Southwestern Casserole
I've been making this mild family-pleasing southwest casserole recipe for years. It tastes wonderful, fits nicely into our budget and, best of all, makes a second one to freeze and enjoy later. —Joan Hallford, North Richland Hills, Texas
Ingredients
- 2 cups (8 ounces) uncooked elbow macaroni
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
- 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles, drained
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
Reviews
Shoot, I just wasn't thrilled with this recipe. It was kind of dry and didn't have much zip. I cut it in half and was glad I did because we just didn't care for it all that much. It helped adding hot sauce though and was better the next day.
I have been making a version of this for 25 years that I found while flipping through a magazine in a waiting room with one of my kids. It was called Pecos Pasta and essentially had the same ingredients except it was a way to use leftover chili, which is exactly what I do to this day! When we have lots of leftover chili, one night we have chili dogs and another night we have Pecos Pasta or Southwestern Casserole as it's called here. I cook my macaroni, warm the chili on the stove adding the cooked pasta, add a can of whole kernel corn and grated cheese and dinner is done! It's easy peasy and my entire family loves it!
I followed the recipe as written and my wife and I thought it was very good. We got several meals out of it and then there was the bonus of hauling out the frozen one a few weeks later. Cooked once and ate many times. My kind of cooking.
I agree Matt, this is Goulash or Chili Mac, if you prefer. ??
This seems like a great recipe. Making it now, in fact. I think it will be great once it's done. Can we talk about what this is though? This is goulash with a bit of a spicy twist. Not a complaint as I love goulash; just want to point it out in case you don't. Enjoy!
Didn't know how to rate this since I haven't made it yet, but I'm wondering if someone could suggest another spice to use besides cumin. My family HATES cumin and we're not real big on cilantro (in lots of mexican foods) either. Like a couple of others here, I would use a can of Rotel tomatoes rather than using a can of green chilies and a can of tomatoes. Seems like a no-brainer. My DH is diabetic so I would probably not use quite as much macaroni but he can have some with no problems.
My decision to keep a recipe (or ever cook it again) is if my son enjoys it. This one? A keeper!
Good but needs more spice. I agree with previous two reviews and their suggested changes. I also suggest using 1/2 beef/1/2 chorizo sausage to kick it up. Also, suggest using Rotel instead of plain diced tomatoes. We also added more cumin
Debbie you cook like I do. Brown the ground beef alone and drain the fat then brown any onions, garlic or peppers. Why dump the flavor of those items in the trash. I used black beans instead of kidney and as the pic showed, but the recipe didn't call for, I added frozen corn and a couple of minced fresh serrano peppers, we like spicy. This is a good starting point recipe to take in which ever direction flavor wise and heat wise you wish.
I made this tonight and it turned out great. I used 3 cups of cavatappi pasta instead of 2 cups of elbows. My cavatappi package said to boil for 8-9 minutes - I boiled for 7. I added taco seasoning to the beef, and doubled the amount of cumin and chilli powder. I replaced the kidney beans with black beans. I baked it for about 25 minutes, and then broiled it on high for another 2-3 minutes. I did not find that it turned out mushy whatsoever. I think it would be great with some corn added, but was delicious regardless!