Green Chile Mac and Cheese

Creamy and cheesy, with wonderfully lingering heat, this Green Chili Macaroni and Cheese is a sentinel that transforms the quintessential comfort food into a dish that’s positively irresistible.

Macaroni and cheese with green chillies

Did you know that you can make creamy, rich, and savory stovetop macaroni and cheese with green chiles, from scratch, in about the same time it takes to make a box of store-bought macaroni and cheese?

This easy stovetop macaroni and cheese recipe is made in our house at least a couple of times a month. So it’s high time for me to share a green chilli variation.

Four years ago, I took my oldest son to a fancy dinner at Rusconi’s Restaurant (home of our beloved Truffle Macaroni and Cheese) to celebrate submitting the final photos for my third cookbook. He tried their green chilli macaroni and cheese that night and has been urging me to make a version of it ever since.

Side note: Are you wondering why I only took one kid to dinner to celebrate? That would be because he washed every single one of the roughly 42,719 dishes used in the Weeknight Dessert Cookbook’s recipe testing and photographing. He was a rock star by an assistant in the kitchen that year.

Green Chile Mac and Cheese

Famous love songs have been written based on my relationship with the green chilli. Not really, but if you only knew. There are endless ways to use this often mild and sometimes very hot chilli.

This makes it suitable for pretty much everyone, whether you love the heat like my family does or like it a little milder. Simply select the type of chili according to your preferences.

In this green chili macaroni and cheese, the creamy sauce serves to calm the heat in a big way. So this is a great place to try spicy food even if you don’t usually like it.

Green Chile Mac and Cheese Recipe

For this recipe you need the following ingredients:

• Elbow Macaroni
• cream and whole milk
• Flour
• yellow or Dijon mustard
• chopped green chili (This is my favorite brand and luckily it’s available at our Costco here in Ohio.)
• shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
• Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Salt and Pepper

In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil and salt. Stir to dissolve and add the noodles. Cook the pasta al dente, stirring frequently. It should still have a nice bite. Then drain and do not rinse.

In the same saucepan used for the pasta, add the cream and ½ cup milk over medium-high heat. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining milk with the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Whisk until smooth.

When the milk starts to steam on the stove (not boiling!), add the flour mixture and stir. Continue beating until the milk thickens slightly, about 4-5 minutes.

Stir in the mustard and green chili. Then add the shredded cheese, a handful at a time, stirring to melt. Remove from heat once all of the cheese has melted. Stir in salt and pepper.

Add the pasta to the saucepan with the cheese sauce and stir to coat. Taste and add salt only if necessary.

Note: You can substitute extra cream for the milk (for a total of 1 ½ cups cream) and then omit the flour. Simply heat the cream and spices to steam and add the cheese as directed in the recipe.

This green chili macaroni and cheese recipe can be made gluten-free by substituting brown rice flour and GF noodles. It’s super tasty this way, but to be honest, it’s not quite as creamy as the traditional recipe. GF pasta and flour just aren’t the same in this case.

Green chili mac and cheese

If you like the flavor and spiciness in this Green Chili Mac and Cheese, I highly recommend trying these Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas. They’re ready to eat in just 30 minutes!

I swear by this fabulous spicy chicken pot pie, hot out of the oven. And I could eat these cheesy green chili mashed potatoes pretty much on their own. They’re dangerously delicious!

This is the best green chili stew I’ve ever eaten, loaded with chunks of spicy pork and potatoes. And this Chili Relleno has been tempting me for days!