Taco Mac & Cheese

Name: Taco Mac & Cheese
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Serves 8 (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)
Ingredients: 12 ounces uncooked elbow pasta; 1 pound 80/20 ground chuck; 1 cup chopped yellow onion (from 1 onion); ½ cup chopped red bell pepper (from 1 bell pepper); 1 (8-oz.) pkg. ground beef taco skillet sauce with mild red chile and cumin (such as Frontera Brand); 2 (8-oz.) blocks Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 4 cups); 4 ounces mild Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup); ½ cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter; ½ cup (about 2 1/8 oz.) all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 3 cups whole milk; Toppings: sour cream, halved cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced fresh jalapeños, fresh cilantro leaves

1 Rating
1 Review

When taco night meets mac and cheese, magic happens. Melty cheese, hearty ground beef, and a creamy Tex-Mex inspired sauce come together in this taco-mac skillet for a maximum comfort food meal. You can absolutely prep this cheesy dinner bake ahead of time to make for even easier weeknight prep; simply assemble (following the recipe through step 4), then cover tightly and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake (add a few minutes to the bake time if you’re going from the fridge to the oven). You can typically find taco skillet sauce shelved near the dry taco seasoning and tortillas in the supermarket.

By Pam Lolley

Recipe by MyRecipes

Gallery

Recipe Summary

active:

15 mins

total:

50 mins

Yield:

Serves 8 (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare pasta according to package directions, cooking to al dente; drain well, and set aside.

Advertisement
Step 2
Combine ground beef, onion, and bell pepper in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Cook, stirring often, until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions and peppers are soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat, and drain off any liquid. Stir in taco sauce and cooked pasta.
Step 3
Toss together shredded cheeses in a medium bowl; reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cheese mixture.
Step 4
Melt butter in a large saucepan over low; whisk in flour and salt until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; increase heat to medium, and cook, whisking constantly, until milk mixture is thickened and bubbly, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir sauce into pasta mixture. Stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups of cheese. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 12-inch ovenproof skillet or a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top evenly with reserved 1 1/2 cups cheese.
Step 5
Bake in preheated oven until bubbly and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve immediately with desired toppings.

Sort by: Newest

Newest Oldest

MyRecipes Member

07/30/2022

How in the world does this only have 1 review? It's definitely among my favorite recipes, in the regular rotation for 2 years now.

My only notes are:
-I'm all about using fewer pans. I use an enamel coated cast iron pan to brown the meats and to go into the oven, plus one pan to boil the pasta plus make the roux
- Th first time I did this, I thought it was written wrong because I'm used to adding the cheese into the flour/mik/butter mixture. Every time after I did it as written and this is so much easier! Screw you Martha Stewart,LOL
- I don't shred blocks of cheese. I use one bag of shredded Monterey jack and half bag of cheddar these days. Or whatever I have. And could get away with less
- I wish someone would change this recipe to a one skillet pasta type recipe. You would still need a 2nd for the roux, tbh, but I think it would make the recipe less work. Not that it's that bad now
-Writer probably knows what they're talking about re :Frontera. I've done Old El Paso and Ortega, and those let you get a double portion for next time, but the batches with Frontera were among the tastiest
- if you're a really novice cook, know that this will be fine if you sub a green pepper for red or a red onion for yellow

Overall, I do this as written but recognize I don't need ALL the cheese. I should probably test cutting it more to come up with a healthier compromise

Back to Taco Mac & Cheese

All Reviews for Taco Mac & Cheese

- of Reviews

50 Ways to Use Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter

15 Unexpected Ways to Use Hot Chocolate Mix

65 Super Easy Finger Foods to Make for Any Party

Taco Mac & Cheese

Gallery

Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Directions

Reviews (1)

All Reviews for Taco Mac & Cheese