is rehydrated, about 5 minutes. This method does require a bit more water, so watch that.
- To prepare a QUART jar, dump the jar into a bowl and add 3 cups of water (room temperature or boiling) and do the same as the pint jars. A quart jar will feed my family of 4 with sides.
