Level Up Your Mac & Cheese with This Famous Snack Chip 

If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly looking for ways to make mac and cheese even better. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a reason why this dish is a classic in its original form – but I think we can all agree that it can sometimes use a little extra something, right? And I’ve tried it all, folks. Tuna? Curry powder? Store-bought kimchi? They’ve all made it into my mac and cheese with some, shall we say, mixed results. 

I probably shouldn’t have bothered with any of those, though, because one of the best ways to level up mac and cheese is also the easiest. By using Lay’s potato chips, you can give your mac a wild amount of extra flavor in a matter of seconds.

Crumble Up Your Favorite Lay’s Chips, and Put Them on Your Mac and Cheese

To add Lay’s chips to mac and cheese, all you have to do is grab your favorite flavor (check out our ranking of our favorite Lay’s flavors), take out a couple of handfuls, and then place them in a Ziploc bag (or non-branded bag, your choice). Crunch them up, either with your hands or with the back of a wooden spoon, and then sprinkle on top of your prepared mac and cheese before you put it in the oven. The chips will take the place of breadcrumbs, providing the same amount of texture but with way more flavor. As they cook, they get exponentially more crispy, as the fat in each chip keeps them sizzling away. 

The thing we love about this hack is that it works with any type of mac and cheese. You can toss your chips onto a lovingly-made mac that you’ve been putting together for hours, or you can scatter them onto your favorite boxed mac and cheese. You can even add them to a frozen mac and cheese (although if you’re doing this, make sure you cook it until it’s almost done before adding the chips, so that they don’t get soggy as the dish thaws, and burn because they’ve been cooked for too long). The world’s your oyster, folks. 

Which Lay’s Flavor Is Best for Mac and Cheese?

If you want to keep things simple, Lay’s Classic Potato Chips are your best bet. These chips have a delightful saltiness to them that will amp up the flavor of your mac and cheese without distracting from it. Alternatively, if you want to give your dish a bit of drama, opt for a Lay’s flavor that’s a bit more left-field. The dill pickle potato chips, for example, can infuse your mac and cheese with a dynamite sourness, while the Chile Limón flavor adds a pop of heat. You can also mix it up texturally; opting for wavy potato chips instead of classic ones for a bit more crunch. Just make sure that you crush wavy potato chips up really well, as they tend to turn into shards that get stuck between your teeth (which no-one wants, right?).