Our Tex Mex Mac and Cheese takes the classic baked macaroni and cheese and gives it a fresh spin that both kids and adults alike can enjoy. Taco seasoned beef, tender peppers and onions, and spicy bits of green chiles are caught up in the crooks of deliciously cheesy macaroni elbows.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Elbows, Whole Wheat
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 ¼ cups dice Onion
- 1 ½ cups dice Bell Pepper, Red
- 2 tablespoons seed and dice Jalapeño
- 2 ¼ cups cook Ground Beef
- 1 ⅔ tablespoons Taco Seasoning
- 10 ounces Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 tablespoon Flour, Whole Wheat
- 1 ½ cups Milk
- 4 cups Colby Jack Cheese, Shredded
- ¼ teaspoons Sea Salt
- ⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper
Containers
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- Prepare pasta according to package directions.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Thaw: In fridge
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Make It Now Cooking Directions
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- Prepare pasta according to package directions.
- In a skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil.
- Add onions, bell peppers and jalapeno peppers. Saute until soft.
- Stir in ground beef, taco seasoning and diced tomatoes with green chiles.
- In a sauce pan, melt butter.
- Gradually whisk in flour. Slowly add milk, salt and pepper. Heat for 4-5 minutes. Stir in cheese and allow to melt. Continue to whisk until cheese sauce forms.
- Combine pasta, ground beef mixture and cheese sauce. Mix well, then place in a baking pan.
- Bake covered at 350F for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 8 Servings
- Serving Size
- 4"x4" piece Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 776
- Total Fat
- 33g
- Saturated Fat
- 18g
- Trans Fat
- 1g
- Cholesterol
- 117mg
- Sodium
- 858mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 76g
- Fiber
- 9g
- Sugar
- 8g
- Protein
- 44g
- WW Freestyle
- 24
11 Comments
Join the discussionabout how many pounds of ground beef was used?
Hi Sarah- it was 1.5 pounds of ground beef. This link will help- http://onceamonthmeals.com/sli…
When I printed the instruction label, the cook time is doubled to 90 minutes. Perhaps because I doubled the recipe?
Did you just recently print the label? It was incorrect originally but I updated it a few weeks ago. I show it should say 45 minutes on my side.
This is a delicious recipe! Glad I put it into a 13×9 pan instead of two because we devoured it. It went straight into the oven frozen at 425* for about an hour and cooked through nicely.
Glad you enjoyed! It’s one of my favorites too.
4 cups of cooked or uncooked pasta?
Hi Claire, I just updated the post to clarify but you want 4 cups of pasta before cooking it.
Would this work with GF noodles and GF flour?
Hi Trisha! That should work! Let us know how it goes! We love hearing how adaptions go!
We added more spice.