Surprise your kids or treat yourself with this creamy and delicious Macaroni and Tomato Casserole. It’s the ultimate comfort food for lunch or dinner!
When I was a little girl, I couldn’t wait to go to my Gram’s house on Saturday because she always made the best lunches.
One of my favorite lunch recipes that she made was Macaroni and Tomatoes.
I’m pretty sure it came off the side of the Velveeta box, but for me, my Gram was a magician with that recipe in hand.
To this day, I can’t match it.
The basic recipe consisted of shell pasta, along with fresh, crushed tomatoes and melted Velveeta cheese.
So simple, right? You’d think anyone could get it right, but, you’d be wrong.
Some people, like my Gram, just have a magic touch when it comes to cooking and some of us have to work harder at it…
As an adult I still love macaroni and tomatoes for lunch, but I wanted desperately to incorporate it into the dinner meal, too.
So, I played around with a few different ingredients such as shredded chicken, I even added broccoli and carrots a couple of times.
They were all good additions, but, not quite what I wanted…
The Perfect Combination
Then, one day, I had some leftover macaroni and tomatoes the girls and I hadn’t finished for lunch.
It was getting late and I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner, but I knew there was a package of ground beef thawed in the refrigerator, so I figured – Why Not?
Ground beef tastes great with tomatoes and cheese in different dishes so why not this one? And it was amazing!
The perfect combination – it’s actually become one of my favorite meals and my children love it too!
Below is my recipe for the ultimate Macaroni and Tomato casserole. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Here’s the recipe:
The Ultimate Macaroni and Tomato Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. medium shell, rotini or elbow macaroni
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 8 oz. processed cheese, such as Velveeta
- 1/2 stick butter
Instructions
- Prepare the macaroni as directed on the packaging. Drain the macaroni and set aside.
- Brown the ground beef in the same pot you used to cook the macaroni.
- Add diced tomatoes, processed cheese and butter to the meat. Cook on medium heat until the cheese and butter melt.
- Add the macaroni and stir to combine.
- Pour into a large casserole dish. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
- Serve Macaroni & Tomato Casserole hot.
Enjoy!
Love casseroles? You might also like these recipes:
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Vanessa Hamlin is the owner and founder of Food Life Design and VLHamlinDesign. With her passion for frugal living and homesteading, Vanessa loves to write about easy recipes, making money, gardening, home remedies and everything else that a good life entails! When she’s not writing for Food Life Design or creating products for VLHamlinDesign, you’ll find Vanessa reading, drawing, gardening, cooking or spending time with her family.
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