30-Minute Cajun Mac n' Cheese

30-Minute Cajun Mac & Cheese with Spicy Chorizo Sausage & Broccoli

This recipe is a new one for me but I'm glad I tried it. I love how quick it was, how versatile the ingredients are, and of course, how tasty it was. This dish is sure to be on your regular menu after you make it once.

This pasta was creamy, spicy, and full of flavour. It also has all the food groups so it's delicious and nutritious. The chorizo and cajun seasoning add a bit of spice and smoky flavour but the cream-based tones it down. The best part: this recipe uses only two dishes to cook and takes out all the extra work of making a sauce separately, draining the pasta, and cooking the broccoli separately. And it takes 30 minutes!

30-Minute Cajun Mac n' Cheese

Serves	6
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	25

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs pasta - I used rigatoni

• 4 1/2 cups water

• 1 large head of broccoli

• 1 lb chorizo sausage (1 pkg) - if it comes in a casing, remove the meat

• 1 1/4 of whole milk, cream, or whatever milk you have with some cream added in

• 1 tbsp cajun seasoning (Frontiersman brand is great!)

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1/2 tsp oregano

• 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Start by putting all the water in a large pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil on high heat on the stove. Bring a saucepan to medium heat.

2. When the water starts to boil, add the pasta and broccoli and bring to medium-high heat. Let simmer for 10 minutes.

3. While the pasta and broccoli simmer, add the chorizo sausage to the saucepan and break up, cooking until brown.

4. Once the pasta has been cooking for 10 minutes, add the milk and/or cream to the pasta and let simmer uncovered for about 5 more minutes - until it thickens and there's not a lot of liquid left and the pasta is al dente.

5. Bring the pasta mixture to medium-low heat and add the seasoning, onion powder, oregano, paprika, chorizo, and cheese, saving some parmesan for topping.

6. Combine all the ingredients in the pot and remove from heat.

7. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. Enjoy with parmesan and green onions on top.

As I said, this recipe is super easy and only takes a small number of ingredients that almost everyone has in their fridge or pantry. It's also just so good that everyone should at least try it once. Feel free to tone down the seasoning as well if you think you will find it a little too spicy.

If you can't find chorizo in your grocery store or want something a little less spicy, you can substitute it with ground turkey, ground beef (pretty much hamburger helper then), or a different type of sausage.

Lastly, this stuff gets even better when it's leftover as the sauce thickens even more and the flavour gets more present.

If you didn't catch my last blog post, it was all about fridge and pantry staples if you want to check it out!

Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you're planning to try this out soon and how it goes!

I have some exciting stuff happening in the next couple of weeks, so be sure to keep an eye on the blog for an announcement coming!

Have a great week!

- Emily