If you’ve noticed that weirdly all the cavatappi (and not elbows) were missing from the pasta aisle right before Thanksgiving, you can thank TikTok’s favorite chef Tineke “Tini” Younger for that. And if suddenly the person who handles the mac & cheese at your family gatherings came through with a batch that tasted 10 times better than any meal they’ve ever made, well you can thank Tini for that too.
Tini is a cooking content creator who was on Next Level Chef a few years back. She’s a young chef who basically has the entire internet in a chokehold with her easy-to-follow but ridiculously delicious recipes — specifically her mac & cheese.
Do you remember in the height of the pandemic when everyone was making that Dalgona whipped coffee? Well, Tini’s mac & cheese recipe is exponentially bigger, and trending more than you could ever imagine. Her original video where she demonstrates how to make her mac & cheese has over 130 million views (her second video, recreating the recipe in her new home has over 80 million views). And people aren’t just watching her videos, they’re recreating her recipe. How do I know? Because not only have the grocery stores been cleaned out of the type of pasta Tini recommends over typical macaroni, but also because it’s all I’ve seen on my timeline.
And while mac & cheese is sometimes considered a Thanksgiving-only side, it’s great for any of the holidays. So if you don’t have the patience to watch a 3-minute video, here’s how you can make it on your own.
How To Make Tini’s Mac & Cheese
@tinekeyoungerHow to make mac n cheese for this holiday season🍂🦃❤️ Welcome to Thanksgiving with Tini where im gonna teach yall how to make EVERYTHING♬ original sound – Tini👩🏼🍳🔥
As a whole, Tini’s recipe really isn’t that complicated. She emphasizes the use of corkscrew pasta (1 lb, to be exact) for better texture and also says it’s crucial you shred your own cheese (1 lb of mozzarella, 8 oz of cheddar, and 1 lb Colby jack). She seasons the pasta with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika before making a roux with 3 tbsp of butter and 3 tbsp of flour, thickening it with one can of evaporated milk and 2 cups of heavy cream. She adds 1 tbsp of dijon mustard for flavor, and then incorporates the cheese gradually, letting it fully melt in before adding in more. Then, she mixes the pasta with the sauce, layers it with more cheese, and bakes at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. She also broils it for a few minutes afterwards, for a nice crust at the top. After it’s pulled out of the oven, she adds chives as a garnish.
I’ve had friends that made Tini’s mac & cheese recipe for Thanksgiving and they said it came out scrumptious. So if you’re looking to impress your family or dinner guests during the holidays, I’d say to start shopping for the cavatappi now.
