Easy Game Day Appetizers: Lasagna or Bacon Mac and Cheese Cups

With Superbowl on the horizon, I’ve been at a loss at what to bring to our friend’s Game Day Party. While I usually do some sort of sweet, I feel like making an appetizer this year. Unfortunately being in the middle of trying to sell our home means I have little time and I also don’t want to make too much of a mess in my kitchen.

With just 2 ingredients (flour tortillas and STOUFFER’s Lasagna) plus a 25 minute total prep+cook time, it was just what I was looking for. I swung by the grocery store before picking Whistler up from school and right next to the Lasagna was STOUFFER’s Mac and Cheese. Immediately I knew it would make a great filling and it’d be and easy way to offer a simple variety to munch on.

[yumprint-recipe id=’8′]The original recipe says to use leftovers, but seeing as I just bought them – I went ahead and prepared both the Lasagna and Mac and Cheese according to the package directions. I popped 3 slices of bacon into the toaster oven and also preheated the oven to 375 degrees.

While waiting for the oven to preheat and the filling to cook, I went to work on creating the small tortilla circles that would be the “cups”. As luck would have it, I *just* put all my baking supplies, including cookie cutters, into storage last weekend so I grabbed the next best thing – a drinking glass. The opening measures a perfect 3.5 inches so I was good to go.

The original recipe says you can get 2 circles from each tortilla, but I was able to get 3 (thus using only 4 tortillas, instead of 6).

While my toddler ate half of the leftover strips, when the bacon was finished, I cut up the rest of the “waste” tortilla and threw them back into the toaster oven to crisp up into chips in the bacon grease. This may have been the best idea ever!

Next spray the 12 cup muffin/cupcake tin with your favorite baking spray and press the tortilla circles into each cup.

Chop up your cooked bacon and mix it into the cooked mac and cheese. Add about 1/2 cup of filling per tin cup and then top with cheese, if you like. Bake for 15 minutes until heated through.

When finished, I sort of looked at the baking tin and thought, “how in the world am I going to get those out of there?”. Answer is, it’s way easier than it looks. The baking spray + non stick pan meant they were literally just sitting in there so I grabbed a spoon and gently slide each one out of their cup. Easy Peasy.