This mac & cheese has a smokey, spicy, and unbeatable flavor. The amount of chipotles can be changed by adding more or fewer.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package elbow macaroni
- 3 cups whole milk
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup minced onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the macaroni, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray, and place the macaroni into the bottom of the dish. Heat milk in a saucepan until hot but not boiling.
- Melt butter in a saucepan, and cook and stir the onion, garlic, and chipotle chiles until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Whisk in flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and let cook for about 3 minutes, whisking constantly to avoid burning. Whisk in the hot milk, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir in paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer (do not boil), whisking constantly until thickened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheeses, about 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until the cheeses have melted and the sauce is thick and smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the macaroni in the baking dish, and stir gently to combine. Cover the dish with foil.
- Bake covered until the dish is bubbling and the macaroni has absorbed some of the sauce, about 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake until golden brown on the edges, 10 to 15 more minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 384 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 36 g |
| Cholesterol | 55 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 264 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I really liked this. My son thought it was spicy!
We have been making this fantastic recipe for years. Since my daughter started eating a low carb diet we make this using two heads of cauliflower, steamed, in place of the macaroni. Sooo good.
FYI, I wouldn’t use pre-shredded cheese because it has cellulose powder which will effect the consistency of the cheese sauce. I would also add a dollop of sour cream to the cheese sauce. It’s important to not use much chipotle because it’s very overbearing, I’d start with one pepper or use chipotle powder instead. Adding a light sprinkling of smoked cheddar on top before the breadcrumbs will add to the smokiness of the peppers. I created a nearly identical recipe 10 years ago and let’s just say I learned my lesson.
Followed all directions and was good! Even my selective Mac and cheese lover licked it. Will make in future but will use more chili’s next time…need spicier!!
Tasted excellent! First time making a bechamel without burning it, or the milk turning. Not too heavy, nor are the peppers too much. GREAT RECIPE.
Too much flour made the end result slightly clumpy rather than creamy and cheesy. Would reduce to 3-4 tbs if I made again.
So tasty! I followed the recipe as written except for omitting the onions. Very addictive taste as long as you like heat.
Yum! I was actually looking for a mac ‘n’ cheese similar to one I’ve made in the past. I searched for a recipe that included the keywords “macaroni, sharp cheddar, whole milk,” and “flour,” but excluded “Velveeta.” Bravo! I did leave out the chipotles this time, as is was made for my small kids, but I’d like to try the spicy version for grownups, next time!
This is one of the better mac & cheese recipes I have tried. It’s full of flavor. I added an additional chipotle out of the can. I also used gluten free penne (corn, rice and quinoa). I used 1c of pepper jack and 2c of Velveeta shreds. It has a nice smoky heat w/o being too spicy.
Good! Cut down the chipotle to only 2 peppers and, also, added bread crumbs to the top right before browning.
Fabulous! I made only one modification: instead of 1 cup of Monterey Jack, I used 1/2 cup of Jack and 1/2 cup of smoked gouda. It punched up the smokiness just a bit, and was amazing… Oh, and I made it with brown rice penne, which worked fine.
Good! I healthed it up a bit by halving the butter and flour and using low fat milk/2% cheeses – it was still thick, creamy, and flavorful. Also added some fresh spinach which wilted nicely during baking.
Decent taste, but simply not worth the amount of ingredients put into it (so much butter and cheese!). The chipotle seeds can be a bit off-putting in contrast to the texture of the noodles and cheese as well, but that’s just an issue of ingredients. Overall, it’s worth a try, but definitely needs some tweeking.
I took this to my husband’s office for a potluck luncheon. 3 people asked me for the recipe, and almost everyone was saying, “Who made this macaroni? This is GOOD!” I didn’t change the recipe at all. Yummy!!
I am a huge fan of chipotle and this is a great recipe. How I personalized it: I doubled the chipotles, halved the butter, used pepper jack cheese and smoked paprika, and added a panko/butter crumb topping. Next time I might try adding some bacon to really play off the smoky flavor. We will be making this regularly…thanks for sharing!
Made it just the way it’s written. Which is unusual for me. Fantastic, might even replace my traditional mac and cheese. Had it with Roasted Garlic Lemon Broccoli from this site. Always seem to have extra cheese sauce. Makes a great dip
This was AMAZING! I decided to use just the “sauce” from the canned chipotle peppers. There were no chunks of peppers and it still had all the flavor. The whole family loved it (some wanted MORE heat!) and I will definitely make this again.
I made this twice because it was so dry the first time I thought I’d used too much pasta since I cut the recipe in half. The second time I made it, I doubled the milk and used more cheese. There was much more sauce than the first attempt, and I thought it would really coat the pasta and be creamy. Instead it was chalky and no one liked it. I really wanted to like it, but will not be trying again.
I made this dish and took it to a Superbowl party. I dropped the dish and my husband off at the party, left for a bit to pick up my children, and when I returned, it was GONE!! I hear that everyone raved about it. I only gave it 4 stars, because I didn’t taste it myself!! But I’m making it again for dinner tonight.
Amazing exactly as written, chopped chipotle really small to make sure kids did not detect them.The smokey flavor made it taste like there was bacon in it somewhere according to the kids. 🙂 Thanks VeggieGirl for my new standard home mac and cheese.
The heat really creeps up on you! I made this for a potluck party and left with a pan that was licked clean.