Spicy Mac And Cheese with a kick from jalapeño. Luscious, creamy and made with simple ingredients. This is a family favorite and I love to make it as a side throughout the summer and for holidays.
Why Make This Spicy Mac And Cheese
This recipe is super easy to follow. The dish is made from scratch with wholesome ingredients. The entire family will love it. I love spice! If you do too, this recipe is for you! You can sub some of the ingredients to keep it a bit more low calorie, and you can easily make this less spicy, just be sure to read the notes on how. This dish can be reheated easily with some extra milk, and you can add veggies to make it a bit more nutritious.
Ingredients Needed
Butter. I like to use unsalted so that I can salt it to my taste, you can use salted if needed, just be sure to taste as you go.
Onion. I like to use white or yellow onion, either will work great. this adds a little depth of flavor to the dish.
All Purpose Flour. This is used to make a roux. It thickens things and brings them all together in a silky sauce.
Seasonings. Salt, garlic powder, cayenne powder, paprika.
Jalapeños. Fresh jalapeños are the perfect way to spice things up, they add a little color and certainly kick it up a notch. If you need to keep things mild, be sure to discard the seeds.
Milk. You can use 2% or whole milk, really either will work great! If you would like to watch the calories a bit more, go for 1 or 2% milk.
Cheddar Cheese. I like to use sharp, pre-shredded cheddar cheese for this recipe.
Pasta. Traditionally Macaroni or elbow pasta. Shells will also work wonderfully.
Steps To Make This Recipe
Step One. Preheat oven to 450º. Start with cooking the pasta according to the package, al dente (be sure to salt the water). While the pasta is cooking, add butter to a large over safe skillet or dutch oven.
Step Two. While the butter is melting, add chopped onions, one of the chopped jalapeños, sprinkle flour and seasonings and whisk everything together for about 2 minutes, or until the butter is melted and lightly browned.
Step Three. Pour the measured milk into the mixture, turn the heat to medium low. You may need some more milk to thin and keep the cheese silky, so please keep the milk handy! Add the cheese right after the milk, mix in well, until the cheese is fully melted and the mixture is silky smooth (you can add 1/4 cup of milk more if needed!)
Step Four. Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce, combine everything well. You can either serve as is or; what I like to do is bake it! Add 1/4 cup of(additional) cheddar over the pasta mix, add additional jalapeños for garnish. Bake in the oven on 450º for about 8-10 minutes or until everything is bubbly and lightly browned and serve.
Tips and FAQ's
This spicy mac and cheese reheats well, just simply add some milk over it before reheating to rehydrate everything. I microwave on low for 2-3 minutes.
This could be the type of flour you used or the cheese. Just add another 1/4 cup of milk to the mix until you get your desired consistency. I also add 1/4 cup of milk over everything before baking it for a few minutes.
Recipe Pairings For Spicy Mac and Cheese
This spicy mac and cheese would pair great with my teriyaki chicken kabobs or my chicken tenders. You can also just add rotisserie chicken to it to make it more filling.
Make Ahead And Storage Tips
If you want to make this ahead of time, I suggest you make sure you have plenty of milk left for reheating. As mentioned before, having extra milk handy is important to get the perfect most silky texture for the cheese. This recipe will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container for up to 5 days or you can freeze it for up to two months.
To reheat, add to a large microwave safe bowl and add 1/4 cup of milk and heat on medium/low for about 2-4 minutes
Other Pasta Dishes To Try
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Spicy Mac And Cheese
Equipment
- large oven safe skillet or shallow dutch oven
Ingredients
- 3 cup elbow pasta *see notes
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
- ¼ cup onions, diced
- 1-2 jalapeños, chopped *see notes
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 cups milk *1 or 2 %
- 3 cups cheddar cheese *plus 1/4 more for topping before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450º. Start with cooking the pasta according to the package, al dente (be sure to salt the water). While the pasta is cooking, add butter to a large over safe skillet or dutch oven.
- While the butter is melting, add chopped onions, one of the chopped jalapeños, sprinkle flour and seasonings and whisk everything together for about 2 minutes, or until the butter is melted and lightly browned.
- Pour the measured milk into the mixture, turn the heat to medium low. You may need some more milk to thin and keep the cheese silky, so please keep the milk handy! Add the cheese right after the milk, mix in well, until the cheese is fully melted and the mixture is silky smooth (you can add 1/4 cup of milk more if needed!)
- Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce, combine everything well. You can either serve as is or; what I like to do is bake it! Add 1/4 cup of (additional) cheddar over the pasta mix, add additional jalapeños for garnish. Bake in the oven on 450º for about 8-10 minutes or until everything is bubbly and lightly browned and serve.
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