Do you have a favorite homemade mac and cheese recipe? We love mac and cheese made different ways but this homemade mac and cheese with hamburger is one of my favorites because it is a quick and easy meal that makes everyone happy and is just as easy as making it from a “helper” box.
I didn’t grow up with a family favorite homemade mac and cheese recipe. In fact, I can’t really remember having homemade mac and cheese when I was growing up. It isn’t because we had it from a box either. Our large family’s Wednesday night pasta night consisted of plain old spaghetti with pasta sauce. A box of pasta or 2 and a couple jars of sauce was cheap and stretched much farther than mac and cheese did.
However, my homemade mac and cheese with hamburger does take me back to the occasional dinner “treat” that came from a signature blue and orange box. My dad would very very rarely make up a batch of that famous orange mac and cheese with hot dogs cut up in it. Now I’ll pass on the that box and take my orange mac and cheese homemade without the hot dogs, thank you very much. If your family loves the boxed mac and cheese or “helpers”, then I think this recipe will fit the bill and be a bit healthier. Want a price breakdown? Check it out below the recipe.
PrintCheeseburger Mac and Cheese
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: entree
Ingredients
- 1 – 16 ounce box pasta – we used penne
- 1 pound burger
- 2 cups milk
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Put water on to boil for pasta.
- While water is heating, fry burger.
- Throw pasta in boiling water, stir occasionally.
- Mix cornstarch and salt into burger.
- Add 1/2 cup milk to burger and stir until thick.
- Add rest of milk and heat on medium/high until thick.
- Add cheese and stir in until melted.
- Strain pasta and mix into burger and cheese mixture.
Price Breakdown
- Pasta – $1
- Cheddar – $1.79 ($2.50 on sale at many stores)
- Burger – $5.50 grassfed/organic – less for regular
- Milk – $0.50 ($4/gallon)
- Cornstarch and salt – $0.10 (pennies but will give it a tag)
TOTAL: $8.89 Per Person: $1.49
What’s your family’s favorite pasta dish?
We love adding things to mac and cheese to spice them up. I’ll have to remember this one for next week.