I've seen recipes for mac and cheese "bites", made in mini muffin tins, but I've not made them myself...

seagrass

Do you have frying ability? You can freeze cubes of the stuff, then coat them for frying for service.

Or perhaps instead of a pasta, opt for rice and make baked arancini?

I could do that. I have arborio. I was just thinking that cheddary M&C would be good. Yes, I can fry, air fry or bake.

How do you eat this? I mean, is it a starter?

It could be, but it's more of a nibble. It's mac and cheese. Kind of plebeian for a plated starter. The kind of thing you put on a cocktail table with the chips and dip. Technically, a finger food, though classic stabbers such as cocktail forks or fancy toothpicks (though forks work better) cut down on messy fingers. Often, dipping sauces are involved depending on tastes. I do flavored mac and cheese with mix-ins, so a mustard sauce seems normal, but might be an eww to someone less familiar with such combos. Some will thin down a cheese spread, like Boursin, to gild the lily. Some go for a flavor wallop like olive tapanade. Most just eat them straight.

This looks like a decent recipe (inc. the linked base M&C recipe). The comments include success with air frier, which sounds better (or just baked) than deep fried, to me. I'll season to suit the family, though the creole seasoning sounds good to me. I'm used to just a roll in seasoned flour, but I think the panko in this recipe sounds like the touch I was missing.

https://damndelicious.net/2016/11/27/fried-mac-cheese-balls/

Oh, gawd! I want a plate of those fried Mac and cheese balls! I can't imagine a more decadent and less useful thing to eat! Heck it is 2020 and the world is like a fire in the garbage dump. Bring on the decadence!!!!!

When you first said Mac and cheese balls, I made a face. Until I saw the photo! You know that you eat with your eyes first, right? My eyes have seen the glory of Mac and cheese balls----fried!

You'll be very welcome!

I was thinking one per person... Plus a couple extras for show, and those who'd rather...

The trick was finding a recipe that didn't start with the cheap boxed stuff. The other trick seems to be evaporated milk. My big huh? was how to keep it from being too runny. Duh. Use less water, i.e., evaporated.

The pasta continues soaking up the sauce so if you cooked it the day before, it would firm up.

Yes, it's supposed to be chilled. But some of it depends on the pasta as to how much it absorbs. I hate squishy, even in macaroni. :) The recipe for the balks is recommended for leftovers. ;) I adapted to what I had, but the M&C is chilling in the fridge. I think I may fry after all, since I'll have to reheat.

oh, no.

Now that I realize that it has milk in it, my desire has deflated. yeah, of course it has milk in it. What was I thinking?

I make my Mac and cheese with no milk. My mom used to use a lot of canned milk and just the thought of it makes me gag.

Cheese I love, but milk I can't even bear to have it touch my skin. Not an allergy, just a learned response of hating anything that even resembles milk. No white sauce comes from my kitchen. I do realize that many make a cheese and Mac with a white sauce.

Wednesday, you were 100% correct about the nutritional desirability of these things. You don't have to use milk! You do need some binder, but you could probably just use a little starch and have it sticky enough. As long as it’ll stick together when warm, without falling apart in the fry, it’ll work. If you really want to go there. ;D

Moderate success. The M&C needed sodium citrate. I didn't think of that. The panko made them too crunchy, and the mac was high protein (what I had), which makes lovely M&C, but perhaps too firm for proper gooey for the balls. Most of all, I had a memory. My mother used to use a temperature controlled electric skillet for pancakes and fried chicken. There's a reason! I don't mind cooking on coil, usually, but frying just isn’t working. I can't get the temperature right. At home, on the induction it's easy. On gas it takes more watching but works. The electric is just too hard to control. But they tasted good.

I don't have a recipe but I had some at a restaurant today as an appetizer shared with someone else and they looked delicious and they were tasty but they were kind of bland. I really would like them perked up with scallions and jalapenos and something

They probably used a kiddie recipe. ;) I like a lot of onion flavor at the least. Cayenne is good too if you don't have any chili peppers.