Epic Nacho Mac ’n’ Cheese
with a Tortilla Chip Crust, Poblano & Smoky Red Pepper Crema
- Milk
- Soy
- Wheat
Why choose between two comfort food dishes when you can combine them into one epic dinner? This week, our chefs give mac ’n’ cheese the nacho treatment, stirring twirly cavatappi noodles into a queso-style, creamy spiced cheddar sauce. Of course, you can’t have nachos without the toppings—here, we’ve got crumbled blue corn tortilla chips for crunch and more cheeses for melt factor, plus smoky red pepper crema, scallions, and hot sauce. Your dinner companions will be fighting over the last bite.
Ingredients
2 unit
Scallions
1 unit
Poblano Pepper
1 clove
Garlic
2 tablespoon
Smoky Red Pepper Crema
(Contains: Milk, Soy)
6 ounce
Cavatappi Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
1 tablespoon
Flour
(Contains: Wheat)
6 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 cup
White Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1.5 ounce
Food Should Taste Good™ Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
½ cup
Mexican Cheese Blend
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Hot Sauce
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Heat broiler to high. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Core, deseed, and dice poblano into ½-inch pieces. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Peel and mince garlic. • Place smoky red pepper crema in a small bowl. Add water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
• Once water is boiling, add cavatappi to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Drain.
• While pasta cooks, heat a drizzle of oil in a medium, preferably ovenproof, pan over medium heat (use a large, preferably ovenproof, pan for 4 servings). Add poblano and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, 4-5 minutes. • Add 2 TBSP butter (3 TBSP for 4), scallion whites, garlic, and Southwest Spice; cook, stirring, until butter melts and scallion whites are softened, 1 minute.
• Stir flour into pan and cook until smooth and incorporated, 1 minute. Gradually stir in ½ cup water (¾ cup for 4 servings) until fully combined. • Add cream cheese and cook, stirring, until fully incorporated and sauce has thickened, 1-2 minutes. • Turn off heat; stir in cheddar until melted and smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Stir drained cavatappi into pan with sauce until coated. Taste and season with salt if needed. If mixture is too thick, add a splash more water. TIP: If your pan isn’t ovenproof, transfer mixture now to a baking dish. • Using your hands, crush tortilla chips and evenly sprinkle over mac ’n’ cheese. Top with an even layer of Mexican cheese. • Broil until cheese melts, 2-3 minutes. TIP: Watch carefully to avoid burning.
• Drizzle mac ’n’ cheese with smoky red pepper crema. Top with scallion greens and as much hot sauce as you like. Serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the cheesy, spicy flavors, though some found it bland; adding extra seasoning or hot sauce boosted taste 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: Generally easy to make, though some found the instructions confusing or complicated for less experienced cooks.
- Suggestions: Consider adding protein like ground beef or chicken; some enjoyed mixing in extras like tomatoes or corn.
- Portions: Generous servings that often provided leftovers; some felt it was too much for two people.
- Texture: The crunchy tortilla chip topping was a hit, though some preferred keeping chips separate to avoid sogginess.
Reviews from our home cooks
This recipe should be a Hall of Fame. Easy to make and the cheesy, crunchy texture takes Mac 'n' Cheese to another level. The smokiness was a pleasant surprise to the taste buds. Overall we will keep this recipe on repeat!
This hit in all the right ways. It was quick and easy to make and the flavor was the perfect combination of mac n cheese with a crunchy nacho twist.
Pretty good meal! The spices added and the different variety of cheeses made this a winner. Next time I would cut up some avocado to also put on top and maybe add some black beans to make it a little more on the nacho side but just by itself was also good. I also loved the tortilla chips on the top the crunch was needed and made it that much better.
I substituted two Anaheim peppers for the long green peppers as they were not fresh after waiting too long to cook the recipe. However, everything else was fine. This Epic Nacho Mac 'N' Cheese was easy to make, tasty and filling.
It was delicious and I'm a very picky eater so trying nachos with mac n cheese was kinda weird but loved it. I recommend this one for people who love nachos like I do to try this.
Really really delicious. Complex flavors and textures. Simply addictive. Will save this recipe and be sure to order it again when I see it! Thanks for teaching me to make proper mac and cheese!! Tortillas were such a creative and delectable touch
Wow, fun delicious item. Loved this spicy new take on mac and cheese. The broiled crushed tortilla and cheese on top is the perfect crunch.
Amazing! Flavorful and easy. Not bland like many mac and cheese recipes. Tortilla chips added great flavor and texture.
The Mac and cheese was pretty bland - nachos should have a kick to them and the easiest way to get that would have been with spicier cheese. Also, the blue corn tortilla chips got soggy very fast, so in the future I would probably just put them on the side for people to add. Lastly - the calories were ridiculously high on this one. No one should be eating a meal over 1000 calories, least of all me!
We also enjoyed the Epic Mac 'n' Cheese. The recipe was easy to follow and the end result was perfect as we aren't big fans of spicy food. Needless to say we didn't use the hot sauce. We are considering reducing our meals from four to three as by the time we got to fix our 4th meal I felt uneasy about the ingredients sitting in a bag in my refrigerator for 5 days.
