Taco Pasta Shells
This Mexican inspired dish is one to please the whole family. Combining the taco ingredients with pasta is a fun and unique spin on everyday dinners. Not only is it delicious, it's also cheap and easy to make. It's customizable but the foundation ingredients are simple: pasta shells, ground beef, enchilada sauce, salsa, cream cheese & shredded cheese.
Build, Bake & Eat! Everyone is full and happy.
However you enjoy your tacos is what I would suggest topping these cheesy shells with. Onion, avocado, sour cream, tomato, jalapeno, crushed tortilla chips or anything else you would like.
Ingredients:
- 22-24 jumbo pasta shells - it comes out to slightly more than half the box
- 1lb Ground Beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 cup of mild salsa
- 8oz cream cheese
- 1 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce
- 2 cups of Mexican cheese blend
- 1 cup of queso with a few tablespoons of milk to thin
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook the shells according to the package (12 minutes) Once they are cooked lay them out to cool individually so they don't stick together
- In a skillet, brown your ground beef; once browned add salsa (I blended mine for my kiddos) and taco seasoning to the beef and stir.
- Add the cream cheese to the beef and stir until melted. (I cut mine into smaller sections to melt faster. Set aside to cool for easier handling
- Pour about half the enchilada sauce into a 9x13 baking dish.
- Stuff the shells with the beef mixture and place them into the sauced dish. Once the pan is full of your shells, pour over the remaining enchilada sauce as well as the queso (I warmed my queso with a little milk to have it slightly thinner)
- Top with shredded cheese and Bake for 30 minutes.
**This recipe freezes well. It would be easy to double the recipe and use the whole box of jumbo shells to freeze for later.