Recipes

[mspatmac]

I make baked mac and cheese with a planko bread crumb topping.  Lots of spices, bacon and made from scratch. Truly gourmet.  Found recipe on line.  To hot here in Texas for the oven right now so it macaroni salad instead.

[PA Mom-mom]

@geegerbee  I agree with the dry mustard advice, and I most certainly agree with @Icegoddess  that sharp Vermont cheddar is a great cheese to use. I use the Cabot extra sharp white cheddar.You could also use a combination of cheeses For now, add some extra salt to the batch you already have. Next time, make sure you salt your pasta water too.

[KBEANS]

My mom always stewed tomatoes and onions with a pinch of oregano and basil, and added this into the elbows before mixing in the cheese which was usually a mix of velveeta and pecorino Romano cheese. It was always delicious. 

My lazy azz takes a short cut and opens up a bottle of Francesco Rinaldi tomato and basil spaghetti sauce, (1/2  to 3/4 cup ) microwave it with the onions until they softened and this is pretty quick and tasty too!

People use Rotelle with green chiles and add that in too.

[cindyNC]

I would add some additional cheeses......cream cheese, maybe some swiss and some parmigan (ok, can't spell it).  Guess it depends on what you mean by bland........not cheesy enough, not spicy enough?  Lots of good suggestions here. 

[chickenbutt]

ITA about 'extra sharp cheddar'.  It's one of my favs (I LOVE cheese!!!) and I always have some on hand.   It's great for this dish as there is more flavor, IMO, than just a regular cheddar.

Also, I don't use  that 'American cheese' but  I keep on hand some of the 'sharp cheddar'  slices  (Kraft, but not the individually wrapped ones) and will put one or two of those slices, depending on the batch size, just to make it more melty.

[qbetzforreal]

Sharp cheddar along with medium cheddar.  Paprika and dry mustard.

[GenXmuse]

Mustard or Tabasco sauce, or both!

[Enufstuff]

@geegerbee  I use four cheeses: Shredded Mozzarella

                                                     Shredded Swiss

                                                     Shredded Cheddar

                                                     Grated Parmesan

To the melted cheese mixture (whatever recipe you use)

 I add a little dehydrated onion flakes ( or if you like fresh

onions, just add a little bit, finely chopped)

Then I stir in just a splash of Worchestershire sauce.

When I put the cheese and macaroni mixture into my baking dish, I put in half and then top that with wedges of fresh tomato. Cover tomato slices with remainder of macaroni mixture. Top with breadcrumbs and bake. My family loves this.

[Juules]

Dry mustard powder maybe?

[Juules]

ok.  Well, I hadn't read the other responses before I posted mine, but mustard and paprika will jazz up your cheese dish.