This Cheetos Mac and Cheese Will Be Your New Favorite Winter Comfort Food
What’s better than snacking on a bag of your favorite Cheetos? Adding all of that cheesy, crunchy goodness to your holiday meals, of course!
That will be especially easy this year for those who got their hands on the new limited-edition cookbook, Bon-Appe-Cheetos: A Holiday Cookbook by Chester & Friends. (How cute is that name?) The company gave the book to anyone who made a minimum $35 donation to the World Central Kitchen, a charity that provides free meals to those in need. Although the website says an initial round of copies “were spoken for in a Flamin’ Hot minute,” they also recommend keeping an eye on their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for updates on snagging any extra copies that might pop up.
In the meantime, you can find plenty delicious recipes on the company’s recipe website More Smiles with Every Bite, including several from the cookbook.
We spoke with Anne Burrell, one of the chefs who contributed Cheetos-ified dishes, who describes the site as a “hub for recipes for all kinds of occasions, or just dinner on a Tuesday” and a great way to “get your creative juices flowing in the kitchen.”
Burrell embraced that creativity herself while brainstorming recipes. You can find two of her favorites from the book on the recipe website: Dangerously Cheesy Mac’n Cheetos and Fried Green Tomatoes.
“The macaroni and cheese has bacon and Cheetos all the way through it, and then of course sprinkled on top,” she tells us. “And the fried green tomatoes are encrusted in Cheetos and there’s an arugula pesto that has Cheetos in it as well.” We’re sure our families would be thrilled to see either of these on the holiday table this year.
Burrell’s own family was more than happy to help her out when it came to taste testing her recipes. “I had no complaints developing Cheetos recipes,” she says with a laugh. “I got the feedback of like, ‘Oh, wow, we can eat Cheetos but our fingers aren’t orange!’” Burrell admits her own fingers, however, were definitely covered in crumbs — not just from cooking, but obviously sneaking a few bites while she went along! Who can blame her?
Be sure to check out More Smiles with Every Bite for more tasty ways you can add a little extra flavor and crunch from your favorite snacks to your meals.
