Name: Smoked Sausage Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 10 ounces large shell macaroni; 1/2 pound thinly sliced Kielbasa; 1 cup diced green onion; 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped without seeds; 1 garlic clove, minced; 4 tablespoons salted butter; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 cup milk; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese; 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs; Salt, to taste; Black pepper, to taste; Cast Iron skillet; Cast Iron oil; Cast Iron scrubber

Cast Iron Sausage Mac and Cheese is not your childhood mac and cheese. It's a flavorful smoked sausage casserole that will leave you asking for more.

If you've been looking for an adult mac and cheese recipe, this cast-iron mac and cheese is it! Loaded with tasty smoked sausage and SO much cheese, it's everything you loved about your childhood mac and cheese...made for grown-ups.

Though, disclaimer, children will also devour this with glee, making it an ideal mac and cheese for a crowd. After all, I've never met a child who doesn't love mac and cheese and I'm pretty sure most of us adults also secretly crave it!

Smoked Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients
How to Make Cast Iron Sausage Mac and Cheese
What To Eat With Mac n Cheese
Benefits of Cast Iron Pan
Supplies Needed to Make Sausage Mac and Cheese
How To Reseason Cast Iron Pan
How To Get Rust Off Cast Iron Skillet with Vinegar
How To Clean Black Residue Off Cast Iron Skillet

The sausage and cheese pair so well together, as the smoked flavor of the sausage infuses the cheese sauce! I'm not sure why mac n cheese with sausage is not a more popular recipe. It tastes great and if you're going to call mac and cheese a complete meal, this would be the way to do it.

Do you consider mac and cheese to be a meal? Typically I don't but I like to think of this as more of a smoked sausage dinner than "just" smoked macaroni and cheese...something about adding a meat to the mixture takes mac and cheese from side dish to acceptable complete meal!

That said, I serve this as a side dish as often as I do a meal. It's a particular hit when I bring it to potlucks. (One of the reasons I love cast iron is that it helps keep the food warm!)

This cast-iron skillet mac and cheese recipe calls for cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese, partially because that's what I had on hand and most people have easy access to it. Plus, it's a flavor combo I love.

However, if you want to take this smoked sausage mac and cheese up a notch, I highly recommend a cheddar gruyere mixture. Not only does it make this even more of an adult mac and cheese recipe, it adds an extra depth to the flavor.

Mac and cheese with gruyere and cheddar just sounds much more "adult" than mac and cheese with cheddar and Monterrey Jack, don't you think?

That said, if you don't have gruyere or don't want to splurge, don't worry! There's a reason I made this smoked sausage mac and cheese recipe without it.

Now, on to the recipe...

Smoked Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients

Macaroni
Kielbasa
Green Onion
Jalapeno Pepper
Garlic
Butter
Flour
Milk
Heavy Cream
Dijon Mustard
Cheddar Cheese
Monterey Jack Cheese
Panko
Salt
Black Pepper

How to Make Cast Iron Sausage Mac and Cheese

Making this adult mac and cheese is surprisngly simple!

In your cast iron skillet, cook the kielbasa until it is browned and starts to cup. Drain the grease and set aside.

Bring 5 cups of water to a boil, generously seasoning with salt. Once boiling, cook the pasta according to box directions, for approximately 10-12 minutes.

At the same time, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter, taking care that it doesn't burn.

Add the jalapeno, onion and garlic. Allow it to soften and become fragrant.

Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the veggies and mix to a thick paste. Cook for an additional minute.

A heavy cream, milk and dijon mustard to the veggies. Mix will and cook until you can drag a line across the pan and it doesn't fill back in immediately.

Turn off the heat.

Add the 2 cups of cheese, a little bit at a time, to the veggie and cream sauce. Sprinkle and mix and return, as if you dump in too much it will stay clumpy.

Drain the cooked pasta and then stir it into the cheese sauce.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Return the small cast iron skillet to heat and add in the Panko. Lightly salt and pepper them, stirring until they brown slightly.

Add the green onion and continue stirring.

When the panko is a light oak color, remove from the heat.

To serve, dish out the mac and cheese and top with the panko crumb topping.

What To Eat With Mac n Cheese

If you ask a child, they will likely tell you that you don't need anything to go with mac and cheese. It is a meal all on its own. But, we love a good Crock Pot Tomato Mac and Cheese, and our Creamy Skillet Mac and Cheese Hamburger Helper is amazing. Instant Pot Cheesesteak Pasta is another that we love.

The addition of sausage to this cast-iron mac and cheese is another way to jazz up a favorite recipe.

If you don't consider this a meal and are trying to figure out what to eat with mac and cheese, broccoli always pairs nicely, as does a crisp side salad.

With this recipe, I might be tempted to cook up some extra sausage and a side salad.

Benefits of Cast Iron Pan

There are so many benefits of using a cast iron pan that I have to wonder why I don't use them more often. There is definitely a reason why my mother and grandmother often cooked with these pans.

