Kraft Dinner With Ground Beef (Tex-Mex style)

This Tex-Mex style Kraft Dinner with Ground Beef is a simple one-pot meal that's perfect for busy weeknights. It only has six ingredients, but it's full of great flavors.

Can't get enough of simple meals? Try my Tomato Paste Soup next!

🧀 About This Recipe

I've been making this "grown-up" version of Kraft Dinner since I was a kid. It's simple but elevated, and even adults will love it!

The best part? You only need one skillet for the whole recipe. No need to cook the macaroni in a separate pot like other recipes suggest; you can do it all in the same pan (a trick I learned years ago from making Hamburger Helper).

Aside from the standard Kraft dinner ingredients, you only need three additional ingredients: ground beef, taco seasoning, and canned tomatoes.

This recipe is very flexible and can be made with a variety of substitutions, which I've listed below so you can easily try it at home.

🧂 Ingredients

• Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner: We'll be using two boxes today.
• Butter: Standard Kraft dinner ingredient; we'll need one tablespoon.
• Milk: Standard Kraft dinner ingredient; we'll need one cup.
• Lean Ground Beef: Lean or extra-lean ground beef is preferred, but regular ground beef will work, too (we'll be draining the fat anyway).
• Taco Seasoning: I'm using a single packet of Old El Paso taco seasoning, which is about 24g. Feel free to choose one based on your spice tolerance.
• Canned Diced Tomatoes: We'll use one 14-ounce can. You can also use two medium fresh tomatoes, half a tin of tomato paste, or 1 cup of salsa. Basically, we just need some form of tomato to balance the creamy flavors.

🔪 Instructions

STEP 1: Cook ground beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes until it is no longer pink. Use your spatula to break up large chunks. Drain the fat.

STEP 2: Add the taco seasoning and cook for 1 minute.

STEP 3: Stir in 2 ¼ cups of hot water, milk, butter, canned tomatoes, and uncooked macaroni. Bring to a boil.

STEP 4: Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 9-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the macaroni is uncooked, add a little bit more water and continue cooking for another minute.

STEP 5: Add powdered cheese and mix well. Transfer to serving dish and serve while hot. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days!

👨‍🍳 Top Tip

The key to this recipe is to cook the pasta perfectly. The Kraft Dinner box recommends 7-8 minutes, but I found that to be too short because we're cooking the macaroni with a lot of other ingredients. I recommend 9-10 minutes.

My fool-proof way for perfectly cooked pasta is to just test a single piece of macaroni at 30-second intervals near the end of cooking. I never overcook it this way!

💭 Variations

The sky's the limit with Kraft Dinner and Ground Beef; feel free to:

• Make it cheesier: Stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese or a couple of slices of American cheese at the end of cooking.
• Make it a casserole: Cover the top with cheese and breadcrumbs and bake it for 18-20 minutes at 375°F.
• Add spice: Use spicy taco seasoning or add ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
• Add greens: Add your favorite greens, like peas and broccoli, along with the uncooked macaroni.

📋 Recipe

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