Nacho Mac and Cheese

Name: Nacho Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 pound lean ground beef; 1 small onion, chopped; 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped; 1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning, preferably low sodium; 1/4 cup butter; 1/4 cup flour; 2 1/2 cups whole milk; 1 (10-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies; 2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese, divided; 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided; salt and pepper; 1 (16-ounce) box macaroni, cooked until al dente,; 1 1/2 cups crushed Nacho cheese Doritos; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.

Nacho Mac & Cheese is the ultimate mac and cheese for Mexican food lovers. It's loaded with ground beef flavored with taco seasoning.

Prep20 min
Cook20 min
Total40 min
Serves10 servings
Rating5.0

Nacho Mac & Cheese is the ultimate mac and cheese for Mexican food lovers. It’s loaded with ground beef flavored with taco seasoning, 2 types of cheese (cheddar and pepper jack), jalapeno, onion, plus a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies.

For a little crunch I added some crushed Doritos on top. It’s spicy and cheesy and makes a filling one dish meal.

There’s enough for leftovers or to serve several families. 🙂

If you like cilantro, sprinkle a little on top.

Msac and cheese with dorito topping in baking dish.

What Type Of Pasta To Use?

Elbow pasta is typically used for mac and cheese, but you don’t need to use it. Penne, cavatappi, wagon wheels, and shells all work well.

How To Make

(More detailed instructions in recipe card below.)

Brown the ground beef. Add the ground beef, onion, and jalapeno to a Dutch oven and cook and crumble the ground beef. Add taco seasoning. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the ground beef. Remove ground beef from Dutch oven and set aside.
Make a roux. Add butter to the Dutch oven. When melted, add flour. Cook 1 minute.
Gradually stir in milk and add rotel tomatoes. Cook 3 to 5 minutes.
Add cheese and meat. First set aside half a cup of each cheese. And the rest to the Dutch oven. Stir until melted. Stir in the ground beef mixture.
Stir in the macaroni and transfer to a greased baking dish.
Sprinkle with cheese and Doritos.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and sprinkle with cilantro.

Nacho Mac and Cheese Recipe Tip

Only cook the pasta to al dente. That means it is still a little firm when you bite into it. It will cook more in the oven.

Storage

This mac and cheese is best eaten right away. The Dorito topping does not keep all that well. You can refrigerate it in an airtight container for 3 days. The topping will be soggy, but the rest will be pretty tasty.

Make It Extra Spicy

If you want these recipe to be extra spicy, use “Hot” taco seasoning and “spicy” Rotel tomatoes.

Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a tour of dairy farms in Ohio with the American Dairy Association- Mideast. Note: Originally posted October 5, 2016.

Photo courtesy ADA-Mideast

We visited 2 farms, Richman Farms and Clardale Farms, to get and idea of how a small and large-sized dairy farm are run. We also visited Pea rl Valley Cheese where we got to learn all about the cheese making process. I learned so much about how milk goes from farm to fridge!

And saw so many cows. Lots of cows!

Plus I got to try my hand at milking a cow. Not as easy as it looks.

We learned that in terms of quality, safety, and nutrition, there’s no difference between organic and regular milk. ALL milk is tested for antibiotics and milk that tests positive for antibiotics is discarded. Non-organic farms are able to treat sick cows with antibiotics, but the milk does not enter the milk supply .