Sometimes, a body just need the comfort of mac-n-cheese with a bit of spice. I’m a huge fan of Mexican food, even if it isn’t exactly traditional though I’ll eat more than my share of traditional goodness. 😉 

Total Time: 40 Min.
Prep Time: 20 Min.
Cook Time: 20 Min.
6 servings (1 cup each)

Find a casserole that wows with this Taco Bake Casserole! Mac and cheese and traditional taco ingredients are a match made in casserole heaven.

What You Need
1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (1 oz.) TACO BELL® Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided
3/4 cup TACO BELL® Thick & Chunky Salsa

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 400°F.
2 – Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.
3 – Stir sour cream into prepared Dinner. Spoon half the Dinner mixture into 8-inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with layers of meat mixture, 1 cup shredded cheese and remaining Dinner mixture. Cover.
4 – Bake 15 min.; top with salsa and remaining shredded cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Healthy Living: Save 60 calories and 9g of fat, including 4g of saturated fat, per serving by preparing with lean ground beef, BREAKSTONE’S Reduced Fat or KNUDSEN Light Sour Cream, and KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Cheddar Cheese.

Tip 2 – Special Extra: For extra crunch and flavor, bake casserole as directed, topping with 1/2 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips along with the salsa and remaining shredded cheese.

There’s a video so be sure CLICK HERE to watch and get all the nutritional details. And today, I’m celebrating the release of FIGHTING FOR ELENA in audio book form. I’m excited. Elena is excited. Pops is excited. Also this is shhhh moment. Don’t tell her mama, but Elena admits to fixing this when she wants something easy, filling, ooey-gooey and still with a taste of her heritage. Her biggest fear is that her mama or one of her sisters shows up when she fixing or serving this dish. They all make everything from scratch–including salsa so this is all on the down low. 😉 If y’all want the audio book, it’s only $7.49 if you already own the Kindle edition. The links all go to the Amazon Kindle page and you can navigate from there so click on the title above or on the nifty little “ad” meme I made.