I tried a recipe for a single serving of mac and cheese. It’s packed with protein and only took 20 minutes to make.

When I read “creamy protein mac and cheese” in the recipe title, I honestly expected to see Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in the ingredients list.

So, I was surprised to see that tofu was one of the key components of the dish. I like tofu, but I was worried about how it would affect the sauce’s flavor. Would it be too earthy?

Besides the tofu, the rest of the ingredients — salt, elbow macaroni, milk, garlic salt, butter, and shredded cheddar cheese — sounded like the start of a fantastic meal.

I started a pot of salted water on the stove to boil. While that was heating up, I shredded some cheese and measured out the rest of my ingredients.

After tossing the noodles into boiling water, I got to work on the sauce, which simply involved blending tofu, milk, and garlic salt — a much faster method than the roux (a mixture of fat and flour) I typically make for homemade mac sauces.

After the pasta was cooked and drained, I dumped in the shredded cheese, butter, and blended tofu mixture.

It only took about 30 seconds for the cheese and tofu mixture to melt together into what looked and smelled like a very promising, luscious sauce.

I was curious whether silken tofu could really be the secret to a creamy cheese sauce.

I served the entire portion of pasta in a bowl, and I was happy to find that this was a generous single serving.

However, I noticed some minor separation in the cheese sauce, despite shredding my own rather than using pre-shredded, which usually has anti-caking agents that prevent a sauce from incorporating smoothly.

After noticing the sauce breaking slightly, I braced myself for a gritty or clumpy texture. But alas, this recipe impressed me.

The sauce was silky smooth, and it wasn’t super stringy like some cheese sauces can sometimes be. Also, I didn’t taste the tofu at all — only cheesy, garlicky goodness.

Making this recipe took me from 1 p.m. to 1:24 p.m., including the time it took for the water to start boiling and the several breaks I took to take photos.

I really enjoyed this mac and cheese and already plan to make it again for a quick, fulfilling lunch.

Moving forward, I think adding some more seasoning, like extra garlic salt and some paprika, would elevate it even more. As a bonus, I think this would also be delicious with veggies, so I may throw in some broccoli, tomatoes, peas, spinach, or zucchini next time.

Overall, this is such a simple recipe that’s easy to customize. I already know it’ll be a staple for my future solo meals.