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Cheese Sauce with a Mild Spicy Kick

This sauce is cheesy liquid gold with a slightly spicy kick to it. Since the day I came up with a way to transform a nasty bottle of processed cheese into an, “I can’t believe it is this good kind of cheese sauce” I’ve been making it this way. Now I’m so obsessed with it. Give it a try, it’s very simple to make.

By tastykitchen · From Open Recipes · 8 ingredients
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Cheese Sauce with a Mild Spicy Kick

Why it works: Cream cheese and cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 473 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cheese Sauce with a Mild Spicy Kick

Serves 5
Prep5 min
Cook5 min

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

462Calories
34 gProtein
30 gFat
16 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Cream Cheese1 oz (28g)99
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Saucenot 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. Cream cheese + cheesetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Tomato + jalapenotop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,291 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,896 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 (tomato, cream cheese, cream, cheese, sauce, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, cream cheese, cream, cheese, sauce, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.