5 Ingredients or Fewer

Pimento Mac n’ Cheese

by:
July 13, 2021
1
1 Ratings
Pimento Mac n’ Cheese
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

This creamy mac and cheese is inspired by the stovetop classic, and comes from Joshua Kulp and Christine Cikowski of Honey Butter Fried Chicken in Chicago. You can use grated sharp cheddar in place of the sharp cheddar cheese spread—but don't leave out the pimento peppers and buttermilk, which give this mac a piquant spin. One tip for a cook tackling this mac at home? "Don’t overcook the pasta," say Kulp and Cikowski. "Shoot for al dente." Or, if you're really craving comfort, order it delivered to your door through Caviar. —Food52

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Pimento Mac n’ Cheese
Ingredients
  • 1/2 pound fusilli pasta
  • 1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese spread, or grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 ounces buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup pimento peppers, pureed and strained
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Directions
  1. Bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Drain the pasta, then shock the pasta in the ice bath, then drain again.
  2. Heat the cheese and buttermilk in a medium pot over medium heat until cheese melts into the buttermilk.
  3. Add the pasta and the pimento puree to the cheese sauce and stir to combine, then cook for a few minutes (stirring occasionally) until the sauce adheres to the pasta and the pasta is hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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2 Reviews

kate
kate May 26, 2023
I have had the Honey Butter Fried Chicken Mac n Cheese. I love the Honey Butter Fried Chicken Mac n Cheese. This, my friend, is not the Honey Butter Chicken Fried Mac n Cheese.
It’s not even sadly good Mac n cheese. The tangy flavor of the original is totally missing. The cheese sauce made from sharp cheddar cheese is too gloopy and thick. Maybe this is because it says cheese spread or cheese, which is odd because these are two verrrrry different products and the recipe shouldn’t really allow for either to be used interchangeably.
I made this twice just to make sure it wasn’t an error I made the first time, but got the same results.
 
Cassie T.
Cassie T. February 4, 2018
Is 1 1/2 ounces buttermilk of buttermilk the correct measurement? Seems like it should be 1 1/2 cups.