Tex-Mex Macaroni and Cheese with Pepper Jack Cheese
Tex-Mex Macaroni and Cheese with Pepper Jack Cheese is a baked macaroni and cheese spiced with chili powder, and filled with colorful peppers and spicy jalapeno-dotted cheese. You can bake it in one large casserole or in individual cocottes, or ramekins.
The Equipment You’ll Need
- A Food Processor- You’ll need this to make your breadcrumbs. If you don’t have one, just cut the bread slices into tiny cubes.
- A 9 by 11 casserole or 6 cocottes or ramekins- Bake your macaroni and cheese in either of these.
The Ingredients You’ll Need for Tex-Mex Macaroni and Cheese with Pepper Jack Cheese
- Macaroni- If you don’t have macaroni, you could also use small shells, or fussili, or farfalle.
- Bell Peppers- I used orange and green peppers. But, you can use any colors you like. If you want extra spicy Mac and Cheese, you could use a minced jalapeno.
- Chicken Stock- I always use homemade stock. You can find my recipe in my Matzo Ball Soup post.
- Chili Powder- My recipe only calls for one teaspoon because I didn’t want it to be too spicy, but if you want it spicier, just add more.
- Monterey Pepper Jack Cheese- This gives the Mac and Cheese a really great flavor. Try and buy a good quality block of cheese. Don’t use pre-shreded cheese.
- White Bread- Any white bread can be used for the breadcrumbs.
How I Made my Macaroni and Cheese
- While the macaroni boiled, I cooked my onions and peppers.
- Then, I stirred in the flour, and cooked it for a bit so the flour didn’t taste raw.
- Next, I stirred in the chicken stock and the cream.
- Then, we come to the only tricky part of this recipe: it’s important to temper the eggs with a half cup of the hot sauce, by adding some of the sauce to a bowl with the eggs in it. That way, the eggs don’t turn into scrambled eggs when they get stirred into the big pot of sauce.
- Next, I added in the the macaroni and the cheese, and poured it into the cocottes.
- Finally, I sprinkled on the breadcrumbs, and baked off my cute pumpkin cocottes.
This is a great dish that can be made in under an hour. And, it is inexpensive to make. If you love traditional macaroni and cheese, I hope you’ll try this Tex-Mex Macaroni and Cheese with Pepper Jack Cheese.
Tex-Mex Macaroni and Cheese with Pepper Jack
Macaroni and Cheese with Monterey Pepper Jack Cheese, bell peppers, and Tex-Mex spices.
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 3 cups elbow macaroni
- 6 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1 cup diced bell peppers
- 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 2 beaten eggs
- 2 cups Monterey Pepper Jack cheese, grated
- 2 cups cubed white bread
- ¼ tsp. paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Boil the macaroni for the time indicated on the box, and drain it well.
- Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, on medium heat, melt four tablespoons of the butter and cook the onions and peppers until they're soft.
- Add the flour to the vegetables and cook for two minutes. Then, add the chicken stock and cream and cook for two more minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and chili powder. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Stir a half cup of the white sauce into a bowl with the beaten eggs. This is to temper, or heat up, the eggs so that they don't scramble in the hot sauce. Then, add the warmed up eggs to the pot of white sauce. Stir in the macaroni and the cheese, and pour it into a a greased 9 by 11 casserole, or 6 individual cocottes or ramekins.
- In a small skillet melt the rest of the butter. In a food processor, pulse the bread into crumbs, and then cook with the paprika in the butter for three minutes.
- Scatter the bread crumbs over the macaroni and cheese and bake for thirty minutes.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
