Spicy Mac and Cheese Sauce Recipe (with Goat Milk)

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Today I’m sharing a delicious spicy mac and cheese sauce recipe with goat milk – but you definitely don’t HAVE to use goat milk!  You can use cow’s milk (in fact, that’s usually what I use).  But for anyone who has goat milk in their fridge and is looking for a recipe that helps disguise that “goaty” flavor, this goat milk mac and cheese will be perfect.  I happened to have some goat milk fresh from the udder that Hubby decided he did not like the taste of, so I altered my homemade baked mac and cheese recipe to make it a bit spicier and you’d never guess goat milk was lurking in this easy mac and cheese sauce recipe.

Can You Put Goat Milk in Mac and Cheese?

Yes!  You can put goat milk in mac and cheese.  You could use it with powdered cheese style instant mac and cheese, but you can also use goat milk in homemade mac and cheese cooked from scratch.  Substitute goat milk as you would cow’s milk when making a cheese sauce for goat milk mac and cheese.  If you don’t like the taste of goat milk you may want to use stronger spices and a cheese with a stronger taste, like I do with this recipe.  But the taste of goat milk becomes milder in recipes than drinking a glass straight, so you may be surprised how much less “goaty” goat milk tastes simply by cooking with it.  If you’re curious, here’s how to pasteurize goat milk (if you’re getting yours fresh).

Easy Mac and Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter (generous)
• 2 tbsp flour (generous heap)
• 2.5 cups milk (whole cow’s milk or goat milk)
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

How to Make Mac and Cheese Sauce from Scratch:

1. Start by making a simple roux: melt the butter in a pot over low heat.
2. Once the butter is melted, add the flour (I usually just throw both in together but if you’re new to this, start with the butter).
3. Working quickly, whisk the flour and butter mixture so it makes a paste.
4. Once you’ve made a paste, keep whisking and quickly cook it for one minute (still low heat).
5. Whisk in the milk and increase heat to bring to a boil – mixture will start to thicken and gently bubble (this takes about 15 minutes).
6. Keep whisking as it heats – it can burn to the pan during this process, so keep the milk moving.
7. Once the sauce bubbles, turn off the heat and stir in the spices.
8. Add the shredded cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.
9. Remove the sauce from the hot element.

How to Freeze Mac and Cheese Sauce:

This mac and cheese sauces freezes so well!  You can freeze it like this, ready to use, but you can also freeze it before you add the cheese.  Freezing as just a basic béchamel (because that’s basically what this mac and cheese sauce starts its life as) takes up less space in the freezer, which is helpful if you don’t have much freezer space.  Either way, I let my sauce cool a bit and then transfer to a freezer-safe container before transferring to the freezer.  I find this homemade mac and cheese sauce keeps really well in the freezer – I’ve used mine for up to a year.  I can’t say beyond that because we cannot resist this long enough to experiment.  Sorry.  To use frozen mac and cheese sauce, I let it thaw overnight in the fridge and then heat in a pot on the stove, stirring as it warms.  If I’ve frozen the sauce without cheese, I just stir in some cheese and let it melt – easy peasy!  This cheese sauce is pretty foolproof.

How to Make Homemade Baked Mac and Cheese:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees °F.
2. Butter a 9 x 13 pan (optional, usually I skip this step with my Jadeite pan).
3. Cook a 500g bag of pasta and drain well.
4. Return the pasta to the pot and set aside.
5. Pour the hot sauce on the cooked noodles and stir together.
6. Resist eating it at this stage!!  Hubby struggles with this, hovering around, asking why we can’t eat it now (you can!).
7. Bake 25-30 minutes (until the top is a little browned, with slight crispy cheese).

Truthfully Hubby isn’t wrong: the unbaked version of this goat milk mac and cheese is delicious as well:

But I do think this spicy mac and cheese recipe is best when its baked for 30 minutes!  The top layer just get a little bit crispy.

What Not to Do When Making Mac and Cheese?

• Be careful not to scald/burn the milk when making the sauce – it will ruin the flavor with a burnt taste
• Don’t overcook the pasta, especially because it will continue to cook a bit in the oven so al dente is best!
• Try not to scrimp on the cheese, otherwise you will find this mac and cheese isn’t cheesy enough
• Don’t overthink the cheese: I like an aged cheddar, but I’ve also used gruyere cheese (soo good), mozzarella, edam… it’s fun to experiment!
• Don’t be afraid to mix it up: sometimes I like the add peas and other veggies when making this to add a bit more nutrition