Taco Pasta
on Mar 08, 2022, Updated Jan 29, 2024
Taco Pasta is a delicious, cheesy, and filling dish spiced up with Mexican flavors. A quick weeknight meal that you’ll make again and again!
This tasty Taco Macaroni dish has become one of our new weeknight dinner favorites! For some other Mexican dinner ideas, check out our Taco Casserole and our Frito Pie Casserole recipes.
Taco Pasta
Weeknight dinners can always be such a chore- especially for parents and working folks. You’ve had a long day at work, the kids have been a handful, and the last thing you want to think about is making a big dinner for everyone to eat. Trust me: I’ve been there before- that’s why I put a lot of these easy weeknight meal recipes out there. Tonight, I decided to try out a new recipe and settled on this Easy Taco Pasta.
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I always enjoy these ground beef pasta recipes because they’re always so easy to cook up: brown your beef, cook your pasta, and most of the work is done. This taco mac and cheese is really just about that easy: you’re going to cook up some taco meat, mix it with some pasta and other ingredients, and dinner will be ready in no time! Let me tell you, this dish is as tasty as it is simple to make. Those little touches of Mexican flavor and spice really keep this dish interesting.
Feel free to take this dish in whatever direction you want to take it. Use your favorite macaroni elbows and turn it into more of a Chili Mac or Taco Macaroni. Need to cut down on fat? Maybe try using some ground turkey instead. This isn’t even mentioning all the other classic taco ingredients you could throw into the pot as well! Follow our recipe below or make this dish your own- we know you’re going to enjoy it.
Liked this easy dinner recipe? Try these pasta and ground beef dinner recipes next!
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One Pot Pepperoni Pizza Pasta is an old favorite of mine- and for good reason! This one pot pasta dish combines two things everyone loves: pizza and pasta. Keep it pepperoni flavored or use any of your favorite pizza toppings when you make this dish for yourself!
Taco Pasta Ingredients
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Ground Beef
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Taco Seasoning – Forgot to grab a packet from the store? Don’t worry: we have a recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning!
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Canned Rotel Tomatoes – These diced tomatoes with green chiles help add a bit more zest and heat to our Taco Pasta. If you think the taco seasoning will be enough, feel free to sub in a can of regular diced tomatoes.
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Pasta – We went with medium shells here, but plenty of shapes will work too. Feel free to use some macaroni elbows to make something like a chili mac!
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Cheese – We went with a Colby jack, but a sharp cheddar could also work. You could also try using some Velveeta for some extra cheesiness.
You could also add in all other sorts of filling ingredients like black beans or corn. Considering topping with some sour cream, chopped green onions, or maybe some olives.
How to make Mexican Pasta
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Prepare pasta according to the package directions and set aside. Brown the ground beef before flavoring with taco seasoning and mixing with canned tomatoes.
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Add in cooked pasta and stir into beef and tomatoes.
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Add cheese and stir to combine. Serve hot and enjoy!
We’re going to start this recipe not unlike how you’d start making taco meat. Add the ground beef to the bottom of a pot, crumble it up, and brown it through. Drain off a good bit of the grease before adding the taco seasoning and a bit of water. While you’re cooking the beef, you can also prepare your pasta according to the package instructions and set it aside when it’s done.
Continue to cook until the water is almost cooked off. At that point, add in the Rotel tomatoes and stir to combine.
Here, you’re going to add in your cooked pasta. Toss it into the pan and stir it with the beef and tomatoes.
You can either add in all your cheese here or you can reserve half of it to melt over the top of the pasta. In either case, add the cheese and stir it in until melted and combined with the rest of the pasta dish.
Top with reserved cheese- if you have any- place a lid on the pot and let melt.
Feel free to top with more cheese after plating your Mexican Pasta up while it’s still warm. Enjoy!
Taco Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb Medium Shells, cooked and drained
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 20 oz Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Chiles
- 3 cup Shredded Colby Jack Cheese
- 1 packet Taco Seasoning
- 2/3 cup Water
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to package directions.
- Drain and set aside.
- In a large pan break up and cook until no pink remains.
- Drain excess grease.
- Add taco seasoning and water.
- Mix together and cook over medium about 5 minutes.
- Add tomatoes and chiles. Stir to combine.
- Add cooked pasta and mix well.
- Add half of the cheese stir to combine.
- Heat over medium heat until all ingredients are heated through.
- Remove from heat and add remaining cheese to the top.
Nutrition
