I doubled this meal and then froze it in 2 parts: Few dinner portions without cheese. Another few portions with cheese.
After seeing the pasta box on the counter, my oldest asked, “Are we having macaroni for dinner?”
I replied, “Yeah, but this is Taco Macaroni.”
To which he responded, “Yum. Tac-aroni!”
Clever, huh?
Not sure how to pronounce this…Listen below.
Little stinker…trying to tell you we were having spinach!
I made this Taco Mac recipe from Stolen Moments Cooking “as is”…meaning no modifications, other than no cheese for the boys! Great meal Kate!!!
*Note: Recipe below is for a single meal. I doubled the below recipe to have enough to freeze.
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
2 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1/2 lb. elbow macaroni Use rice pasta for a gluten-free meal!
1 1/2 c. beef stock or broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 c. frozen corn
1 c. shredded cheese
2 cups frozen greens beans
Directions
1. Brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Stir in seasonings.
2. Add noodles, stock, tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes to the skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Cover skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender, about 15 – 20 minutes.
3. Stir in corn until heated through. Top with cheese and serve.
4. Cook green beans as indicated by package instructions.
5. Serve Tac-aroni with Green Beans.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Erin, thanks so much! I’m glad you guys liked it.
That video is precious. I think I’m going to start calling it Tac-aroni from now on. It’s perfect. And what a little cutie.
This looks awesome!
Will try this weekend! Sounds wonderful! We like quinoa elbows over rice pasta elbows for these kinds of dishes . . . it’s closer in consistency to wheat pasta, and it’s flavor is mild enough not to compete with whatever you add to it.
I have a similar recipe that I have been preparing for years.
Chili Noodle
For every 2 cups of dry noodles ( I use elbow) you use:
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (plain or flavored)
1 15 oz. can of chili (vegetarian, turkey or whatever you have on hand)
Boil the noodles- drain. Place in skillet with the tomatoes and chili. Stir. Simmer 10 – 15 minutes. That’s it!
You can add cheese on top the last few minutes of cooking. I serve with sour cream and corn chips.
I’m sad you don’t have a cost breakdown on this one. I’m trying really hard to wean my family from Hamburger Helper because I just hate feeding my family it. But it’s so convenient and inexpensive, which is hard to beat right now. I love trying homemade versions like this, and will be adding this one to my list to try.
Twitter: ADramaticMommy
October 23, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I have this on the stove right now! I’ll be darned if I didn’t forget to pick up a bag of fire roasted corn when I was at Trader Joe’s. I thought that might give it another little kick. Next time!
Just made this recipe tonight, it was outstanding! I made it earlier in the day because I was going to be out for most of the afternoon. I put the dinner in a casserole dish and when we were ready to eat, put the cheese on top and baked for 30 minutes….it came out as a casserole! We were very pleased….thank you!
Made this tonight with ground turkey (also threw in some frozen chopped spinach) and it’s a hit! It even made enough to freeze half. You are SAVING MY LIFE with dinner recipes this week!
I used leftover taco meat and black beans to make it! Yum-o!
Made this last night for dinner! Substituted egg noodles due to the fact that that was what I had on hand..also added some black beans. It was wonderful! Single recipe was enough for us to eat and freeze for later!
I made this tonight, used homemade taco seasoning. I served it w/cheesy cornbread. It was delish!! Thank you!
We had enough to freeze too (two big gallon ziplock bags)