Mac N’ Cheese is one of my food weaknesses. I can eat Mac N’ Cheese of all kinds. I love pasta in general but love more of the creamy, cheesy pasta recipes with southern flavors and always the spicy ones. This Jalapeño Cheddar Mac N’ Cheese is so delicious. It’s cheesy, it’s creamy and it’s spicy!
HOW TO MAKE THE JALAPEÑO MAC N’ CHEESE
This recipe is super straight forward and not hard at all. Once the macaroni is cooked to al dente, which is under cooking the pasta just enough to be tender with a little firm bite, you are now ready to put everything together. Drain the pasta and set aside.
In a large heated skillet, melt the butter and add in the flour, whisking until it’s nice and smooth. Pour in the milk and continue whisking and then let the milk mixture simmer for a few minutes until it thickens up. Reduce the heat and then add the salt, shredded mozzarella and jalapeño cheddar cheese. You can add little pieces of chopped jalapeño at this point. When the cheese completely melts out, add the cooked pasta and stir to coat well.
If you would like to add some proteins to this dish, you can always cook them on the side and place in at the same time you put in the pasta. Just add 1/2 cup cheese and 1/4 cup more milk to prevent it from coming out dry because the proteins suck up some of the sauce.
Add more sliced jalapeño on the top and top with some panko breadcrumbs and more shredded jalapeño cheddar cheese. I usually toast the breadcrumbs in a skillet, giving them a light spray of olive oil to obtain a nice golden color. They will get brown super fast so watch out for them. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on 400 degrees F. If you don’t have an oven proof skillet, you can always place it in any other baking pan or baking dish like Pyrex to do that. Remove and let cool for a few minute then serve.
That’s about it for this delicious Jalapeño Cheddar Mac N’ Cheese dish. I hope you enjoy it. Please take a moment to share or save this recipe by pining it to your Pinterest board if you liked it and don’t forget to tag me with your delicious recreations! I am on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST, so you can also follow me there. XoXo…
OTHER MAC N’ CHEESE RECIPE YOU MAY LIKE:
Easy Cajun Chicken Mac N’ Cheese
One Pot Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese
Jalapeño Cheddar Mac N Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 oz. large elbow pasta uncooked
- 3 tbsps. butter
- 3 tbsps. all purpose flour
- 2 cups white cheddar cheese shredded, or Jalapeno white Cheddar for more spice
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 3 cups whole milk or 2 cups milk, 1 cup pasta water for lower calories
- 4 oz. cream cheese low fat
- 1½ tsp. onion powder
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 large jalapeños one diced with seeds off, one sliced
Topping
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tbsps. butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375 F.
- Cook pasta al dente according to package direction. About 6-7 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium-low heat, melt 1 tbsp. of butter and add in the panko crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the butter and continue mixing over medium low heat until the crumb are "lightly" golden brown in color. Remove from skillet and set aside on a plate or bowl. Clean the skillet with a paper towel to remove any leftover crumbs.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tbsps. of butter and add in the garlic and diced jalapeno to sauté for a minute or two. Then add in the flour and whisk well with the butter to obtain a nice smooth pasty texture.
- Pour in the milk and continue whisking for a minute until any lumps of flour are completely gone. Add in the salt, black pepper and onion powder and cream cheese. Mix well to combine.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the mixture to thicken up a little while you continue to mix slowly for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the white cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese and mix to combine well until the cheese melts completely and sauce thickens up. Pour in the pasta, sliced jalapenos and mix to coat well with the cheese sauce.
- Pour the pasta into a baking dish or keep in the same skillet if skillet is oven proof to make it a one pot dish.
- Top the pasta with the breadcrumbs mix and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before serving. Garnish with some freshy chopped parsley and sliced/ diced jalapeno peppers.
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