How do you make any food better?!….fry it!!!….at least that’s what I say! It also helps that I already have a deep fryer so it only makes sense to fry whatever you can! I first fell in love with these delicious devils at the Cheesecake Factory! I couldn’t replicate their amazingness but these weren’t bad at all! If I make them again, I would add more flavoring to the macaroni noodles themselves, just more salt and pepper and definitely a little more cheese! You can never have too much cheese 😉
(This recipe made about 15 medium-sized balls)
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Fried Mac and Cheese Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 or 5 pieces of bacon
- ½ pound large elbow macaroni
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup whole milk heated
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 3/4 cup grated smoked Gouda cheese
- 3/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
- salt and pepper, I don’t think I put enough in so be generous
- Another ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 box Panko bread crumbs
- Peanut oil, or canola. Whatever you have available
Instructions
- Put your bacon in the oven at 425 degrees and cook for about 15min (You don’t want the bacon all the way cooked because it’ll cook more when you put it in the fryer!). Let cool and then cut into little pieces and set aside.
- Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the box. Also set aside for the moment.
- In a saucepan, melt your butter.
- Once the butter is melted, mix in the flour making sure there are no lumps.
- Add the milk (Make sure not to wait too long, or else that butter might burn!) and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and mix in all the cheese.
- Immediately fold in cooked macaroni and bacon, and season with salt and pepper.
- Chill in the refrigerator for two hours.
- Now shape the cold macaroni and cheese into balls. These weren’t as big as Cheesecake Factory’s cheese balls, just a little smaller, but not bite sized. You can make them any size you want though!
- Place the formed balls into the freezer for an hour or so.
- Take them out of the freezer and compress them into even tighter balls and put them back in the freezer for another 45 min or so.
- Set up three bowls.In the first bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and sugar.In the second bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.In the third bowl, put in a pile of Panko.
- Heat up your oil in your deep fryer (I use this one) or large, deep skillet.
- Roll each ball in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and finally the Panko.
- Drop each ball in the fryer until lightly golden brown.
- Remove balls from fryer and let dry on a paper towel to drain off excess oil.
- Serve immediately!
Nutrition
***I think all fried macaroni and cheese balls should have some sort of sauce going on. Here’s a recipe for a Spicy Pimento Sauce I found on someoneleftthecakeoutintherain
Spicy Pimento Sauce
Ingredients:
¼ cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1 ½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
7 ounce pimento cheese spread
2 1/2 teaspoons Sriracha
Directions:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat.
Add the heavy cream and let simmer for 5 min.
Then whisk in garlic, parmesan, pimento spread, and Sriracha.
Pour over your fried macaroni and cheese balls and never look back!
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