Beefy Taco Mac Bake

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Beefy Taco-Mac Bake

This beefy taco casserole is made even better by making your own baked tortilla chips!

Make something Mexican was the request–and I had everything mostly on hand with this.

Beefy Taco-Mac Bake

I’ll be upfront and say I’m not a great lover of taco seasoning because of the cumin, but when I combined this with some of Goya’s Adobo seasoning, it tasted really GREAT!

I also wanted to use up an odd bit of spiral pasta I had hanging around for I can’t remember how long, plus I had some leftover sliced olives from when I did the Mexican French Bread Pizza for an olive promotion for Price Chopper Supermarkets.

Only thing I was lacking was a bag of tortilla chips–but I did have some small flour tortillas, so I made my own. One thing I can say is I will NEVER buy tortilla chips again. I think the homemade ones actually was the thing that made this casserole shine.

This casserole is really a combination of taco-flavored beef macaroni and nachos! A real family pleaser!

A combo of nachos and tacos combine here

Like my bakers? They’re Temp-Tations Floral Lace and are available from Temp-Tations. Mine are blue but they come in many nice colors. Here’s the website:
Temp-tations.com

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Beefy Taco Mac Bake

This beefy taco casserole is made even better by making your own baked tortilla chips!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Keyword: beef recipes, taco casserole, taco mac

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 651kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

8 oz rotini pasta
1 lb lean ground beef at least 90 percent lean
10.75 oz condensed tomato soup
15 oz canned diced tomatoes*
4 oz canned diced jalapenos optional
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese**
2 tbsp taco seasoning 1.25 oz package
2 tsp Adobo seasoning Goya makes this

Topping:

2-3 cups broken tortilla chips***
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese**
1/2 cup sliced black olives
3 green onions chopped

Instructions

Cook pasta per package directions. Drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray either and 11 x 7 or 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in a large heavy skillet; drain fat.
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato soup, taco seasoning, Adobo seasoning, 1/2 cup of cheese and the pasta. Stir to combine. Place mixture in the prepared baking pan.
Top with broken tortilla chips. Top tortilla chips with the 2 cups of cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with sliced olives and chopped green onion.
Serves 4-6 depending on appetite.

Notes

*For added heat a can of Rotel tomatoes may be substituted.

**A combination of sharp cheddar and Monterrey jack may be substituted for the Mexican blend--1/2 cheddar, 1/2 jack. All cheddar or all jack is another alternative. Choice is yours!

***I made my own tortilla chips from 6-inch flour tortillas. Brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil. Repeat for how may chips you want to make. I used 4 tortillas. Stack tortillas oil side up and slice into eighths. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Someone had a hearty appetite!

Ready to eat!

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Guacamole

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Guacamole

Holy Guacamole! Get ready for Cinco de Mayo with this classic Mexican dip.

I love avocados. I inhale avocados. I could live on avocados.So, it stands to reason that I love guacamole.

Since avocados contain such healthy fats and there’s other really healthy ingredients in guacamole, indulging should be relatively guilt-free.

If you’d like to go the whole route, then by all means make your own homemade tortilla chips. Mexican restaurants do them with fresh salsa. NOTHING beats them warm out of the oven with a great guac. I’ve lacked ambition lately so I just buy the pre-made ones (hangs head in shame) and at the discount grocery too. Heck, Clancy’s is very good…and if you know that “brand” name, you know where I get them

Anyway, it doesn’t have to be Cinco de Mayo or a Mexican holiday to enjoy this…do it year round! This recipe can be doubled, tripled, whatever. I only make a smaller amount since the avocados will go brown, despite the lime juice. If you’re planning to make this for a party, then just prep all the other ingredients ahead of time, leaving the avocados to be prepared right before you are going to serve it. Despite the lime juice, it WILL turn brown after a couple of hours.

Guacamole

2 ripe Haas avocados
1 large Roma tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 medium jalapeno pepper, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 tbs minced cilantro (use more if you adore it, I don’t)
2 tbs chopped red onion
1 tbs freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Remove skin and pit from avocados and chop very coarsely. Place in medium bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well, slightly mashing the avocados–but you do want some chunks in it (well, at least I do–but if you don’t then mash it smooth).

Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Serves 2-4

Guacamole

The post Guacamole appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

tortilla chips Archives - The Midnight Baker

Beefy Taco Mac Bake

Beefy Taco Mac Bake

Ingredients

Topping:

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

Guacamole