Bacon Jalapeno Macaroni and Cheese Cups
It’s tailgate season and I have a fantastic new recipe for Bacon Jalapeno Macaroni & Cheese Cups that is perfect for any game day party.
This post was compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
We’ve been watching a lot of football games this season. Our team isn’t having that great of a season, but we’ve been enjoying ourselves anyway. We tailgate at home games and homegate while watching the team when they are away. We take turns hosting a football party with our friends.
Last week was our turn and I created a fun football party tablescape. We had chips and salsa, cupcakes, and peanuts. I purchased the table cover and napkins at the store but created my own food picks. You can decorate for your party with Free Football Party Decorations or Football Team Cupcake Toppers.
I had a request to make macaroni and cheese, but I was quick to dismiss it because finger foods are the easiest. Then I thought that I should bake macaroni and cheese in muffin tins to create a handheld food. Plain old macaroni and cheese seemed boring, so I elevated it with bacon and jalapenos. Party-goers will also enjoy this Football Snack Mix or Pizza Stackers.
I love this simple macaroni and cheese recipe. It is made by boiling evaporated milk with water and elbow macaroni. The cheese is added directly to the pot without draining the liquid off the cooked pasta. This means you do not have to create a roux. I always seem to mess up when making a roux, so I prefer this much easier version.
Bacon Jalapeno Macaroni and Cheese Cups
Everyone raved about these macaroni cupcakes. They disappeared quickly. My family has been begging me to make it again, which I will at our Opening Day Baseball Party. We love the contrasting flavors of the jalapeno with the bacon and cheese.
How do you tailgate or homegate?
Bacon Jalapeno Mac and Cheese Cups
Handheld Mac & Cheese cups are the perfect game day food!
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 2+ jalapenos
- 3 cups water
- 10 oz evaporated milk
- 2 cups elbow macaroni
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Cook the bacon and let it cool.
- Chop up the bacon and set it aside.
- Using gloves, chop the jalapeno. Make sure to remove the seeds. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the water until it's hot.
- Add the evaporated milk, macaroni, and salt to the water and stir.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
- Turn the burner down to medium and cook for 8-9 minutes or until the pasta is tender and the liquid is almost gone. Continue to stir frequently.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cheese until well combined.
- Stir in the chopped bacon and jalapeno.
- Grease your muffin tin (total of 12 cups) with cooking spray.
- Fill each cup with approximately 1/4 cup of the macaroni mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let the muffin tins sit for 5 minutes before removing the macaroni cups.
- Serve and enjoy.
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
This recipe is easy to double or triple to feed a big crowd.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 403Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 1025mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 26g
Awesome! Thanks so much, Rhonda!
I love being able to serve individual cups of Mac & Cheese on Game Day. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be adding your recipe to my Game Day Roundup.
Thank you for the feature!
Hi! I just wanted to let you know that these mac and cheese cups look so amazing that I included them in a roundup post about the best Game Day Food ideas. Thank you for letting me share your recipe with my readers! If interested, you can find the post here: https://madeinapinch.com/game-day-food/
Your Bacon Jalapeno Mac N Cheese Cups fantastic and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
This is really looks amazing! I should try these on weekends.
These are the perfect little tailgating treat! I would make some with jalapeno for the kids!
This is such a great idea. It is a different take on mac and cheese. I like the idea of making cute little cups so that it is a portable rather than knife and fork dish.
These Mac and cheese cups are totally adorable and DELISH! Perfect game day snacks!
Yum! I love macaroni! This will be great to make for my family!
Now these are my kind of yum-yum. I want to snack on these soooo much right NOW.
My sister would love these.
She is a big mac and cheese fan!
Yum! These look amazing! I have to try them! And I always have to have my Nexium , too!
These look divine. All my favorite flavors!
This recipe is perfect for football parties! Good thing you have Nexium on hand to keep the heartburn at bay.
These look yummy! We have a football party coming up and these will be a hit. Can’t wait to make them.
You had me at bacon. These look so yummy and definitely perfect for football sunday!
I love finding recipes like this one. I am excited to make it for our next get together.
Nexium is great for heartburn. I will have to pick some up for when I make this recipe. My Husband gets terrible heart burn.
Oh my these look so delicious and easy to make. I will have to get the ingredients I need to make these this week.
These look so amazing. I am sure this will be a big hit with my family. Perfect for a game night.
Those look amazing! I have to make them for game night! They look soooo good!
These sounds spicy and delish! I love cheesy game time dishes with a kick of yum.
Those look amazing! I have to give these a try soon. I’m sure my husband and I would eat them up fast!
Oh, yum, I love everything about this recipe. It’s perfect for game day!
Now these would be perfect for my MIL’s church gathering next weekend. Super-easy and so full of flavor and so different than what we normally take. Thanks for the recipe and idea
My kids just said YES PLEASE! Ha! You did something I didn’t think was possible- get 4 of them to agree on something to eat!
My husband loves anything with jalapeno peppers in it! He does have heartburn, so taking Nexium is something he has to do often.
I believe you have made the perfect game day snacks! Everyone else can just put stuff away because this is definitely going to win! These look so good. Period