Zesty White Mac and Cheese
Nothing better than comfort food in the fall and winder months! Mac and cheese is one of the best comfort foods I know. It’s even better with some added “heat” to make it zesty and cheeeesy!
I’m sharing my new Zesty Macaroni and Cheese made with sharp white cheese creamy sauce, some added zest from chipotle and red pepper spice and baked to perfection!
It’s finally starting to get cold over here! Yippee!
Of course, by cold I mean low 70s during the day. So chilly at night but beautiful during the day!
Cooler weather calls for a lot of warm and comforting recipes! Soups, stews, hot dips and of course… macaroni and cheese!
I was in a mood for mac and cheese the other day and I wanted to try something new with it. I got some sharp white cheddar cheese and saw some aged Provolone on the shelf. I thought it would be perfect in the mac and cheese, and it was!
A little zest only added to perfection! The flavor was amazing and the dish was so cheesy and creamy! Heaven!
Zesty White Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup diced shallots
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes of you like more spice, you can add more but be careful
- 2 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
- 8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese grated off the block
- 4 oz pepper jack cheese grated off the block
- Salt to taste
- 10 oz dry Trottole pasta or pasta of your choosing
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package.
- In a medium pot, melt the butter on medium heat. Add diced shallots and cook until transparent. Add minced (or grated) garlic and saute until fragrant.
- Mix flour, chipotle pepper spice and red pepper flakes together. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the onions. Using a silicone covered whisk, start stirring and slowly add the milk. Keep whisking while adding the milk.
- Cook on medium heat until starts to thicken.
- Grate in the cheeses while stirring often (leave a little bit of cheese for topping). Keep stirring slowly until all smooth.
- Salt to taste.
- Mix with pasta until all evenly combined.
- Lightly grease a baking dish and transfer the mac and cheese mixture into the dish.
- Sprinkle with some cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Nutrition
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I LOVE mac and cheese! I will have to try this out soon – love the chipotle twist!
This combination of cheese and spice sounds delicious. I’m a big mac and cheese fan so I will be trying this. Thanks for sharing.
Hope you do, Sarah! Thank you 🙂
Comforting Mac N Cheese, yummy! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope you have a great weekend!
Come Back Soon,
Miz Helen
Thank you, Miz Helen!
mmm! looks delicious! 🙂 will have to try it out one of these cold days!
Thank you so much 🙂
I agree–mac and cheese is the perfect meal for a cold day. It’s finally getting cold here where I live and I’m looking forward to making more comfort food meals. This looks decadent! I’m sure my two kids would LOVE this white mac & cheese! I’m hopping over from Think Pink Sunday.
Yay for the cooler weather!
Thank you, Carrie!
I love white mac and cheese, cant wait to try this recipe Lyuba!
Thank you, Emily!
I love mac and cheese with a slight kick to it, so this is perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Pamela!
Lyuba, I am thanking you on behalf of my son who absolutely loves White Mac and Cheese. We’ll be trying this over the weekend, for sure!! Pinning!
Awww, yay! I hope you loved it as much as we did!
I’m SO with you on the mac & cheese train! It’s the perfect fall comfort food. Now if only I could remove the carbs and have it taste just as good as the real thing! 😉
The day you figure out how to do that…you let me knot 🙂 !
Thanks, Becca!
Oh man….i just came in from being in the major cold (30 degrees to be exact) this would be perfect to warm up my belly!!
Hope your belly got to have some of it!!
Thanks, Tahny!
I am in love with any kind of comfort food… but especially mac and cheese… straight from scratch kind is by far the only way to go. And, let’s just say you nailed it, girlfriend!
Awww, well thank you, Gloria!!
I definitely agree that mac and cheese is the best comfort food!!
For sure, Nancy!
Thanks!