It’s the Thanksgiving dish that has taken over the tables: Tini’s mac and cheese. Some argue that mac and cheese isn’t a Thanksgiving dish; some say it’s a cult classic, but will this contender be here to stay or not?
Tineke “Tini” Younger is the chef behind the recipe. After posting the recipe on TikTok, it has amassed over 78.4 million views and 8.4 million likes. Last year’s Thanksgiving, she posted the recipe, and it got over 131 million views and 13.5 million likes. You might get the impression that since she’s a TikTok chef, she has no real experience in the culinary world, right? Wrong. Not only has she built a following of 10.1 million followers on TikTok and 50k on Instagram, Tini has been a contestant on Next Level Chef season two, and she appeared again on season three as a special guest. She then went on Gordon Ramsay’s Bite Originals channel on YouTube. She also attended a culinary program at her high school and took culinary classes at the Frederick Community College Monroe Center.
The ingredients to this mac and cheese are:
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Cavatappi pasta (the whole box)
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1 lb mozzarella cheese
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1 lb Colby Jack cheese
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8 oz. sharp cheddar
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1 teaspoon garlic powder
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1 teaspoon smoked paprika
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1 teaspoon coarse salt
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⅕ teaspoon ground black pepper
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2 tablespoons salted butter
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3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
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12 oz. evaporated milk
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2 cups heavy cream
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1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
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Fresh parsley
And the recipe:
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Grate the cheese manually. Tini says not to buy store-bought grated cheese because “they have a film on it…and your mac and cheese is going to turn out grainy.”.
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Cook the pasta in salted boiling water. Cook it for 7 minutes if you’re serving the pasta tomorrow; cook it for 8 minutes for the day of.
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While the pasta is boiling:
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Combine the seasonings.
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Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, then put half of the seasonings in the pan to “bloom the seasoning,” then add the rest.
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Then add the flour into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.
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Add the evaporated milk in quarters while whisking the pan. After you’re done pouring the evaporated milk, whisk for a minute.
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Add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
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Slowly add the heavy cream, then cook for 2 minutes.
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On low heat, slowly add the cheese while whisking.
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Add the pasta into the sauce and mix until desired.
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Put half of the macaroni in a baking dish and layer the cheese.
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Then add the rest and layer the cheese; garnish with fresh parsley.
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Put it in the oven at 350 degrees until all the cheese on top is melted.
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Then, broil it for 2 minutes.
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Enjoy!
You’ve probably seen it on your FYP a million times now. The cheese pull, cutting the square in the dish, the fails, the reviews, everything. Tini’s mac and cheese has also sold out the cavatappi pasta shape in almost every store, with chefs going to 6 stores without finding the coil-shaped noodle. Jenny Hoang ‘25 says, “This is the best pasta I have ever had. Like, wow, I don’t know how to describe it other than incredible. You have to try this recipe.” Paulina Galvan ‘25 says, “You know, cooking the pasta wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Seeing Tini do it intimidated me because in her video, she mentioned that a lot of these small mistakes can mess up the entire pasta, and I didn’t bring ingredients for 2, but as long as you don’t burn the sauce, I think you’re fine. I served it to my mom, and she was very impressed. I did think it was really cheesy, though.”
So, Tini’s mac and cheese is the viral recipe that has taken over the Thanksgiving table. But luckily for us, mac and cheese isn’t only served at Thanksgiving (unlike our poor friend turkey) but year-round! So, we have all the time in the world to make this mac and cheese; it’s up to you. Are you going to make Tini’s mac and cheese?