Chef Cayt has taken your fundamental mac n cheese and dressed it up with inexperienced chiles and pepper jack cheese. We love this elevated consolation meals for its good steadiness of creamy, tacky goodness and smoky, peppery warmth. Made in solely 20 minutes, this straightforward meal is ideal for busy weeknight dinners!
For extra scrumptious inexperienced chile recipes, strive our Slow Cooker Green Chile Pork Stew.
Why Our Recipe
- Prepared in solely 20 minutes and made in a single pot for straightforward cleanup.
- Make it a complete meal by including leftover pulled pork or ham.
- Inexperienced chiles and Pepper Jack cheese add simply the correct quantity of spice and smoky warmth.
When you do that do-it-yourself mac n cheese, you gained’t return to boxed! Significantly, this recipe is so easy and simple, and it’s made in solely 20 minutes. This creamy cheese sauce is made in the identical pot that the noodles prepare dinner in, utilizing the pasta water as the bottom. This straightforward hack not solely retains cleanup to a minimal, however the starches from the pasta water give the sauce the right velvety consistency.
Ingredient Notes


- Elbow Macaroni: Any quick pasta like fusilli, penne, or shells work effectively however elbow is a mac n cheese basic!
- Diced Inexperienced Chiles: If you would like a spicier kick, you’ll be able to go for scorching inexperienced chiles
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese: Cheddar offers an excellent base taste to this mac. Freshly shredded melts higher than pre-shredded cheese, which accommodates components to stop clumping.
- Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese: The peppers on this cheese add simply the correct quantity of warmth paired with the inexperienced chiles. Substitute with Monterey Jack for much less warmth.
- Heavy Cream: You’ll be able to substitute with half-and-half, however the sauce gained’t be as thick and creamy.
- Hen Broth: Utilizing a low-sodium possibility means that you can finest management the flavour. It’s an excellent chef tip.
- Floor Mustard: Simply discovered within the spice part of the grocery retailer. Should you don’t have floor mustard, you should utilize Dijon mustard as an alternative.
Add a Protein
This smoky mac n cheese pairs completely with leftover pulled pork. You too can use leftover or store-bought ham, and even bacon.
Should you’re not a fan of pork, shredded hen or beef are nice choices as effectively. Serve on the facet or combine it in to beef this dish up.
The Proper Pot
As a result of this recipe makes use of one pot to prepare dinner the noodles and make the sauce, we use a 6 quart pot with an 8 inch diameter, which boils the liquid simply lengthy sufficient to prepare dinner the noodles leaving you with sufficient water to make the cheese sauce.
Use whichever massive pot you’ve gotten readily available, however remember the fact that with a tall and slim inventory pot, there will probably be much less evaporation as a result of much less floor space, which can go away your sauce slightly extra runny. Then again, for those who use a large braising pan, the water will evaporate too shortly, leaving not sufficient pasta water to make the cheese sauce.
Be sure that when the noodles are executed cooking, the liquid simply barely beneath the noodles. If this isn’t the case and an excessive amount of liquid has evaporated, add a couple of 1/2 cup extra of hen broth earlier than making your sauce.


Modify the Warmth
Inexperienced chiles are thought of to be reasonably scorching—spicier than inexperienced bell peppers, however not as spicy as jalapeños.
For much less warmth: You’ll be able to go for gentle canned inexperienced chiles and use Monterey Jack as an alternative of Pepper Jack cheese.
For extra warmth: Swap out the gentle inexperienced chiles for warm inexperienced chiles or canned diced jalapeños. Add a touch of scorching sauce of a contact of cayenne pepper for additional warmth.
Storage and Reheating Directions
Refrigerate leftovers in an hermetic container for 4-5 days.
For finest outcomes, reheat leftovers in a saucepan on low warmth. Add a splash of milk to maintain it from drying out, and stir often to make sure that they warmth via evenly.
If utilizing a microwave, scale back energy to 50% if doable and reheat in 30 second increments till warmed via.
Extra mac n cheese recipes…
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