Macaroni cheese

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

What sides do you serve with it? I can’t stand the stuff and never really serve it. But I have guests including dc, one of whom apparently adores it. So I’m going to do one. I’m not worried about that at all, I make a good cheese sauce and am under strict instructions to make it extra cheesy! However I just can’t get my head round what you are meant to serve with it. To me it screams for veg, maybe grilled tomatoes and mushrooms? Or peas? I did think salad to keep it light but can’t get past the through of gloopy cheese sauce getting on my leaves! I like the idea of leeks but not very summery.
Should I do garlic bread? Do I need to add any more carb, it’s stodgy enough as it is?
I fear I’m over thinking this!

Amazed by the number of people who have bread with macaroni cheese! I'm a big fan of carbs but not sure I could manage that much stodge in one sitting.

I do a salad with macaroni for adults, or just peas if it's for my toddler aged DC.

A green salad with strong leaves like rocket and watercress, halved cherry tomatoes and a little chopped spring onion with a good balsamic dressing.

In Scotland it is often served with chips, peas and garlic bread !

I put leeks and pancetta in the macaroni cheese, but don't do anything on the side.

Thanks all! I’m going to make a salad, grill some tomatoes and do peas. Then people can have whichever they prefer. I like the idea of adding before baking but as this particular guest has quite limited likes i’ll leave them out this time. Bacon with/in it sounds great but I’m catering for a few veggies in the mix so will bank that for another time.

I’m still undecided on the garlic bread!!!!

broccoli or asparagus and we'll out out some cut carrots or pepper or cucumbers too for the kids to get some veg. My MIL and SIL consider Mac n cheese a 'Healthy" option and think we're mad adding veg... white pasta, white cheese, white breadcrumbs... when did that become the healthy option for kids???

we usually do a side salad too...

@LowlandLucky

In Scotland it is often served with chips, peas and garlic bread !

Oh yes.MC, Chips and garlic bread, ina pub in Aviemore. Truly one of the best meals I’ve ever had. DH remembers his deep fried MC pie fondly too.

@LowlandLucky

In Scotland it is often served with chips, peas and garlic bread !

Or in a pie. You could do Scottish Wigan fusion and serve it in a barm. Triple carbs .

For the posters questioning the addition of bread, it doesn't necessarily add extra food, because if you have bread, you'd likely eat less of the macaroni cheese. It's nice for variety, and is useful for mopping up the sauce.

Now chips and cauliflower cheese do go perfectly.

We had a side of Mac and cheese with a Sunday dinner at Mac & Wild pub in Scotland and it was amazing!

Macaroni cheese needs no veg! I am hideously lactose intolerant so I use lacto-free cheddar and make the sauce with soya/oat milk. I put crispy bits of chorizo or bacon in it. Sometimes also mushrooms. If I need to do a vegetarian version I do two kinds of mushroom and cherry toms. It's comfort food; central heating for the body in winter!

Thanks for calling it macaroni cheese and not "mac n cheese" !

We always put bacon, cauliflower and leek in the macaroni cheese itself, so don't tend to do anything with it. The only exception is Christmas Eve. I always do a big ham for dinner that day (to last as cold ham over the Christmas period) and do macaroni cheese to go with it. Pure comfort food!

I always put broccoli and peas in.

I know lots of mumsnetters don't like Jamie Oliver but his green macaroni cheese is lovely

As a bare minimum we out lardons in it and too with sliced tomatoes before baking. You could also add in leeks, cauliflower, broccoli. My only worry would be you've got a child who loves it coming and it is highly likely that child just had macaroni pasta and cheese sauce with nothing else, so I wouldn't add anything to the actual Mac and cheese.
How about some oven roasted cherry tomatoes,
buttered leeks and mixed baby leaf all in separate serving dishes and people can help themselves if they want.