Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells Recipe - cheesy jumbo pasta shells filled with taco beef and baked with salsa sauce. It's taco night and pasta night in one delicious dinner!
Easy Mexican dishes are always a hit here. We love the Instant Pot Mexican Quinoa or Mexican Chicken and Rice Skillet.
TACO STUFFED PASTA SHELLS
The cheesy stuffed pasta shells are back on the menu! This time they are full of Mexican flavors. These Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells are flavorful, colorful and cheesy! A recipe for dinner time success! You can easily assemble this dish and freeze it for later. You can also skip the jumbo pasta shells and use any pasta you like and simply stir everything together, then bake.
Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells Ingredients:
- olive oil
- garlic
- ground beef or turkey
- black beans
- taco seasoning
- salt and pepper
- water
- jumbo pasta shells
- crushed tomatoes
- salsa
- shredded cheese
- Roma tomatoes
- green onions
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HOW TO MAKE TACO STUFFED PASTA SHELLS?
- To make these, you will need 1 pound of ground beef, cooked with taco seasoning. I always add a can of rinsed black beans to the taco beef, but you can skip it.
- Next, fill cooked and cooled pasta shells with the mixture.
- Spread sauce mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish. Arrange shells over sauce. Top with more sauce and cheese (I used a combo of cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack).
- Bake until the dish is bubbly and the cheese melted. Top with chopped fresh tomatoes, green onions, avocados and serve with sour cream and tortilla chips. Feel free to use your favorite toppings.
Can I make this dish ahead of time?
This dish can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen. Top with cheese just before baking. Serve with your favorite taco toppings and even tortilla chips. It's taco night and pasta night all in one! And absolutely delicious!
More Easy Mexican Dinner recipes:
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 pkg taco seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup water
- 15 jumbo pasta shells
- 1 and ¼ cup crushed tomatoes
- ¾ cup salsa
- 1 and ½ cup shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
- 2 Roma tomatoes chopped
- 4 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta shells according to instructions on the package. Drain. Place on a large plate. Cool slightly.
- In a large saucepan, heat up olive oil. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add ground beef and cook until done, stirring often. Add taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Add water and simmer for 5 minutes. Add black beans, if using. Stir and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix crushed tomatoes and salsa. Spread ¾ of the sauce on the bottom of 13" by 9" casserole dish. Fill pasta shells with meat mixture and arrange over the sauce. Top with remaining sauce. Top with cheese. Bake for 18 minutes or until the dish is bubbly and the cheese is melted.
- Serve pasta shells topped with chopped fresh tomatoes and green onions. Use your favorite taco toppings.
Tiffany says
Ok. Trying this for the first time tonight!!! I added a can of rotel so we will see....thank you for the recipe!! It smells so good 🙂
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Tiffany! Yay! I hope you love it!
GiGi Eats says
Best of both worlds here - Italian and Mexican!
Sues says
What is better than combining pasta AND tacos?? Seriously nothing. I love this!
Michelle Goth says
This is such a great idea for a recipe! A mix of Mexican and Italian!
Catalina says
Pasta is always welcome in my family. This sounds wonderful!
Angie says
I love this version of Stuffed Pasta Shells!! My brother went crazy over these!
Dee says
Yum! My little guy just saw this, and he thinks it looks great, so I'll have to make this ASAP!
Sharon says
Yum, what a great, unique take on shells! I love the idea of freezing this and having it ready for whenever! Thanks for sharing!
Des says
This looks like a wonderful weeknight dinner!
Lora says
What a fun riff on traditional stuffed shells! I think this would be fun to bring to a football party!!!
Erren says
Everything about this recipe is wonderful and yummy!