• Home
    • Recipes
      • Recipe Index
      • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
      • Popular Recipes
    • Meal Plans
      • Weekly Meal Plans
      • Freezer Meal Plans
      • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
    • Classes
      • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
      • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
      • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
      • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
      • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
      • My Efficient Kitchen Course
    • Store
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • About
      • Press
    • Login

    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

    Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

    Join Erin's 5-Ingredient Challenge in 2023

    Tac-aroni

    October 22, 2009 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 15 Comments

    11 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

    tac-aroni

    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!

    *Note: Recipe below is for a single meal.  I doubled the below recipe to have enough to freeze.

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

    Tac-aroni

    All the great flavors of tacos, in pasta form!
    Prep Time10 minutes
    Cook Time45 minutes
    Servings - 4 servings

    Ingredients 

    • 1 lb. ground beef
    • 1/2 onion, diced
    • 1 Tbsp chili powder
    • 1 Tbsp cumin
    • 2 tsp garlic powder
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1/2 lb. elbow macaroni Use rice pasta for a gluten-free meal!
    • 1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
    • 8 oz tomato sauce
    • 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
    • 2 cups frozen corn
    • 1 cup shredded cheese
    • 2 cups frozen greens beans

    Instructions

    • Brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Stir in seasonings.
    • 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.
    • Stir in corn until heated through. Top with cheese and serve.
    • Cook green beans as indicated by package instructions.
    • Serve Tac-aroni with Green Beans.

    tac-aroni

    11 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Filed Under: Beef Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Dairy Free Meal Ideas, Gluten Free Recipes, Pasta Recipes Tagged With: corn, green beans, ground beef

    Comments

    1. Kate @ Stolen Moments says

      October 22, 2009 at 10:24 pm

      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. 🙂

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        October 22, 2009 at 10:28 pm

        @Kate @ Stolen Moments,

        I was quite impressed with his creativity on that one! And we’ll be calling it that now for sure!

        Reply
    2. Christine says

      October 23, 2009 at 5:40 am

      This looks awesome!

      Reply
    3. Carrie says

      October 23, 2009 at 8:52 am

      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.

      Reply
    4. Susan says

      October 23, 2009 at 10:53 am

      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.

      Reply
    5. Shelly says

      October 23, 2009 at 11:44 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        October 23, 2009 at 12:53 pm

        @Shelly,

        After doubling the recipe, it probably made 4 times what a HH would make. Everything was on sale…my best guess would be it was $6 for the doubled version, with the meat on sale, using coupons for the tomato sauce/diced tomatoes and getting frozen corn on sale as well!

        Reply
    6. Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy says

      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!

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        October 23, 2009 at 7:24 pm

        @Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy,

        That would be a great addition Mel!

        Reply
    7. Tatiana says

      November 21, 2009 at 7:48 pm

      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!

      Reply
    8. Jenn says

      May 26, 2010 at 8:50 pm

      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!

      Reply
    9. Andrea says

      June 17, 2010 at 6:02 pm

      I used leftover taco meat and black beans to make it! Yum-o!

      Reply
    10. Erica says

      July 10, 2010 at 8:51 am

      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!

      Reply
    11. ashley l says

      July 12, 2010 at 6:27 pm

      I made this tonight, used homemade taco seasoning. I served it w/cheesy cornbread. It was delish!! Thank you!

      Reply
    12. ashley l says

      July 12, 2010 at 6:28 pm

      We had enough to freeze too (two big gallon ziplock bags)

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
    It’s a fun challenge,
    and my pocketbook
    thanks me.
    Want to join me?

    Learn more here!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Search $5 Dinners

    Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

    Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

    © 2023 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



    Copyright © 2023 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in