The Mac And Cheese Hack That Simplifies Cooking And Adds Nutrition (With No Extra Ingredients)

Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. And while boxed mac and cheese can easily be upgraded, the full-on homemade version is worth the extra time and effort. Fortunately for you, there's an easy way to simplify cooking homemade mac and cheese, all while adding some extra nutrition — and all you need is a cast iron pan.

When making your mac and cheese sauce, simply use a large cast iron pan. That way, after adding the cooked macaroni noodles to the sauce, you can pop it all in the oven still in the cast iron. This saves time on clean up, since you're not dirtying a casserole dish for the baking or broiling part. In addition, cast iron cookware imparts trace amounts of iron to the food, which gives it a nutrition boost.

Cooking with well-seasoned cast iron also adds flavor to your mac and cheese. Unlike other cooking tools, it has tiny pores that retain flavor, so it only gets better the more you use it. Additionally, it retains heat better than other kinds of cookware. A well-seasoned cast iron pan is also easier to clean than other dishes, even if you have to be a bit more careful to avoid rust. If you need tips on how to season your cast iron pan, just ask Martha Stewart.

Adding extra iron to your diet by making cornbread in a cast iron skillet might sound like an old wives' tale, but it may have more weight to it than you think. In multiple studies examined by the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, cooking with cast iron did in fact lead to either minor or significant increases in blood hemoglobin levels and iron bioavailability.

Iron is an essential nutrient for the human body. We can't make it on our own, so we're solely reliant on outside sources. It's a major component in our red blood cells, which deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, and is important for our muscles, connective tissue, brains, and hormone creation. However, as with most everything in nutrition science, more research is needed to fully understand how much using cast iron can help. It's not a replacement for iron supplements or a specialized diet recommended by a medical professional. Always consult with your doctor before making significant changes to your diet.