Macaroni and Cheese Meatloaf Casserole

 

Ok, so macaroni and cheese is delicious, and meatloaf is delicious, but what if you join these two in one pan? When I first heard of this casserole, I must admit that I was quite intrigued and not sure if it would work. 

 

So I saved the recipe, and last night, I made it for dinner. I was so worried that the meatloaf would not cook properly and that we would end up with raw meat, which is never a good thing. But, it cooked perfectly, and then topped with the creamy macaroni and cheese, it turned out to be one of the yummiest casseroles my family has ever had. 

 

So good, so easy to make, it was enough for us to enjoy at dinner, for the hubby and daughter to take to work, and there is just a little left over, because my 19 year old son scarfed it down sometime during the night.

 

 

 

 

I am thinking you could do your favorite meatloaf recipe for the base, and then your favorite macaroni and chese recipe as well for the topping, although, the original recipe is DELICIOUS as is. 

 

The recipe is from the blog, This is NOT Diet Food. I chuckled at the name because that is right up my alley, I know I need to watch what I eat, but friends, this is one of those meals that you have to throw caution to the wind, scarf it up and enjoy every single bite....no regrets. 

 

 

Macaroni and Cheese Meatfloaf Casserole 

Source:This is NOT diet food  

 

 

 

Ingredients 

1 cup ketchup 

1 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar barbecue sauce 

2 lbs lean ground beef 

30 Ritz Crackers 

2 oz Lipton onion soup mix 

2 eggs 

3 cups macaroni noodles 

2 cups milk 

10.5 oz condensed cheddar cheese soup 

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper 

1 tbsp garlic powder 

1 tbsp onion powder 

4 cups shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend 

 

 

Instructions 

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Dump ketchup and barbecue sauce into a medium mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Set aside. Dump ground beef into a large mixing bowl. Place Ritz crackers in a large Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Pour the cracker crumbs into the bowl with the ground beef. 

 

Add the onion soup mix and eggs to the bowl with the ground beef. Add 1/2 cup of the ketchup and barbecue sauce mixture to the bowl with the ground beef. Use your hands to mix all of the ingredients together until fully combined. 

 

Dump the meatloaf mixture into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish and press it out evenly. Spread the rest of the ketchup and barbecue sauce mixture on top of the meatloaf. Place the dish in the oven and bake the meatloaf for 30 minutes. 

 

While the meatloaf is in the oven, cook the macaroni noodles according to the directions on the package and then drain. Pour the milk and cheddar soup into a large mixing bowl. Whisk until no lumps remain. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to the bowl and whisk well again. 

 

Add the cooked macaroni noodles to the bowl and stir until all of the noodles are coated in the liquid. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheese to the bowl and stir well again. Once the meatloaf has baked for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven. 

 

Pour the macaroni mixture on top of the meatloaf and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese on top of the meatloaf. Return the dish to the oven and bake until the cheese on top is completely melted and just starting to brown. 17-20 minutes. 

 

 Remove the casserole from the oven and leave it to sit for a few minutes before slicing and serving. 

 

 Enjoy! 

 

 

Homemade Mac and Cheese

I think there are like, a gazillion macaroni and cheese recipes out there.  Anything from specialty cheeses to 5 cheese, to one cheese to this and that and whatever.

I don't usually follow recipes, I'm more of a "cook by the heart" kind of gal.  I know what tastes good together, I throw it in a pot with a pinch of this and a spoon of that and call it good.

It's called learning how to cook with your greatgrandma.  I used to find it intimidating watching her in the kitchen, this amazingly cute little old lady who never followed a recipe, but yet knew exactly the right amount of spices to throw in.

That's how I learned, that's how she taught me, and that's why I love cooking, in a way.  That sense of freedom in the kitchen to do whatever I want, eat whatever I wish and experiment.

As most of you already know, I'm a military wife and with that come deployments and TDY's, separations that are never easy on the soldier or the family.  To make things easier and a little more bearable for the kids, we do all sorts of things to keep them connected with daddy.....and then we also give them a little more reign of certain things.

Like in this case....the Menu Planning for the time that daddy is away.

Needless to say, there's a whole lot of hotdogs, ravioli, homemade pizza, quesadillas, mac and cheese etc. going on.

