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Mexican Mac and Cheese

This fully-loaded Mexican Mac and Cheese is a fiesta in your mouth. Chorizo, peppers, jalapeños, corn and black beans in a chipotle-laced cheese sauce? Yes, please!

By tastykitchen · From Open Recipes · 20 ingredients
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Mexican Mac and Cheese

Why it works: Pasta and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 176 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Mexican Mac and Cheese

Serves 4
Prep15 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1853Calories
108 gProtein
65 gFat
207 gCarbs

Counts 15 of 17 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Chicken100g cooked165
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Saucenot in our table0
Wheatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pasta + beanstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together176 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Corn + beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,211 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Olive + beanstop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,470 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Pasta + olivetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Pasta + jalapenotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together51 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the jalapeno

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pasta, olive, corn, chicken, onion, pepper, beans):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pasta, olive, corn, chicken, onion, pepper, beans. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.