This easy Stovetop Green Chili Macaroni and Cheese is creamy and spicy thanks to two types of cheese and flecks of green canned chilis. It’s the ultra comfort food recipe for those lazy days and nights, but insanely delicious! Perfect for Superbowl, too!
Bringing you guys something ultra cozy today because I am currently camped out on my Aunt’s couch this afternoon and have no plans of leaving. I am staying with my Aunt in Colorado for the weekend.
To keep up my ‘cozy’ day theme, I thought I would share a recipe that gives you all the comfort food feels.
This green chili mac and cheese is sort of like ‘lazy girl recipe meets OMG this is actually delicious’.
It might also be one of the tastiest things to eat when you’re feeling a little under the weather (hungover). The whole recipe is done in two simple stovetop pots, no oven preheating, no baking dish to clean and I totally believe in buying pre-shredded cheese for those days that you actually ‘can’t even’.
It would also be insanely delicious for Super Bowl, just sayin’.
Ingredients
This super easy green chili mac is made with mostly pantry ingredients and two types (cause one is never enough!) of pre-shredded cheese.
Gather together macaroni pasta (corkscrews or elbows), unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, garlic, milk, fontina cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, canned mild green chilis, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, salt, pepper and Italian panko breadcrumbs.
Cheese. I totally believe in buying pre-shredded cheese from the supermarket or Trader Joe’s. It makes it that much easier to make this stovetop recipe in only 20 minutes. I love the combination of fontina and sharp cheddar, but you can use any of your favorite cheeses! Mozzarella, Gruyere or even Parmesan would all be delicious.
Green Chilis. Abbie (one of my good friends and blog partner in crime) told me she threw in 2 cans of green chilis into her mac and cheese one night and said it was insanely delicious. That was the inspiration for this recipe! The chiles add this amazing flavor without overpowering the classic deliciousness of macaroni and cheese.
How To Make Stovetop Mac and Cheese
The base starts with a classic macaroni and cheese roux and gets spiced up with classic green chilis. The flavor combo makes for almost a mild queso taste (kinda like Green Chili Queso). The whole dish comes together in about twenty minutes and you don’t even have to be an avid cook to throw it together. Simply:
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large stockpot of water to a rolling boil and add in the pasta. Cook according to package directions, or al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Make the roux. In a large saute pan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add flour to melted butter and cook for 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Add in minced garlic and whisk once more to avoid burning.
- Make the creamy cheese sauce. Add milk to the butter-flour mixture and turn heat up to medium-high. Whisk occasionally for 3-4 minutes, or until boiling and the sauce has thickened. Remove mixture from heat and whisk in cheeses until smooth.
- Finish with the chilis and seasoning! Stir in canned green chilis, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in mixture to macaroni noodles. Let noodles and cheese sit for 2-3 minutes before serving. Top with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and serve!
Macaroni and Cheese Variations
I love the creamy-spicy combo in this stovetop green chili mac and cheese recipe. But there are so many variations you can make, yet still get those flavors. Try:
- Fresh Chiles: Canned hatch chiles are amazing, but the fresh ones are even better. They’re only in season for a short amount of time – end of August to the beginning of September – but really amp up that chile flavor. If you can get your hands on a few hatch chiles, all you have to do is roast, seed and finely chop. You could also try fresh Poblanos or Anaheim.
- Smoked Cheese: Replace the fontina with a smoked Gouda or Mozzarella. The smokey goodness adds so much to the chile flavor!
- Southwestern: Use Monterey Jack cheese instead of the fontina and replace the breadcrumbs with crumbled cornbread!
If you’re looking for the easiest comfort food then you should totally give this a try! It’s one of those great recipes to have in your pocket when you need to make something out of nothing. Enjoy! xoxo
More Mac and Cheese Recipes:
- Gruyere and Gouda Bacon Apple Macaroni and Cheese
- Beer and Blue Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
- Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
If you make this Stovetop Green Chili Macaroni and Cheese recipe, I’d love to know how it goes! Please share with all your friends in the comments below!
For more easy recipes and ideas, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook, too! ♥
Originally published in January 2018, updated May 2020 with updated info and recipe card.
Stovetop Green Chili Macaroni and Cheese
ingredients
- 1 lb 16 oz macaroni pasta (corckscrews or elbow)
- 4 Tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
- 2 ½ cups milk I used 2%
- 2 cups fontina cheese shredded
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 4.5 oz cans mild green chilis
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- pinch of nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Italian panko breadcrumbs
instructions
- Bring a large stock pot of water to a rolling boil and add in pasta. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and set aside in large bowl.
- In a large saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Add minced garlic and whisk once more.
- Add milk to butter-flour mixture and turn up heat to medium-high. Whisk mixture occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until boiling and sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in two cheeses until smooth.
- Stir in canned green chilis, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix cheese-chili sauce with macaroni noodles. Let noodles and cheese mixture sit for 2-3 minutes before serving. Top with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and serve!
notes
yasss so so good! glad your photoshoot went well, can’t wait to see the pics ! hope you’re snuggled back at home with Rascal now!