Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese
Perfectly creamy Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese spiced up with jalapeños/serranos and smoked up with chipotle chili peppers and tabasco sauce, topped with spicy crunchy panko and shallow fried jalapeños!
Who does not like jalapeños poppers?!?! And who does not like mac and cheese?!?! Now imagine combining both in one dish!!! Yes, spicy creamy jalapeños popper mac and cheese with just right amount of smokey flavor, crunchy top layer and topped with partially fried salty jalapeños/serranos!!
The title of this recipe is Jalapeños poppers Mac and Cheese but it is really Serrano Popper Mac and Cheese as I used serrano peppers instead of jalapeños!! It bring more crisp heat to this dish. The smokey ness comes from the tabasco sauce and chipotle chili peppers soaked into adobo sauce!! This recipe does not use any heavy cream, I used pasta water instead because that water has good amount of salt and starch. Also instead of using butter all the way, I used half part butter and half part oil. This dish is not the healthiest but little changes to this dish bring the unhealthiness down a little bit.
The panko crumbs are flavored with smoked paprika, garlic powder and parmesan cheese. This panko crumbs bring the crunchy texture to this dish. The last but not least thing is to top this dish with partially fried sliced serrano peppers!
This dish is a crowd pleaser in my household, hope you like it as much as my friends and family do!
Happy and Healthy Eating!!
Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 oz Cavatappi Pasta any shape pasta would work!
- 1 cup Chopped Yellow Onions
- 2 Sliced Serrano Peppers jalapeño peppers for less heat!
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp Oil
- ¼ cup White Flour
- 2 cup Pasta Water
- 2 cup Whole Milk
- 1 tbsp Tabasco Sauce
- ¼ cup Cream Cheese
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 cup Pepper Jack Cheese block of cheese preferred and shared it by hand!
- 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese block of cheese preferred and shared it by hand!
- 1 cup Colby Jack Cheese block of cheese preferred and shared it by hand!
- 7 oz Chipotle Chili Peppers in Adobo Sauce
Panko Topping Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 cup Panko Crumbs
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika or Regular Paprika or Crushed Red Peppers
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
Shallow Fried Serranos
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 Sliced Serrano Peppers jalapeño peppers for less heat!
- 1 tbsp Oil
Instructions
Prepare Panko Crumbs
- Mix everything listed under panko topping ingredients together in a bowl and roast it for 3-4 minutes on low-medium heat. Keep it aside once done to cool it down.
Prepare Mac and Cheese
- Preheat oven on 350°F.
- Boil pasta as per package instruction, cook it 1 minute under as it will be baked later. Save 2 cups of pasta water for the sauce (water that pasta was cooked in)
- Drizzle some oil on pasta and stir to coat it. Set aside to cool it down while we prepare cheese sauce.
- Heat 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of oil in a deep wide pan.
- Saute 1 cup of chopped yellow onions, 2 sliced serrano peppers and 1 tbsp of minced garlic on medium heat until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently.
- Whisk in ¼ cup of flour over medium heat and continue whisking for about 1-2 minute until bubbly and golden. If it is too dry, add more oil and butter!
- Slowly whisk in 2 cups of pasta water until nice and smooth.
- Add in 2 cups of whole milk and whisk it until nice and smooth. Continue whisking until you see bubbles on the surface and then continue cooking and whisking for 2 more minutes.
- Whisk in 1 tbsp of tabasco sauce and ¼ cups of cream cheese. Keep mixing until there are no big lumps of cream cheese.
- Whisk in all the shredded cheese in the pot. Continue whisking until the sauce is creamy and smooth. The Sauce should be nice and thick. Taste it and add salt if needed!
- Add pasta to the cheese sauce and combine until pasta is fully coated with the cheese sauce.
- Pour half of the mac and cheese into the greased baking dish.
- Open chipotle chili pepper can and take all the peppers out from the sauce. Cut the chipotle chili peppers in to small piece.
- Top the half pasta that is placed in the baking pan with chipotle chili peppers pieces. Drizzle some left over adobo sauce on the mac and cheese. Not all of it, just enough to cover the surface.
- Sprinkle ½ of the prepared panko crumbs on top of the chipotle chili peppers.
- Pour in the rest of the mac and cheese in the baking pan and top it with the rest of the prepared panko crumbs.
- Shallow fry sliced serrano peppers in 1 tbsp of hot oil for a minute or 2. Sprinkle some salt on peppers.
- Top mac and cheese with the shallow fried serrano peppers. Drizzle the left over oil from the serrano peppers on top of the mac and cheese.
- Bake it on 350°F for 20 minutes and serve HOT!!!