Nacho Casserole

Hi friends! For my dear husband Adam's birthday we decided to throw him a Nacho Party! I made nacho cheese, taco meat, beans, and got lots of fun fixins. We hosted the party at our friend Mary Helen's house. Adam was very happy with the results.

Adam's Nacho plate

After the party we had a bunch of leftover taco meat. I decided to make a freezer meal out of it of course. This is a recipe I made up.

Nacho Casserole
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 package Taco Seasoning
1 16 oz box of Penne pasta
1 Can of Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 10 oz can of Rotel, drained of most of the liquid
6 oz shredded Mexican Cheese blend
Sprinkle of Chili Powder
Cooking Spray

Directions
1. Cook ground beef until browned. Drain grease. Add Taco Seasoning and liquid  according to the package directions.  I like to use beer instead of the water the package suggests.  Simmer until most of the liquid has cooked out.

2. While the beef is cooking, boil water and cook pasta to al dente. Save out 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid that you pull out right before draining the pasta.  This stuff is magic!

3. In a large bowl combine beef, rotel, soup, reserved cooking liquid, and pasta. Mix well.

 

Waiting for pasta and cooking liquid

4. Place mixture in a sprayed baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and sprinkle with chili powder.

All done!

5. If making ahead, cover with plastic wrap, foil, and label.   Freeze.

6. To bake: Thaw for 24 hours in fridge if baking from frozen. Uncover, bake at 350 degrees until browned and bubbly.

Feel free to add more vegetables to this dish. I would suggest corn or black beans. Also, when it comes out of the oven, some chopped green onions or cilantro would be excellent on it as well.

I hope you try this recipe out. It makes quite a bit, so it's a good one to make one for your family and save one for someone that could use a nice homemade meal!