Today for Ground Beef Thursday I have another quick, easy, and inexpensive dinner idea for you. This is one of my family’s favorite quick and easy meals. It is similar to my taco pasta, but has a different flavor. And we love this just as much as we do the taco pasta.
This is one of those ground beef recipes that is truly quick and easy, budget and kid-friendly.
Yield: 8 servings
Fiesta Macaroni
A simple Mexican casserole using basic everyday ingredients.
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 cups macaroni noodles use gluten free pasta for gluten free version
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 -16 ounce jar salsa
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can -15 ounce chili beans use gluten free chili beans if you are gluten free
Instructions
- Cook macaroni noodles according to package directions.
- In a skillet cook ground beef, until browned and done. Drain off fat.
- Combine cooked beef, cooked noodles, salsa, 1 ½ cups cheese, and chili beans.
- Place mixture in a 9x13 pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Cook at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until heated through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you are gluten-free use gluten-free pasta and read labels to make sure that your ingredients are gluten-free.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 446Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 1140mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 29g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
Yummy!
Lynn, I cannot eat beans. Do you think this would still taste okay without them?
Thanks!
Sheri
Yes, I think it would work without the beans, but the chili beans do have some sauce to them so you might want to add some tomato sauce and/or extra salsa to it. You might also want to add a little chili powder since the chili beans have some seasoning on them also.
Great, thanks!!
Any suggestions for what sides would go along with this?
I usually serve it with corn and/or a salad.
Thanks. Sounds great. I can’t wait to try it.
Any suggestions for a homemade version of the chili beans?
I am not sure on that. I am sorry I have never made them.
I don’t get it… how is this gluten-free???
This can easily be gluten free by using gluten free pasta and Bush’s brand chili beans, all Bush’s products are gluten free. I hope that helps.
Why doesn’t this recipe specify that the noodles need to be gluten-free?
This is a recipe from my main site archives and not all of them are gluten free specific. I am working on getting them updated, but it take a lot of time to go back and fix all my older recipes to add things like gluten free pasta to the ingredients. If it is a recipe in my allergy section I make sure to do that, but my main site is not 100% gluten free because I blogged quite awhile before I was gluten free.
Thanks for the reply! These are a great thing to share with family and friends; we are having a baby due in a week and people had been offering to make meals and I cannot do gluten so I will just point out to them that the noodles need to be GF and hopefully they will get that 🙂
What type and brand of noodle do you use? We have tried several and haven’t had any luck with them.
Thanks!
I use tinkyada, but lately I have really been likely Sam Mills which is corn based and Heartland Gluten Free Pasta which is a corn rice blend. I think I prefer both of them now over tinkyada.