Spicy Bacon Cheeseburger Mac n Cheese.
Do you like Mac n Cheese?
Who am I kidding, of course you do. This Spicy Bacon Cheeseburger Mac n Cheese doesn't take very long to make. There are two ways to do this, either the quick way by using a boxed macaroni and cheese, or the harder way (which I prefer) to make your own cheese sauce, which I will outline below as well.
Meal for Four:
I cook for four hungry men, so this is pretty much enough to serve 4 people who eat more than they should. Also, for this part I will be using boxes of Kraft Mac n Cheese, the kind that has its own creamy sauce pre-mixed, which is a lot richer. They come in a lot of flavors like four cheese, cheddar, etc.
Cook Time
What you will need:
- 3 Boxes Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (with the premade sauce packets)
- 1 Pound Bacon, Smoked/Pepper, whichever is your favorite.
- 1 Pound Hamburger
- Bottle of Your Favorite Hot Sauce, I use Taco Bell, or Chalula
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Onion Powder
How to Create:
- Cut up your pound of bacon - try to get most of the fat off unless you like it. Make sure they are smaller bite sized pieces before throwing them into the skillet. When nicely browned, place onto paper towels and let that grease soak up.
- We will be doing both steps 3 and 4 at the same time. If you dislike doing multiple things at once, you may do them separately and just put your hamburger into a bowl with your bacon.
- Get your water to a boil and then add your pasta, it should be done in about 8 minutes. - The pot must be able to hold pasta and about 1.5 pounds of food. - If you are unfamiliar with cooking pasta, follow the directions on the box. - Make sure to have something to drain the pasta in the sink so you aren't looking around for it - pasta keeps cooking even off the stove.
- While your pasta is cooking, place your hamburger into the pan your bacon was in, adding your onion, garlic, and some of that hot sauce to taste. The bacon fat will flavor the beef wonderfully and onion and garlic will enhance the flavors in the dish immensely. Cook until browned nicely and drain away as much grease as possible before adding into the pasta in step 6.
- Test your pasta. If it is firm but chewy (al dente), it is done. If it is crunchy it is not cooked enough, and soggy it is cooked too much. When your pasta is done, drain it and return it to its cooking pot.
- Here comes the easy part - just pour in the 3 cheese sauce packets, the bacon, and hamburger and mix. Depending on how spicy you like to make it, add as much hot sauce as you like!
- Serve in bowl with a side of bread. If you like it extra saucy, just add more sauce. I enjoy having it in a bread bowl.
Sides:
Since this is such a hearty dish, I prefer some kind of bread or something light with it. Roasted garlic bread or a small salad go nicely with this dish.
Advanced Preparers: Cheese Sauce
Because sauce making is very hard for some people, I find it easier just to suggest using pre-made packets from the boxes, however I know it isn't as healthy or tasty as making your own sauce.
Since cheese sauces are so finicky, I will not try to go into it here but will suggest some good combinations of cheese that I have enjoyed.
Four Cheese: Parmesan, Mozzarella, Provolone, and Romano cheese.
Smokehouse: Your choice of Smoked and Pepper Cheeses
Herb and Cheddar: Rosemary, garlic with some Cheddar cheese.
Smoked Garlic: Smoked Cheese and Garlic White Cheddar
Do you have any suggestions for cheese combinations for an awesome sauce?
Other Additions
There are many kinds of macaroni pasta out there, so feel free to use different kinds for different flavors like whole grain for example.
There are other things you can do to make this pasta have different flavors, like adding your favorite kind of herb rather than hot sauce (or, both if you like!) This is a very basic and versatile recipe that is fun to experiment with and change.
Enjoy!