Cheese Sauce

We tried this cheese sauce last week. It tasted great and was super easy to make. The best part about this sauce is you can make it as hot or mild as you want. You can use it with anything you want to have some cheese sauce. We had it with pasta and with chips.

Cheese Sauce by Kenji

INGREDIENTS:

- 8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese (or a mix of cheddar and pepper Jack—see note), grated on large holes of a box grater
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce


METHOD:

Add cheese and cornstarch to sauce pan. Toss to combine with 2 forks. Add 1 cup evaporated milk and hot sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until melted, bubbly, and thickened (about 5 minutes). Mixture will look thin and grainy at first but will thicken and come together after heating. Thin to desired consistency with additional evaporated milk. Serve immediately with fries, tortilla chips, pasta, burgers, or hot dogs.

To reheat the sauce, microwave it on high heat, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds until it's fully melted.

NOTES:

This cheese sauce is gooey and tangy. For a spicier version, substitute half the cheddar cheese with Pepper Jack and add 2-3 minced pickled jalapeños, or to taste.

Adapted from Kenji at Serious Eats.