After many attempts to replicate mac & cheese my boyfriend had at a restaurant, we’ve found the perfect combination of ingredients. If you’re a fan of spicy, you might like this too! My starting point for this recipe was Small Town Woman’s bacon chicken sausage macaroni and cheese recipe.
You can use whatever sausage you like, though we like chorizo best. Today I made it with hot Italian sausage since chorizo was out of stock, and it wasn’t as good. We’ve also made it with other pasta shapes and different cheeses. You can alter this to suit your taste for spice! It takes about an hour from start to finish, and goes faster if you have someone to help.
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) box elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons (half stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup half & half
1 8 oz block pepperjack cheese
8 slices bacon, crumbled
1 lb ground chorizo
4 jalapeños
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
Instructions
Cook bacon until crispy. When finished, set aside to drain.
While bacon cooks, shred cheese, and set aside. Cut jalapeños into small pieces and set aside (Note: wear gloves for this step!)
Cook macaroni al dente per package instructions. Drain in colander and set aside.
In a 4-6 quart pot, melt butter on medium heat. Whisk in flour and whisk constantly for one minute. Slowly add chicken broth, alternating with half & half. (Note: if you have a 14.5 ounce can of broth like I did, just add an additional 1.5 ounces of water.)
Reduce heat to low and cook until thickened, stirring often. This takes about 10-15 minutes. If you’re not sure, add more time. Skimping on this step will yield runny sauce, as evidenced in today’s batch!
While sauce thickens, cook sausage until nearly browned, breaking it up with a spatula. If you’re using the same pan you used for the bacon, be careful, the grease is still hot and will splatter!
When sausage is nearly cooked, add jalapeños to the pan. Continue to cook sausage and jalapeños until the sausage is fully cooked. Remove to paper towel lined plate or cookie sheet and blot.
Add cheese to the half and half mixture and stir until melted and incorporated. Add macaroni, sausage/jalapeños mixture and stir. Crumble bacon, add to pot and stir.
Lastly, season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.
Makes about 10-12, 1 cup servings. Best when fresh but great as leftovers as well.
Spicy Mac and Cheese with Bacon, Chorizo and Jalapeños
Ingredients
- 16 oz elbow macaroni
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup half & half
- 8 oz pepperjack cheese
- 8 slices bacon
- 16 oz ground chorizo
- 4 jalapeños
- salt
- pepper
- cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Cook bacon until crispy. When finished, set aside to drain.
- While bacon cooks, shred cheese, and set aside. Cut jalapeños into small pieces and set aside (Note: wear gloves for this step!)
- Cook macaroni al dente per package instructions. Drain in colander and set aside.
- In a 4-6 quart pot, melt butter on medium heat. Whisk in flour and whisk constantly for one minute. Slowly add chicken broth, alternating with half & half.
- Reduce heat to low and cook until thickened, stirring often. This takes about 10-15 minutes. If you're not sure, add more time. Skimping on this step will yield runny sauce.
- While sauce thickens, cook sausage until nearly browned, breaking it up with a spatula. If you're using the same pan you used for the bacon, be careful, the grease is still hot and will splatter!
- When sausage is nearly cooked, add jalapeños to the pan. Continue to cook sausage and jalapeños until the sausage is cooked. Remove to paper towel lined plate or cookie sheet and blot.
- Add cheese to the half and half mixture and stir until melted and incorporated. Add macaroni, sausage/jalapeño mixture and stir. Crumble bacon, add to pot and stir.
- Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste and serve.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
