Baked chorizo & bacon macaroni and cheese

The cheesiest, yummiest baked macaroni and cheese, also known as mac and cheese, I have ever made! Chorizo is a very spicy sausage similar to Italian sausage. Paired with the crispy bacon, this baked comfort food recipe is not to be missed! For the chorizo, you have to remove the casings from the sausages. The casings are thin membranes covering the sausages that resemble plastic. The chorizo becomes super chewy when cooked with the casings still on so this is a super important step. Once you sort that out, this three-cheese baked bacon and chorizo mac and cheese will have you hooked! This recipe was originally posted ages ago so you can find more in-depth photos on my FoodTalk profile.

Assembling the bacon and chorizo macaroni and cheese

I also learnt a trick that makes this even cheesier: when assembling it in the pan, make the first layer of cooked macaroni and cheese, the second layer of grated cheddar, and then the third layer of macaroni and cheese. So basically, that layer of shredded cheddar will melt into the cooked macaroni and cheese, and you have a cheese haven. This is demonstrated in the photo below. It’s also really important to make the roux (the sauce base) which consists of melting butter, flour, and cheeses together. It prevents your mac and cheese from drying out and gels the pasta, chorizo, bacon, and cheese together. Don’t skip any steps, because this is how you achieve a flawless, mac and cheese with a cheese pull all the way up to your nose. Enjoy!

What cheese should I use?

The types of cheese you buy also matter: Fresh blocks of cheese make the dish creamier and more cheesy. The shredded packaged cheeses you find in grocery stores are okay. But for baked macaroni and cheese, they don’t give that same feel and hardly stretch. I usually grate the block cheeses ahead of time and store them in a zip lock bag in the fridge. This is just to save time on the day I want to make the recipe. Cheddar cheese is a must in any mac and cheese. I used three kinds of cheese for this recipe: cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan. Another popular cheese in mac and cheese is Velveeta cheese.

If you loved this ultra-cheesy mac and cheese, you will love my stove-top pumpkin macaroni and cheese. It is one-pot and no-bake required, enjoy!

Baked bacon chorizo macaroni and cheese

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Servings: 8 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cooking Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes 1 Hour 15 Minutes

Rating: 3.5/5

( 4 voted )

Ingredients

Boiling the macaroni

2 cups elbow macaroni

4 cups water

1 teaspoon table salt

 

The cheese sauce

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup cream (half-and-half or heavy cream)

3 cups fresh cheddar cheese, grated

2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese, grated

1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tablespoon dried or fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon dried basil

4 chorizo sausages, casings removed and chopped (see post above)

5 bacon rashers, cut in half

2-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Instructions

Boiling the macaroni

1. In a saucepan, add water and elbow macaroni to boil.
2. Add a teaspoon of salt and cover with a lid. Boil for 20 minutes until macaroni is soft.

Making the macaroni and cheese

1. Fry the bacon until crispy and let cool on some paper towels to soak up excess oil. Once cooled to room temperature, chop the bacon into small bits.
2. Fry the chopped chorizo in the same pan as the bacon to give it flavor. Usually takes 10-15 minutes to fry through. Set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
4. In a large pan or skillet melt the butter frying butter. Add in flour and stir in a circular motion with a ladle to remove clumps.
5. Add in the cream and stir. It will become stretchy.
6. Then pour in 2 out of the 3 cups of cheddar cheese, the 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, Parmesan, and stir. Once melted, the cheese will become thin and stretchy. Add in boiled macaroni and mix.
7. Season with basil, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning. Let simmer and stir occasionally for another 5-6 minutes. Add in chorizo sausage and bacon. Let cook for about 5 minutes to gel completely with the cheese and macaroni.
8. Get a 10-inch pie pan or a 13x9 inch casserole pan and scoop half the macaroni and cheese into the pan. Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese and then pour the remaining macaroni on top.
9. Even out the surface of the macaroni with a ladle and add breadcrumbs. If your skillet is oven-friendly you could use that instead of the pie pan.
10. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 minutes until the top is a crispy brown.

Notes

I've used almond milk for this recipe and it worked out just fine so you can substitute the cream for low fat options. Do not use low fat cheese though.