I was initially planning on just making this with a box of Kraft Dinner, but then I found I had a bag of Mountain House mac & cheese left over from a camping trip a couple of years ago and figured I might as well use it up. I wasn't expecting much from a "just add water" dehydrated meal, but it was actually really delicious. It came out a lot more saucy than KD normally does, but the sauce tasted rich and unctuous and it meant that the extra SPAM and broccoli that I added in got a generous coating of sauce as well and everything merged into a deliciously cheesy glop.

The procedure for this is a bit simpler when you're using a Mountain House-style dehydrated meal, but it should be easy enough to adapt to standard Kraft Dinner-style boxed mac & cheese options. The main difference will be cooking the pasta in the pot and bringing along some milk and butter for the sauce.

Mac & Cheese with Broccoli and SPAM

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 can reduced-sodium SPAM
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 bag of Mountain House (or similar) freeze-dried mac & cheese
• black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Cut the SPAM into 1cm cubes.
2. Add SPAM to pot and cook until it begins to brown and crisp.
3. Add water and broccoli to pot and bring to a boil.
4. Pour ~2 c. of boiling water into the bag of mac & cheese and mix well.
5. Seal bag and let stand for ~10 minutes.
6. Drain excess water from broccoli and SPAM.
7. Empty bag of mac & cheese into pot and stir to combine with SPAM mixture.
8. Season with pepper if desired.

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Variations

Kraft Dinner with Broccoli and SPAM

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients

• 1 can reduced-sodium SPAM
• 5 c. water
• 1 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 box Kraft Dinner (or similar)
• 1/3 c. milk¹
• 2 Tbsp. butter²
• 1/4 c. Cheddar cheese (optional)
• black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Cut up and fry the SPAM as above. (1cm cubes cooked until slightly crispy.)
2. Add water to the pot and bring it to a boil.
3. Add broccoli and pasta and cook for ~7 minutes.
4. Drain.
5. Add milk, butter, cheese sauce mix, and extra cheese (if using).
6. Mix well.
7. Season with pepper if desired.

Vegetarian Version

Ingredients

• 1 package veggie dogs or extra delicious tofu
• 5 c. water
• 1 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 box Kraft Dinner
• 1/3 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 c. Cheddar cheese (optional)
• black pepper (optional)

If using tofu, add at end of cooking (with sauce ingredients).

Spicy Asian-Inspired Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 can spicy Mala SPAM (if you can find it)³
• 5 c. water
• 1 c. freeze-dried broccoli
• 1 box Kraft Dinner
• 1/3 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder (optional)
• 2-3 green onions, chopped

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¹ If you don't have access to a cooler powdered milk works just fine here. Skim/fat-free milk powder will keep for longer than whole milk powder. Just add 1 Tbsp. of milk powder and 1/3 c. of water along with the other sauce ingredients. ^Back
2 Salted butter will keep better than unsalted butter without refrigeration. Ghee will work just as well as butter and keep even better still. ^Back
3 If you can't find any spicy Mala SPAM, just use regular or reduced-sodium SPAM and add ~1 Tbsp. of sriracha and 1/4-1/2 tsp. Szechuan peppercorn powder. ^Back