Pickled Jalapeños Mac & Cheese
Pickled Jalapeños Mac & Cheese – mac & cheese flavored with Indian style pickled jalapeños made with ground mustard seeds and turmeric powder along with sharp cheddar cheese.
As shocking as it sounds, I am not a big fan of classic Mac & Cheese. Please don’t hate me for saying it!! I love my spices so much and hence my statement. Don’t get me wrong, I really want to enjoy this classic dish with my own spice kick. If you know me, you know my love for Indian styled pickled Jalapeños, Athela Marcha! These pickled Jalapeño has freshly ground mustard seeds, bright yellow turmeric powder, mustard oil, salt & lemon juice.
Now if you think about a secret ingredient for a really good Mac & Cheese, its mustard. That is when the idea clicked along with my love for spices! This pickled jalapeños Mac & Cheese is made with pickled jalapeños, butter, lots of cheddar cheese along with some cream cheese, freshly cracked black pepper and the best part, crunchy spicy crumbs on top!! The combination of Indian styled jalapeños along with cheddar cheese and cream cheese is like match made in haven. You would only know it if you actually try this deliciousness!
I am in love with this dish, which sounds crazy in my head because I really am not into Mac & Cheese. I have eaten this dish over and over for days, which required a lot of Peloton rides afterwards LOL. Take my promise, this is one of those dishes that NEVER fails to hit the spot. It is THAT GOOD! Take my words for it and just make a big batch, you will not regret it!!
If you like spicy Mac & Cheese like this one, you should try my JALAPEÑO POPPER MAC AND CHEESE and LEEK SRIRACHA MAC & CHEESE. They are as good as this one with diff flavors. If you end up trying this or any of my recipes and like it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of this deliciousness!
Happy & Healthy Eating!
Pickled Jalapeno Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 oz Pasta (about 3 cups uncooked pasta) pipe rigate shape is preferred! However you can use any small pasta
- 4 oz Yellow Sharp Cheddar Cheese best to get a block cheese and shred it when needed
- 4 oz White Sharp Cheddar Cheese best to get a block cheese and shred it when needed
- 4 oz Plain Cream Cheese room temp
- 2 cup 2% Milk
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1½ tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 1½ tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ cup PICKLED JALAPEÑOS WITH GROUND MUSTARD SEEDS AND TURMERIC POWDER recipe on my blog already
Crumbs
- ½ cup 4C Panko Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- ¼ cup PICKLED JALAPEÑOS WITH GROUND MUSTARD SEEDS AND TURMERIC POWDER recipe on my blog already, more for more heat
- ½ cup BelGioioso Shredded Four Cheese
Instructions
- Boil pasta as per package instruction, use cook time 1 or two min shy to keep it al dente since this dish needs to be baked at the end. Keep the boiled pasta on side.
- Heat butter in a heavy bottom deep pan.
- Once melted, add All Purpose Flour. Keep stirring and cooking for couple of minutes or until it deepends in color and gets light and fluffy with nutty flavors.
- Add in a little milk at a time while whisking it constantly to avoid any lumps.
- Once the milk is warm, add in room temprature cream cheese. Keep whisking it till cream cheese is smotthly mixed with milk with no lumps.
- Slowly add in shredded cheese. Keep mixing/whisking it while adding it, until the cheese is melted.
- Once the sauce is smooth with everything mixed well, add in boiled pasta, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Mix well to make sure all the pasta is coated well. It might seem a bit liquidy, however that is good as the sauce will be absorbed by the pasta during it baking step.
- Turn the heat off. Chop ½ cup of pickled jalapeños and add it to the pasta. Mix well.
- Take the pasta out in a baking tray.
- Chop another ¼ cup of pickled jalapeños, mix it with ½ cup of 4C Panko Seasoned Bread Crumbs and ½ cup of BelGioioso Shredded Four Cheese mix.
- Sprinkle the panko mix on top of the pasta inside the baking tray. Top whole pickled jalapeno on top of panko layer for garnishing.
- Cover it with aluminum foil, bake it on 375° F for 20 min assuming the pasta was hot before baking. After 20 min, uncover the baking tray, broil it for 2-4 min. Keep an eye on it while broiling to avoid burning of the pasta.
- Serve this spicy ooey gooey goodness while its hot!