Everybody is getting into the newstalgia game. Now Carnation has an unintentional exclusive on a viral Mac & Cheese update that’s apparently sweeping the food and social media spheres. The secret ingredient? Carnation Kickin’ Jalapeño Flavored Evaporated Milk!
Who knew there even was such a thing? Last year, the jalapeño-infused milk débuted through a limited social media giveaway on a first-come, first-served basis.
“There were three drops leading up to National Mac and Cheese Day, with each ‘selling out’ in mere seconds,” the brand reports.
According to Carnation, the special-purpose ingredient features, “the perfect hint of heat from na-tural jalapeño flavor.” It’s available US-wide via Walmart.com for just (US)$1.84 per standard-sized tin. For a limited time, course.
“For generations, Carnation has been the secret ingredient to elevate recipes from ordinary to ex-traordinary,” Carnation’s Senior Marketing Manager, Lais Ferreira boasts.
A perfect fit…
Tineke Younger (@tinekeyounger), better known as Tini, is a former Next Level Chef contestant and a chef with her own massive social media following — 11 million on TikTok and more than a million on Instagram. Back in November 2023, Younger shared a tutorial on how to make her mac and cheese. The video quickly went viral, amassing 139 million views – and counting!
The secret is simple. And it’s virtually guaranteed to deliver a product superior to the vast majority of other m&c recipes that rely on cream or evaporated milk to thicken their sauces.
But the x-over with Carnation seems a bit… contrived.
“This collaboration was specifically designed for mac and cheese lovers as a limited-time promotion — a spicy twist on Tini’s already viral mac and cheese recipe,” Carnation told Food & Wine.
My take
I’ve always loved the idea of using evaporated milk in any sauce or casserole that I want to come out ultra-smooth, thick, rich, and creamy. It’s a natural. But it’s almost as ancient as evaporated milk, it-self. The problem as I see it is, by itself, it’s not really ‘a 2025-era update’…
The the basic principles of newstalgia DO demand a ‘twisty’ update. But at the same time, I wonder if a purpose-made product that combines a pair of dance partners as improbable as chili peppers and evaporated milk isn’t, perhaps, ‘an update too far’?
~ Maggie J.