I can vouch for Annie’s four-cheese with penne (boxed) and Devour’s buffalo chicken mac (or some pasta I’m misremembering) and cheese (frozen), but these weren’t under consideration.
I’ve got a recipe that gets better each time I try and make it, but only one of my kids will eat it. I can do the whole thing in under an hour. This is from memory so I hope I didn’t omit anything:
Boil 7 oz. macaroni and heat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a casserole. Shred an 8 oz. block of sharp cheddar. Chop a white onion (works better than red).
Melt 6.5 Tbsp. butter (80g IIRC) in a pot (recipe says low heat; I went between med. and low) and cook the chopped onion until soft. (Optional: add some chopped garlic, creole seasoning etc.) Add 3 Tbsp. flour and cook until it gets foamy. Remove from heat, gradually stir in 2 c. milk, then return to heat and cook until it thickens. Lower heat and simmer 5 min. Stir in 2 tsp. whole-grain mustard (someone here told me that’s the kind where you can see seeds in it) and 3/4 of the shredded cheese. Stir in the macaroni. Season to taste (if you didn’t already add garlic, creole seasoning, etc.)
Pour the whole thing into the greased casserole, put the rest of the cheese on top along with some breadcrumbs (can’t remember the amount – I toasted the ends from a loaf of bread and crumbled them up). Bake for 15 minutes until bubbling.
