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 stability of creamy, tacky goodness and smoky, peppery warmth. Made in solely 20 minutes, this simple meal is ideal for busy weeknight dinners!
For extra scrumptious inexperienced chile recipes, attempt our Slow Cooker Green Chile Pork Stew.
Why Our Recipe
- Prepared in solely 20 minutes and made in a single pot for simple cleanup.
- Make it an entire 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 selfmade mac n cheese, you gained’t return to boxed! Severely, 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 cook 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 proper velvety consistency.
Ingredient Notes


- Elbow Macaroni: Any quick pasta like fusilli, penne, or shells work nicely however elbow is a mac n cheese traditional!
- Diced Inexperienced Chiles: If you’d like a spicier kick, you possibly can go for scorching inexperienced chiles
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese: Cheddar provides a fantastic base taste to this mac. Freshly shredded melts higher than pre-shredded cheese, which comprises components to forestall 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.
- Rooster Broth: Utilizing a low-sodium possibility means that you can finest management the flavour. It’s a fantastic chef tip.
- Floor Mustard: Simply discovered within the spice part of the grocery retailer. If you happen to don’t have floor mustard, you should utilize Dijon mustard as a substitute.
Add a Protein
This smoky mac n cheese pairs completely with leftover pulled pork. You can too use leftover or store-bought ham, and even bacon.
If you happen to’re not a fan of pork, shredded rooster or beef are nice choices as nicely. 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 cook 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 cook dinner the noodles leaving you with sufficient water to make the cheese sauce.
Use whichever huge pot you’ve available, however remember that with a tall and slender inventory pot, there will likely be much less evaporation as a result of much less floor space, which can depart your sauce slightly extra runny. Alternatively, should you use a large braising pan, the water will evaporate too shortly, leaving not sufficient pasta water to make the cheese sauce.
Make it possible for when the noodles are accomplished cooking, the liquid simply barely under 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 rooster broth earlier than making your sauce.


Modify the Warmth
Inexperienced chiles are thought-about 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 delicate canned inexperienced chiles and use Monterey Jack as a substitute of Pepper Jack cheese.
For extra warmth: Swap out the delicate inexperienced chiles for decent 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 sometimes to make sure that they warmth by way of evenly.
If utilizing a microwave, cut back energy to 50% if potential and reheat in 30 second increments till warmed by way of.
Extra mac n cheese recipes…
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