Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with Ground Beef Recipe

I joke that growing up I survived on 2 meals:  Peanut butter & honey sandwiches and my Grandpa’s Mac & Cheese.  While that is a slight exaggeration, it is not far off from the truth.  I was one picky eater as a kid, and life is paying me back with my daughter being almost as picky as I was.  While I would fuss over vegetables (broccoli was the devil back then) and would outright refuse to even try many meats when it came to a meal I would never turn down my Grandpa knew exactly what to make.  His homemade Mac & Cheese was a family favourite that was worth coming home for lunch from school for.  Since those days my tastes have expanded a lot, however homemade Mac & Cheese is still a favourite.  Now I have changed his recipe a bit, and the batches I make are bigger to feed the while family, but this Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with Ground Beef is something everyone in our family enjoys.

One thing I love about this recipe is how flexible it is depending on what you have on hand and what your tastes are.  When Grandpa used to make his Mac & Cheese it didn’t have ground beef, however Hubs enjoys meat as part of his meals so adding browned ground beef is the perfect addition.  You could also sub in cooked ground chicken or turkey, or leave out the meat all together depending on your preferences.  For the tomatoes, you could use canned crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes or even pasta sauce if you don’t like tomato chunks.  Another addition I made to the homemade macaroni and cheese with ground beef was upping the cheese factor by not only using brick cheese, but also a box of Italpasta Original Macaroni and cheese.

Italpasta’s Macaroni and Cheese is make from 100% Canadian Wheat, real Canadian cheddar, and no artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives making it the most Canadian Mac & Cheese on the market.  There are several varieties of Italpasta Macaroni and cheese available including original, white cheddar and extra creamy.

This kid friendly recipe will have everyone asking for seconds!

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with Ground Beef Recipe

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Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with Ground Beef Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 onion diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 pkg Italpasta Macaroni and Cheese
• Elbow Noodles
• 1 can Crushed tomatoes
• 1 cups Cheedar Cheese grated
• Salt & Pepper
• Chives optional

Instructions

• Cook diced onion and ground beef until beef is cooked through
• In the meantime boil water and cook elbow noddles and noodles fro Italpasta Macaroni and Cheese (add 3 minutes after starting to cook regular noddles as these will cook faster) until soft
• In a baking dish add ground beef mixture, pasta, tomatoes, cheese packet from Italpasta Macaroni and cheese and 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Mix
• Top with remaining cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper to taste
• Bake at 325oF for 20-25 minutes until heated through and cheese it melted
• Enjoy!

We normally make a double batch of this homemade macaroni and cheese with ground beef recipe so that we have lots for leftovers.  It reheats well in the microwave and makes a great lunch the next day.  Now I have given you a few suggestions above on how you can make additions or substitutions for this recipe to help make it your own.  Yes classic boxed Mac & Cheese with ketchup is tasty, but there is so much more you can do to add great flavours to a beloved meal.

Italpasta wants you to get creative and put your own twist on Mac & Cheese with their #YourCanadianMac contest. To enter the contest use Italpasta Macaroni and cheese and create your own delicious meal by using it in a recipe or adding your favourite toppings to create #YourCanadianMac.  Take a photo of your tasty creation and share it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #YourCanadianMac and tagging Italpasta’s Social handle.  For all the details check out the YourCanadianMac contest page.  Happy cooking, I can’t wait to see your creations!

Disclosure:  This post was brought to you by Italpasta.  All opinions are strictly own own.

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