The benefits of a cast iron skillet include...

Chemical-free
Long life span
Non-stick (without chemicals!)
Safe for the oven AND stove
Keep food hot for longer
Adds a small amount of iron to your food
Easy to clean
They get better with time

Supplies Needed to Make Sausage Mac and Cheese

How To Reseason Cast Iron Pan

Before using a cast iron skillet for the first time (if you don't buy one that's already seasoned) and periodically throughout its life span, you need to season and reseason a cast iron pan.

The good thing is, if you're wondering how to reason a cast iron pan, it's super simple.

The first step to reseasoning a cast iron pan is to well, break all of the cast iron care rules and do a deep clean. First, wash it with cast iron soap. Then scrub with a cast iron scrubber. Finally wipe down with paper towels.

Once everything is scrubbed off, coat the entire pan with cast iron oil and place it in an oven pre-heated to 450 to 500F for an hour.

When it comes out, you'll have a perfectly seasoned (or reseasoned) cast iron pan.

How To Get Rust Off Cast Iron Skillet with Vinegar

To get rust off your cast iron skillet with vinegar, mix equal parts vinegar and water then either submerge the entire pan in the mixture or add it to the pan, depending on where the rust is.

Begin to check the progress after an hour as once the vinegar removes the rust, it can start to damage the cast iron skillet. Do not leave it for more than 8 hours.

You should remove the pan from the vinegar as soon as the rust flakes away.

How To Clean Black Residue Off Cast Iron Skillet

To remove black residue off your cast iron skillet, which is likely burnt food, and not remove the seasoning from the pan, pour some oil and salt on a paper towel to scrub the pan.

The salt scours away the residue, without affecting the seasoning of the pan.

For best results, use the same oil that you originally used to season the pan.

Smoked Sausage Mac and Cheese

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Total Time: 32 minutes

This tasty Smoked Sausage Mac and Cheese recipe is full of flavor thanks to kielbasa sausage, garlic, and jalapeno pepper.

Ingredients

Supplies

Sausage Mac and Cheese

10 ounces large shell macaroni
1/2 pound thinly sliced Kielbasa
1 cup diced green onion
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped without seeds
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Instructions

In a small cast-iron skillet, cook the thinly sliced kielbasa until it is browned and starts to cup. Remove the cooked kielbasa, drain the grease, and set aside.
In a large pot, heat 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Season with salt.
At the same time while the pot of water is heating to a boil, heat a large cast-iron skillet at medium heat. Once brought up to temperature, add 3 tablespoons of butter. Melt the butter, but be sure not to burn it.
Once the butter in the skillet has melted, add the green onion, jalapeno, and garlic to the skillet and mix it. Give it a couple of minutes to soften and become fragrant.
By this time, the water for the pasta should be boiling. Add the pasta to the water and stir immediately and frequently for the first few minutes. Stirring is important. Immediate stirring will prevent the pasta from clumping. Cook the pasta per the directions on the package or for approximately 11-12 minutes.
After the jalapeno, onion, and garlic have softened and are fragrant, add 2 tablespoons of flour to the skillet and mix! Mix the vegetable medley has the consistency of a thick paste. Cook the mix for about a minute.
When the floured veggies have cooked for about a minute, add a cup of heavy cream, a cup of milk, and Dijon mustard to the skillet. Mix together! Over the next few minutes, as things cook, the mixture will thicken. Continue mixing at medium heat until you can drag a spoon over the bottom of the skillet, create a line, and it doesn’t fill back in right away.
Next start adding the 2 cups of cheddar cheese to the cream sauce and veggies in the skillet! Add the cheese a little bit at a time. Sprinkle and mix…sprinkle and mix. If you add too much too quickly it will clump. Be sure to thoroughly mix the cheese sauce after all of the cheese is added!
Now that we’ve created the creamy cheese sauce, it’s time to add the cooked pasta to the skillet! Either drain the pasta before you add it to the skillet, or use a handheld strainer to add the pasta to the sauce. Mix thoroughly!
Salt and pepper the macaroni and cheese to taste and mix again.
In the small cast iron pan, we used earlier, with 1 tablespoon melted butter, return it to medium-high heat, and add ½ cup of panko. Lightly salt and pepper the bread crumbs and mix. Continue mixing in the skillet until things start to lightly brown.
Once things are browning up, add 2 tablespoons of chopped green onion to the skillet and continue mixing until the bread crumbs have a light oak color to them.
When that color is reached, remove the topping from the heat.
To plate, serve the macaroni and cheese in a bowl and top it with the toasted panko! The great thing about this recipe is that if you don’t want the toasted panko, you can completely leave them out and this is still going to be the best macaroni and cheese you’ve ever eaten.

Cast Iron Sausage Mac and Cheese | How to Reseason Cast Iron Pan

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