Jalapeno Mac and Cheese

Mac and cheese with jalapenos in small white dish.

We love an extra creamy, extra cheesy mac and cheese situation and this one delivers all that fabulous gooey cheese that we love. We saute minced jalapeno and a handful of spices in with the roux to add loads of flavor without making the dish too spicy. You can easily add more jalapeno for more spice or leave it as is for a family friendly dish.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings servings

Calories 668kcal

Author Karly Campbell

Ingredients

For the macaroni and cheese:

1 pound macaroni
½ cup butter
1 small jalapeno see notes
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
¼ cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces cream cheese
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese freshly shredded
6 ounces smoked gouda freshly shredded
Salt to taste

For topping:

1 cup crushed Cheetos
2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

To make the mac and cheese:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter or grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the macaroni according to package directions, until just al dente. Drain the water from the pasta.
While the pasta is starting to boil, add the butter to a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat and melt.
While the butter is melting, mince the jalapeno. Add to the melted butter and cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes to soften a bit.
Add the garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika and cook for one minute, whisking constantly.
Add the flour to the butter and continue cooking and whisking for one minute.
Slowly pour in the milk and cream, whisking constantly, and cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken.
Add in the cream cheese and stir until the cheese has fully melted.
Turn the heat to the lowest setting and add handfuls of the cheese to the pot, stirring to melt the cheese into the sauce.
Once the cheese sauce is smooth, pour over the drained and cooked macaroni and stir to coat. Taste and season liberally with salt.
Spread the macaroni into the buttered baking dish.

For the topping:

Add the crushed Cheetos to a small bowl and drizzle the butter over the top. Stir to coat.
Sprinkle the Cheetos evenly over the macaroni and cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes uncovered.
Serve hot.

Notes

You can use any small shape of pasta. Shells work well, too.

We like a mild kick to our mac and cheese so we just use one jalapeno and we remove the ribs and seeds. If you want more spice, add more jalapeno. As written with just 1 small pepper, this has more jalapeno flavor than jalapeno heat, if that makes sense.

We love the smoky flavor that the smoked paprika and smoked gouda adds, but you can use regular paprika and gouda if preferred. You can also sub the gouda for gruyere, if you like.

For the topping, we really like the Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos, but plain or Flamin’ Hot will work as well.

You can skip the Cheetos in place of seasoned panko for a more classic flavor, if you prefer.

We updated this recipe in 2024 from the original version that was shared back in 2012. It's a creamier, cheesier, more well seasoned mac and cheese. The original version did have bacon and you can still fry some up, crumble it, and stir it in with the cheese sauce if you like!

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