Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese made with Portuguese chorizo, gluten free brown rice pasta, Cheddar and Cream cheeses is a super creamy, easy weeknight meal.
Making dinner is hard enough on a weekly basis. Let alone making three square meals a day for your entire family for weeks at a time. It's EXHAUSTING!
That's why meals like this Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese is perfect! Not only is it delicious, it makes A LOT so that your family can eat it for days.
How is everyone doing through all of this madness? I've been keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers. We're adjusting alright. I had several symptoms a few weeks ago, but my doctor wasn't able to test me at the time and I was able to fight whatever it was on my own.
My husband normally works from home so that hasn't been too out of the norm. Our oldest is working a three day condensed workweek at Memorial Sloan Kettering and had to get tested last week.
Thankfully the test came back negative, but we worry every time she goes in to work.
Our youngest; who is a Senior in high school, has been home schooling herself for about 3 ½ weeks now. I feel so bad for her and her classmates not knowing if they will be able to finish out their Senior year, go to the prom or even have graduation at this point.
On a positive note, she committed to college this Fall at Virginia Tech as a Biological Sciences major. This has given her something to look forward to as she emerges herself in meeting new classmates, finding a roommate and deciding on how she wants to decorate her dorm room.
Speaking of positive notes, let me tell you about this recipe. One of her favorite things to eat is macaroni and cheese. I mean what kid doesn't right?
We also love chorizo and it gives so many recipes that extra something special. This Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese did not disappoint!
Ingredients needed
For this recipe you'll need;
- pasta
- Portuguese chorizo
- butter
- all purpose flour
- shredded Cheddar cheese
- cream cheese
- milk
- parsley
- paprika
- kosher salt
- black pepper
What type of pasta can you use?
I opted to use gluten free brown rice pasta in this recipe to make it gluten free, but you can use regular. Some good choices are:
- Macaroni
- Rotini
- Penne
- Farfalle
- Shells
- Gemelli
How do you make Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese?
Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil over high heat on top of the stove. Add your pasta and cook until the pasta is 'al dente'. Rinse the pasta under cold water in a colander to stop it from cooking; then add the pasta back to the pot.
While the pasta is cooking you can make your sauce. First, remove any skin from your chorizo and dice into small, bite sized pieces. Add some butter to a medium sized saucepan and melt over medium high heat.
Add the chorizo and cook 1-2 minutes, add the flour; then add the milk, cheeses and spices. You'll want to reserve about ¼ cup of the Cheddar to sprinkle on top.
Whisk all of the ingredients and cook over medium high heat until the sauce thickens. Add the sauce to the pasta and mix well. It might seem like there is a lot of sauce, but it will soak into the pasta while cooking.
Place the pasta into a 9x13 oven safe casserole dish, sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese and bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese melts.
Because I was making this mac and cheese with chorizo recipe gluten free, I opted to not add a breadcrumb topping. If you would like to do so combine your breadcrumbs with melted butter; then place on top to bake.
OMG! I really do think chorizo makes EVERYTHING taste better because my family LOVED this macaroni and cheese recipe.
It's very satisfying and makes about six portions which was great so we had some leftover for lunch the next day. ~Enjoy!
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Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Medium Sized Pasta, (macaroni, farfalle, shells, etc)
- 8 oz. Portuguese Chorizo, skin removed and small dice
- 2 tbsp. Butter
- 3 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
- 2 c. Milk
- 8 oz. Shredded Cheddar, divided
- 4 oz. Cream Cheese
- 1 tbsp. Parsley
- ½ tsp. Paprika
- ¼ tsp. Kosher Salt
- ⅛ tsp. Black Pepper
Instructions
- Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil over high heat on top of the stove. Add your pasta and cook until the pasta is 'al dente'. Rinse the pasta under cold water to stop it from cooking; then add the pasta back to the pot.
- While the pasta is cooking you can make your sauce. Add the butter to a medium sized saucepan and melt over medium high heat.
- Next, add the chorizo and cook 1-2 minutes, add the flour; then add the milk, cheeses and spices. You'll want to reserve about ¼ cup of the Cheddar to sprinkle on top.
- Whisk all of the ingredients and cook over medium high heat until the sauce thickens. Add the sauce to the pasta and mix well. (It may seem like there is a lot of sauce, but it will soak into the pasta while cooking.)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place the pasta into a 9x13 oven safe casserole dish, sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese and bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese melts.
Notes
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