Caramelized Onion Mac ’n’ Cheese | In Season

At the risk of bragging, this is the best mac ’n’ cheese I’ve ever had, and there’s a good chance you’ll feel the same way. Here’s why: The cheese sauce was designed to resemble fondue, which is objectively one of the most delicious things you can make with cheese. It’s also incredibly smooth and creamy, since I replaced the usual milk (which can curdle and turn gritty) with a combination of white wine and cream. It’s a more grown-up flavor, but one that also tests very well with kids. 

Then there’s the onions, this month’s seasonal ingredient. Caramelized onions are the vegetable world’s equivalent of bacon, something so good it improves any dish. All they ask of you is the patience to wait 40 or 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they turn a deep mahogany brown. The rest of the dish comes together in a snap.

You can use any variety of onion here, all of which are abundantly available right now from local farms. Buy them in bulk, as they store well when you keep them in a dark, dry, room-temperature spot. Pro tip: Do not store onions with potatoes, as each accelerates the ripening process of the other. 

Caramelized Onion Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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