My boxed mac and cheese was watery mush for 3 months straight until a guy at the Boise laundromat told me to stop draining the pasta so hard

Diana Rodriguez · 2026-10-09T21:45:03.809588+00:00

I make the blue box stuff at least twice a week because I work late and it's cheap. For 3 months it came out soupy every single time, and I could not figure out why. I was draining the noodles in a colander and shaking it like crazy to get every drop of water out. This guy at my laundromat in Boise heard me complaining and said to just leave a little pasta water in the pot, maybe 2 tablespoons, and skip the butter. Turns out the sauce powder needs that starchy water to thicken up, and the butter was making it greasy on top of that. Now it's creamy every time and I feel like an idiot for not asking sooner. Has anyone else had a boxed dinner that only worked after you changed one dumb little step?

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My boxed mac and cheese was watery mush for 3 months straight until a guy at the Boise laundromat told me to stop draining the pasta so hard | Cooking Fails Confessional - Talk Freely