So for tonight's dinner they jotted down Homemade Mac and Cheese, and that's what I gave them.  No recipe, just a few things thrown together and they loved it, and my 9 year old boy said that on a scale of 1 to 10 it was a 1000.  I'll.take.it!!!

Homemade Mac and Cheese

1 box macaroni or whatever pasta you have available (I used rotini)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups of milk
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
Shredded Mozzarella, Cheddar, Colby Jack cheese
Panko breadcrumbs

Cook the noodles according to package directions, set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a skillet, melt the butter, then add the flour and whisk well....start adding the milk slowly to the skillet while stirring vigorously with the whisk to prevent lumps.

When it starts thickening, add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Add in the shredded cheeses (again to taste, if you want it very cheesy, by all means go for it).  Turn off the heat and continue stirring until all the cheese is melted.

Pour the pasta into the skillet and incorporate everything well.  Transfer to a baking dish.  Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs and some more shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and nice and brown on the top :)

I made a pan of the mac and cheese and since it's a lot for us 3, I scooped some into small 1/4 oz mason jars for a quick lunch for the kids.

The remaining mac and cheese is cooling on my counter and will then be transferred to a foil dish, covered tightly with plastic wrap and frozen :)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

You may be seeing a lot of recipes popping up between today and tomorrow morning, I have a few side dishes and desserts that I want to post on here.

I've been in the kitchen pretty much all day, getting things ready for Thanksgiving.  Obviously there are certain dishes that won't be made until the morning but some of the side dishes and desserts I make the day before, saves me a whole lot of time in the kitchen.

First I'm starting with Baked Macaroni and Cheese, there's so many recipes out there but I usually turn to this one which came from Alton Brown from Food Network.  My kids LOVE it.

Note:  I made a big pan for Thanksgiving and then a smaller one for dinner.  I didn't add the panko crust topping to this one though, so that is missing from these pics.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Credit: Alton Brown

Ingredients

* 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
* 3 cups milk
* 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1 large egg
* 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* Fresh black pepper

Topping:

* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

My youngest, Nicholas, loves mac and cheese, he often will request it when we're out to dinner.

I found this version of macaroni and cheese and decided to put it to the test with him.  Let's just say that the recipe makes quite a bit and for the rest of the week, he would go into the fridge, pull out the leftovers, dish out a plate for himself and warm it up in the microwave.  He liked it THAT much.

So here you go, a different take on good ol mac and cheese.

Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

Credit: Taste of Home

Ingredients

* 1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni
* 1 cup 2% milk
* 1/4 cup butter, cubed
* 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1 teaspoon garlic pepper blend
* 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Colby cheese
* 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
* 1/2 cup crushed saltines
* 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

* Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the milk, butter, dressing mix and seasonings; heat through. Stir in Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses until melted. Stir in sour cream.

* Drain macaroni; stir into cheese sauce with the saltines. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

You know, I should just take the advice from Kelly and do a recipe a day, work through Trisha's cookbook just like Julie and Julia LOL

Well here's another winner.

Let me start by saying that I'm not a big Mac and Cheese fan, matter of fact, I can NOT handle the boxed stuff it's just....ugh, it's gross, far as I'm concerned.

But I do love a good homemade macaroni and cheese though some recipes are a little too cheesy for me or bland or whatever.

When I saw this recipe in Trisha Yearwood's new cookbook, I knew I had to try because so far I have not found one recipe I haven't liked, she does my kind of home cooking.

YUM-MY! It is so good, even my husband had seconds and he HATES macaroni and cheese. My 7 year old licked his lips and thought it was the best thing ever, he's the mac and cheese lover in the house and has now stated that he does not want the boxed kind anymore LOL

Go ahead, give it a try, but please don't do what I do, don't try to hog the thing for yourself, be nice and share with the family LOL

CROCKPOT MACARONI AND CHEESE
Credit: Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood
Serves 12

8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked (I didn't cook mine, just threw it in with everything else)
1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
2 10 ounce bricks sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 5 cups)
dash of paprika

In a large 4-quart crockpot sprayed with cooking spray, mix the macaroni, milks, eggs, butter, salt, pepper, and all but 1/2 cup of the grated cheese.

Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top of the mixture and then sprinkle with paprika. Cook on low heat for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Turn off the crockpot, stir the mixture, and serve hot.