I love grown up mac and cheese recipes – especially this new Cheeseburger Macaroni!
Alright, I am going to be honest with all of you. This recipe is sort of a failure. {stick with me} I set out to recreate Noodles and Company Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese from 4 years ago and failed. What you see before you does not exactly taste like theirs did. Something is still missing. However, what I did come up with was still really, really good!
For me, homemade mac and cheese is my ultimate comfort food! Truly. Nothing beats a good homemade macaroni recipe and the rich, cheesy sauce. I know that whether I make my plain Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese or my Jalapeno Mac and Cheese or now this Cheeseburger Macaroni, everyone will love it.
The real test for these recipes? Bryan and I eat the leftovers for days after and love it every time.
For this recipe, I save most of the toppings until the end because I want them to be really fresh. I add some green onion, bacon, diced tomatoes, and even a little extra cheese if you can’t help yourself. This works really well, too, if you are serving it at a party. With a 9×13 pan, you are definitely getting a lot of food for a group. Plus, if you know you have vegetarians or picky kid eaters, you could easily save the ground beef for a topping as well. Doesn’t a macaroni bar sound found?
- 1 lb Ground Beef I season with Italian Seasoning, Pepper, and Garlic Powder
- 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 onion - chopped
- ¾ cup butter
- 6 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4.5 cups of milk I use skim
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 cups pepper jack cheese shredded
- 2 tsp ground mustard
- 1.5 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper I usually add more because we are big pepper people
- ¾ cup of Italian bread crumbs
- Toppings: chopped bacon diced tomatoes, and green onions
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Preheat over to 350F.
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Cook pasta per directions and drain the water.
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While the pasta is cooking, brown the ground beef. I season with Italian Seasoning, Pepper, and Garlic Powder. Drain the grease when you are done cooking.
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In a stock pot, saute the onion with ½ cup of butter
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Add the flour and whisk until blended (make sure the butter hasn't completely evaporated)
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Gradually add the milk while still stirring
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Bring the mixture to a boil. Continue stirring to avoid any burning. The mixture should thicken slightly.
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Stir in the cheese, mustard, salt and pepper until smooth. I usually pour the first half of the cheese, stir well, and then pour the rest.
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Add the cooked/drained pasta and the ground beef into the sauce and stir well until all the pasta is coated
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Transfer the pasta into a greased 9x13 baking dish
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Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top of the dish. If desired, you could toss the breadcrumbs with some butter before adding to the top.
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Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes.
Don’t worry! I am not giving up on the Noodles and Company version, either. It was my favorite of their specialty dishes, and I still wish every year they would bring it back. Can you ever really have too many macaroni and cheese recipes at your disposal? Is there another fun twist you would like to see my make? I’m always up for ideas!
Enjoy!
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