Recipe Collection: Feta and Chorizo Mac’n’Cheese

I have a confession to make.

Before my real food days, I was a die-hard boxed mac n’ cheese fan.

You could make homemade mac n’ cheese every which way to Sunday, and I’d still tell you that I preferred the powdered stuff with a bit of skim milk and butter. My, oh my, do I bow my head in shame about that now.

But it gets worse, you see, because when I began ridding our pantry of processed junk at the beginning of our real food journey, I found a couple of boxes of mac n’ cheese… and I just couldn’t part with them. And yet, I’ve never convinced myself to eat them either. So there they have sat in my “convenience food” tubs where I keep my popcorn, homemade beef jerky, and fruit snacks… just waiting to find their final resting place.

So, when a friend messaged me the other day about her guilty pleasure of boxed mac n’ cheese the night before… I was tempted. Oh, so very, very tempted. But every time I thought about making it and actually eating it, I couldn’t help but ponder with every delicious imaginary bite what sort of might-as-well-be-lethal chemical I was spooning into my body. But the craving was there nonetheless.

So I created a challenge unto myself: create a homemade version of mac n’ cheese that blows the boxed kind out of the flimsy cardboard (and into the trash).

Well, I’m happy to say I accepted the challenge… and won.

Enter my newly crowned recipe: feta & chorizo mac n’ cheese. Rich, creamy, cheesy goodness meets a healthy combination of sweet and spicy in this melt-in-your-mouth (and gluten-free) dish that everyone from kiddos to food snobs can enjoy!

The beauty of this recipe is not only its deliciousness… it’s the fact I only dirtied one pot and dish in the process. For someone who likes to keep the kitchen clean as I go… this makes my life SO much easier!

Feta and Chorizo Mac’n’Cheese

Step 1: Use your pot to cook the noodles according to the package directions, and then strain and set aside.

Step 2: Using the same pot (or if you don’t care about dirtying two pots, you could do these steps simultaneously while cooking the noodles in a different pot), add your milk, butter, and cream cheese and begin cooking over low heat.

Step 3: Once the base of your cheese sauce is mostly melted, add 1/2 cup of feta and spices, continuing to stir and cook over low heat (low heat is key so your dairy doesn’t burn/curdle – slow and steady wins the race here). One of the odd ingredients here is the ground mustard – but I’m telling you, it makes the dish!

Step 4: While that continues to cook over low heat, chop up your chorizo sausage and crumble your remaining feta (unless it’s already crumbled).

Step 5: Sprinkle in your chorizo and pea and stir into the sauce until combined/warmed.

Step 6: Stir your cooked noodles into the sauce and spread into an oven-safe dish, which you will then sprinkle with the remaining (1/4 cup) feta and bake for about 10-15 minutes until nice and melty/bubbly.

Step 7: Pull it out of the oven and return to childhood fantasies of mac n’ cheese goodness! Enjoy!

What is your favorite real food mac’n’cheese recipe?