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beefy vegetable mac & cheese cups

cookinginillinois avatar
Recipe by
Rose Mary Mogan
@cookinginillinois
Sauk Village, IL

This recipe came about because I had left over macaroni & cheese, and wanted to remix it to create a new dinner idea. I decided to sort of make my own HAMBURGER HELPER type meal idea. I knew I needed something to beef up the flavor of plain Mac & Cheese, so I decided to use dry chili seasoning mix, it was the right choice, then adding in the chopped veggies and spices was a perfect combination. You could just eat it from the skillet if you so desired, or be creative and stuff it in a veggie cup like tomatoes, or peppers or even squash. We loved it, & had enough to share with my neighbor.

yield 8 OR MORE DEPENDING ON PORTION SIZES
prep time 30 Min
cook time 1 Hr 20 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For beefy vegetable mac & cheese cups

  • 2 lb
    ground beef, i used ground chuck
  • 5 c
    cooked macaroni & cheese, approximate- i used left overs
  • 4 md
    tomatoes, halved if large or tops removed if medium size
  • 4 md
    poblano peppers, tops removed & seeded,split in half
  • 1 bunch
    green onions, chopped
  • 1 md
    jalapeno, seeded & chopped
  • 2 md
    yellow onions, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp
    granulated garlic, or as desired to taste
  • 1 md
    red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 can
    diced tomatoes, 15 oz.
  • 1 can
    rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis
  • 2 pkg
    dry chili seasoning mix (1.25 oz) each
  • 1 c
    shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of choice as desired
  • 1 c
    shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of choice as desired

How To Make beefy vegetable mac & cheese cups

  • 1
    PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEGREES F. These are some of the main ingredients used in this recipe
  • 2
    Chop vegetables by hand or in food processor. Process tomatoes and peppers, by scooping out center of tomatoes with a spoon, then seeding and removing membrane from peppers. Spray a 9 X15 size dish with cooking spray and set aside till needed. Reserve some of the green onion tops to garnish vegetable cups when cooked.
  • 3
    Add both ground chuck and chopped veggies to a large bowl. NOTE: I did not add salt to this recipe because of the spices I used. So use your own judgement.
  • 4
    Now add in both packs of the dry chili mix packages. Mix together until throughly combined.
  • 5
    Now add to a large skillet and cook over medium high heat,until no pink remains. Drain any excess accumulated liquids. Then add in spices & stir to mix. continue to cook.
  • 6
    Now add in the cooked macaroni and cheese and stir to mix together and continue to cook to allow flavors to blend.
  • 7
    When mixture looks like this you can serve and eat if desired, but I chose to stuff the mixture into the tomatoes and poblano peppers.
  • 8
    Fill the peppers and tomatoes with meat mixture then top with shredded cheese. Pour in the both cans of diced tomatoes. Cover with a lid or foil and place in preheated oven to cook for 50 minutes. Then remove cover and continue to cook an additional 10 minutes or so.
  • 9
    Serve and enjoy. With this recipe you can use the idea of what I did, you may not have as much as I used, but it is the idea of REPURPOSEING A LEFTOVER TO CREATE SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Hope you like this recipe, we sure did. Add a Salad and Dinner Rolls or some Garlic Bread for a complete meal.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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