Cheddar

Packing these puppies full of veggies gives them a wallop of low-cal flavor, leaving plenty of room for queso.

These mini-taters keep portion size in check, so you can enjoy cheesy, bacony goodness without thinking twice.

For the ultimate nachos, layer tortilla chips with beer-braised carnitas, black beans, and shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack. Bake until the cheese is melty, then serve it with all your favorite toppings.

Skip a step when making mac and cheese by not precooking the pasta. Instead, mix the dried pasta with a thinner-than-usual béchamel sauce, and it will bake perfectly in just 30 minutes.

Epicurious member and Maine resident Jesse Wakeman first made this ultimate breakfast burrito when he was in fifth grade. It’s fast (under 20 minutes), tasty, and simple to make. To warm the tortillas, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a 350°F oven until just heated through, about 30 seconds. Alternatively, wrap the tortillas loosely in a damp towel and place in the microwave on high for about 20 seconds.

While several hours are required for the dough to rise twice, this top-rated bread recipe demands little more than 20 minutes of active time. If you prefer milder heat, omit the chile seeds and ribs, as that’s where the majority of their fire resides. A shopping note: Always purchase extra yeast. If it doesn’t foam when combined with water, it’s past its prime and you’ll need to start over with new. Active dry yeast will keep for about a year, but with this recipe in your repertoire, you’re likely to use it much sooner than that.

This simple-to-prepare pot pie is a perfect excuse for all that leftover Thanksgiving turkey. The cheesy crust is so good that you’ll want to bake it as a stand-alone biscuit—use just a cup of buttermilk for a stiffer consistency.

Epicurious member Uhlemann may have thought of one of the best pastry workarounds since the frozen pie shell. This recipe uses phyllo dough, and, once you get the hang of working with it, it’s easy, fast, and leakproof. Great for a brunch, this quiche can be made ahead and reheats perfectly.

Bursting with bold, south-of-the-border flavor, these zesty breakfast tacos give you a reason to rise and shine. Creamy, luscious eggs and sharp Cheddar engulf the spicy chorizo. Slightly crisp corn tortillas mean this can be a quick breakfast or a more leisurely knife-and-fork operation. Serve this dish for a casual family brunch, but be sure to make plenty for everyone: with such crowd-pleasing ingredients, these tacos disappear quickly. If you want to skip the chorizo, try using other breakfast meats or even a vegetarian sausage.

Few comfort foods hit the spot like a good chili. Don’t forget the Cheddar shortcakes; the light, fluffy consistency of the dough pairs perfectly with this Tex-Mex staple.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious.

You can reheat this ooey-gooey dip in a skillet, or keep it warm in a fondue pot.

Cheddar, Gruyère, and Brie help push this over the top. Use local, artisan-style cheeses, if you can.

Although Americans chow down on plenty of crisp pretzels, there's something irresistible about the soft variety that makes them just as addictive, if not more so, than the crunchy version. When formed into bite-size nuggets, not only do they pop easily into your mouth, but they are also small enough to eliminate the temptation to double-dip in the Cheddar sauce. You can also offer up a bowl of mustard, or divide your Cheddar dip into three bowls, flavoring one with mustard and the other with caraway seeds.
You may suspect that the large amount of baking soda to cook the pretzels is a typo; it's not. Believe us, it's the secret to the chestnut-brown color they develop during baking. Without it, the pretzels would look anemic. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for A Father's Day Feast. Menu also includes Grilled Rib Pork Chops with Sweet and Tangy Peach Relish and The Ultimate Brownie Sundae.

Everything I know about getting a party started right, I learned at Houston's restaurant in Atlanta. No kidding. Its creamy, bubbling spinach and artichoke dip was a must on date night in high school, and these days it's the dish that even the snobbiest of food snobs can't resist. I'll whip it up for friends and, no matter what else I serve, it's always the first thing to go. Sometimes I leave out the spinach, add red pepper flakes, or use whatever vegetable is in season. In other words, it stands up to improvisation. We've put a spring spin on the dish, starring asparagus, just-dug-up leeks, sweet peas, and fresh goat cheese. Serve it with crostini, tortilla chips, or crudités. Or just eat it by the spoonful. It's that good.

This waffle recipe is a ham and cheese sandwich disguised as the greatest brunch dish of all time.

When both the recipe developer (Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez) and the cross-tester (Melissa Roberts) raved about this soup, it was clear we had a winner! This almost-vegetarian chowder is chock full of a variety of colorful diced vegetables. Of course, we love the smoky nuance the bacon gives it, but if you wanted to make this strictly vegetarian, just lose the bacon and use vegetable stock in place of the chicken broth. This is ski-house material to feed a hungry horde, or use a long weekend to have several smaller gatherings to pay back all your friends (once you’ve cleaned for one party, you might as well throw another one).

You might imagine that this dish was a modern creation, but its history dates back to the 1700s, when dried macaroni—one of the few staples that could survive a year aboard ship—was brought from Italy to Britain and to the American colonies. Because there was a lack of other (Italian) ingredients, the imported pasta would often be served with a simple white sauce—milk thickened with flour and butter; sometimes it was baked in a casserole with bread crumbs on top. The earliest recorded recipe was in the Boston Cooking School Cookbook in 1896. This recipe uses a classic variation of béchamel known as sauce Mornay, made by whisking the flour into sautéed onions to form the roux (which is what thickens the sauce; see page 62 for more); then milk is added and the sauce is left to simmer until thick and creamy. Grated cheese is the final touch. Béchamel—and any sauce where flour is used as a thickener—is typically cooked for about 30 minutes to give the starch molecules in the flour enough time to absorb as much liquid as possible (so the flour goes from being granular to smooth, or gelatinized). In this recipe, the sauce is simmered for a much shorter time, since it will continue to cook in the oven after being stirred into the dish. For variety, top some or all of the servings with thin slices of roasted tomato and fresh thyme.

Try this dip with sliced green apple, toasted rustic bread, or crackers.