Dairy stand owners Abraham and Mahala Stouffer opened their first Stouffer’s restaurant in Cleveland in 1924, and by 1990, the Stouffer’s name was on 68 restaurants and 40 hotels. But by 1992, the company's frozen food business, which started in the '50s, was so successful that Stouffer's sold off its hospitality segment to focus on the brand's booming frozen food empire. 

It’s not clear when the company’s spaghetti and meatballs were first sold in freezer sections, but many of Stouffer’s first products were inspired by meals served at the chain’s restaurants, including the popular macaroni and cheese (cloned here), Salisbury steak, corn soufflé, and stuffed peppers.

For my Stouffer’s Spaghetti and Meatballs copycat recipe, I started with the meatballs by first defrosting a frozen serving of the dish, then separating the sauce from the six ½-ounce balls of meat. Using the ingredients list as a guide, I made several batches of tiny meatballs with a combination of beef and pork, along with breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, seasoning, and a little beaten egg to hold everything together, until I achieved a good match. Once I had enough meatballs for six servings of the dish, it was time to move on to the sauce.

The sauce came together nicely after sautéing some onions and garlic in oil, then adding tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and seasonings. After simmering the sauce for 30 minutes, I placed six meatballs on a small pile of cooked spaghetti, then poured the sauce over everything, creating a perfect match to the 12 5/8-ounce single-serving of the famous frozen entrée.

If you're still hungry, check out my copycat recipes for other famous entrées here.

What is it about Stouffer's Macaroni & Cheese that makes it the number one choice for true mac & cheese maniacs? It's probably the simple recipe that includes wholesome ingredients like skim milk and real Cheddar cheese, without any preservatives or unpronounceable chemicals. The basic Stouffer's Mac and Cheese ingredients are great for kitchen cloners who want an easy fix that doesn't require much shopping. 

I created my Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese copycat recipe to work as an exact duplicate of the actual product: a frozen dish that you heat up later in the oven. This way, you'll get slightly browned macaroni & cheese that looks like it posed for the nicely lit photo on the Stouffer's box. 

Since you'll only need about 3/4 cup of uncooked elbow macaroni for each recipe, you can make several 4-person servings with just one 16-ounce box of macaroni, and then keep them all in the freezer until the days when your troops have their mac & cheese attacks. Be sure to use freshly shredded Cheddar cheese here, since it melts much better than pre-shredded cheese (and it's cheaper). Use a whisk to stir the sauce often as it thickens, so that you get a smooth—not lumpy or grainy—finished product. 

If you're still hungry, check out my copycat recipes for famous entrées here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.