This Spicy Mac and Cheese recipe is an easy stove-top recipe with lots of kick from cayenne pepper and pepper jack cheese. It has all the things you love about mac and cheese, plus some heat.
Ultra Creamy and Cheesy
The base for the mac and cheese is a bechamel sauce which is made from butter, flour, and milk. It forms a nice, creamy base for the cheese sauce. Added to the bechamel sauce are two types of cheese: Pepper Jack cheese and cheddar cheese in even proportions. The Pepper Jack adds some heat and melts well and cheddar cheese is practically a must for mac and cheese recipes.
Turn Up The Heat
A half teaspoon of cayenne pepper combined with 1 1/2 cups of shredded Pepper Jack cheese adds quite a kick to this mac and cheese. If you want even more heat, serve with TABASCO Hot Sauce or Crystal Hot Sauce. They are two of my favs.
Recommended Equipment
- Large Pasta Pot– this Stainless Steel Pasta Pot with straining lid makes it super easy to drain the pasta.
- Whisk– I love to use a Balloon Whisk.
- Box Grater– Mac and cheese always taste best if you shred your own cheese with a grater.
Add More Flavor
This mac and cheese tastes great with some browned andouille sausage or kielbasa sausage mixed in.
Spicy Mac and Cheese Recipe Tips
I highly recommend grating your own cheese for this recipe rather than buying preshredded. Not only will it have better flavor, it will melt better too.
Be sure to salt the water when you cook the pasta and don’t overcook the pasta or your mac and cheese will have a mushy texture.
Add the cheese in batches and let it melt before adding more cheese. This will result in a smooth cheese sauce, not a grainy one.
Pasta Substitutions
Large elbow pasta is my preferred pasta shape for this recipe but you can use regular elbow macaroni, wagon wheels, penne, or cavatappi.
Storage
Leftovers will keep for 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If it gets a little dry, add a splash of milk before reheating in th microwave.
More Mac and Cheese Recipes
- Super Creamy Mac and Cheese
- Nacho Mac and Cheese
- Fried Mac and Cheese
- Chicken Bacon & Ranch Mac and Cheese
- Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese
- Bourbon and Bacon Mac and Cheese
Spicy Mac and Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 ounces large elbow pasta
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
- hot sauce, for srving
Instructions
- Cook pasta in large pot of salted water according to package directions. Drain.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.Add flour and cook and stir for 2 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in milk and then add salt, pepper, dry mustard and cayenne pepper.Simmer for a few minutes to thicken, but do not boil.
- Turn heat to low and stir in cheese until melted.Stir in pasta.
- Serve with hot sauce.
Excellent and really delicious
Very nice.
Easy peasy! We used colby jack/cheddar and 4 oz of velveeta. I also added half a cup of pasta water but didn’t really need it because I ended up adding milk to thin it out a bit. Next time I might skip the cayenne pepper and use a can of rotel. We added spicy links on the side too!