Though I was raised on a fair amount of boxed mac and cheese and had become well-versed in the semi-homemade mac and cheese space at a young age, I hadn’t met a mac of the baked variety until my 20s.

In addition to plenty of delicious and comforting ground beef and chicken breast creations courtesy of Mom, I was raised on a fair amount of boxed mac and cheese. In fact, the blue box is the first ...