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Mexican chorizo has been one of our family’s food staples for as long as I can remember.
It’s spicy, soft, and usually some crazy vibrant orange red color from the chili the meat is mixed with.
There’s almost always some in the fridge; my mother typically uses this sausage to mix in with scrambled eggs for breakfast.
This week we tried our hand at a chorizo version of mac and cheese. (As if regular mac and cheese wasn’t good enough, hah!)
Aye aye aye, this turned out great! Spicy, creamy, cheesy.
I tossed some pieces of avocado over mine for kicks which worked well to balance the spiciness of the chorizo, but it’s fine on its own. Assuming you like heat.
Do you use Mexican chorizo in your cooking? If so, what do you do with it? Please let us know in the comments.
Chorizo Mac and Cheese Recipe
We used El Mexicano brand chorizo for this recipe, as it is very soft, almost like a pâté. It integrates with the sauce better than other styles of Mexican chorizo.
This recipe makes a small casserole, you can easily double the ingredients for a large casserole.
Ingredients
- 2 cups elbow macaroni
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
- 4 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese (about 1 cup)
- 6 ounces Mexican chorizo
- 1/2 cup minced red onion
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp butter
Method
1 Mix the cornstarch with the 2 cheeses in a bowl and set aside. The cornstarch will help prevent the cheese sauce from getting too stringy.
2 Heat the milk: Put the milk into a small saucepan and heat until steamy. Keep warm while you are preparing the recipe, do not let boil.
3 Cook the macaroni pasta: Put 2 quarts of water, salted with 1 Tbsp salt, into a large pot and heat to a boil. Once the water is at a full boil, add the macaroni to the pot. Return to a boil, and cook, uncovered, for about 2 minutes less than the macaroni package specifies, so that it is al dente, cooked, but still firm to the bite.
4 Cook the chorizo and onion: While the water is heating and the macaroni cooking, prepare the chorizo cheese sauce.
Remove chorizo from its casing and put into a medium thick-bottomed saucepan on medium high heat. When the chorizo begins to sizzle, reduce the heat to medium. Cook the chorizo, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
Add the minced red onion and cook the mixture until the onions soften, about 3-4 minutes.
5 Drain macaroni, preheat oven: When the macaroni is cooked, but still a bit firm, drain it and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°.
6 Make the chorizo cheese sauce: Add the flour to the pot with the chorizo and mix well. Everything will clump up. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot, for 2 minutes.
Add the hot milk a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. When all the milk has been added, heat the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook for 2 minutes.
Mix the grated cheese into the chorizo milk sauce.
7 Add the cooked macaroni to the chorizo cheese sauce. Stir in the lime juice.
8 Bake: Pour the macaroni and cheese into a small casserole dish. Make sure the top is level. Dust the top with the breadcrumbs, then dot with the butter. Bake until the breadcrumbs are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
If you want, serve with chopped avocados, crema fresca, and chopped fresh cilantro.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Chorizo Mac and Cheese
This was the first time I have made Mac&cheese. It worked out so well! I love Chorizo but didn’t have any. I used mild Italian. It worked. Also love cilantro so used lots. I used about ⅓ cup of Parmesan with the cheeses in the recipe. My wife says I can make it again any time. I might use some crumbled bacon next time to jazz it up a bit.
Thanks for your comment, Julian! I’m so glad the recipe worked well for you with Italian sausage in place of the chorizo.
Yum!! Turned out so good and my boyfriend said it was a much better version of hamburger helper. I made this with Morning Star Veggie Chorizo (2/3-1/2 bag). After cooking finely diced Bell Peppers and White Onion (1/2 C each) (peppers first for a minute or 2)(season GSP, smoked Paprika, Chili powder and little cumin) I set them aside and cooked the frozen Veggie Chorizo in same pot (per directions on bag). Added 1/4-1/3 C each hot Black Beans and hot frozen Corn (microwave). Cook 1 min. Added cooked onion and peppers back to pot. Cook 1 min. Continue. I used a smidge more milk. I used Velveeta and some shredded Colby jack for lack of Colby jack. Luckily I had pepper jack. I used a 2 day old corn bread muffin, some panko, smoked paprika, salt, garlic and cayenne for the topping part. It makes enough for 4-5, or 2 and left overs! I wanted to post a picture with my comment but couldn’t paste or insert..
I might use less veggie chorizo next time so I get a tad more cheese flavor. I would definitely add fresh tomato and avocado on top next time too. :)
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Made it tonight. It was fantastic. Used panko breadcrumbs. Otherwise followed recipe. Thanks for sharing this.
Great recipe! My family loved this flavor! It does need some adjusting to make more of Mac n Cheese texture and not like a casserole. I increased milk and cheese and I also altered the pepper jack- did 1/2 pepper jack and 1/2 jalapeño jack – it was the perfect blend to increase the spicy heat of the chorizo. I saw the Doritos crushed topping suggestion and did that. Amazing! I added a thin layer of shredded cheddar before adding the Dorito topping and dotted with butter. My family wants this to be my go-to dish for parties now!
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What size small casserole was used for this recipe – maybe 8×8″?
Hi Ross, yes the dish is an 8×8″.