What are you in the mood to eat tonight? Do you want to have pasta, or how about tacos? If you’re torn between the two and simply can’t decide, then a fusion dish might be the way to go.
This recipe makes a beautiful taco filling but, instead of serving it inside taco shells or tortillas, the filling is stuffed into large pasta shells and cooked that way.
You can use any kind of pasta shapes you prefer, and use salsa, tomatoes or pico de gallo for the sauce, and serve it with any toppings you want. Since people love to help themselves to toppings on Taco Tuesday, you might want to offer toppings on the side when serving this clever twist on tacos up.
Everyone is going to rave about this wonderful Italian/Mexican fusion dish and you will wonder why you never thought of making taco pasta before now!
Why You’ll Love the Recipe:
This wonderful take on Mexican and Italian cuisine blends the best of both worlds and the result is this unique pasta dish with all of those south of the border flavors you know and love.
How to Serve It:
Enjoy this hot, perhaps paired with a salad or some garlic bread.
Can You Make It Ahead?
Yes, you can make it in advance up to the baking step and then refrigerate it before adding cheese and baking.
Ingredients:
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Lean ground beef
- Cream cheese
- Tomato salsa
- Pasta shells
- Taco seasoning mix
- Minced garlic cloves
- Green onions
How to make Taco Stuffed Shells:
Follow the directions on the package to cook the pasta shells, then drain and rinse.
Meanwhile, sauté the beef until browned and drain off the excess fat.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Stir the garlic into the beef and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the salsa and taco seasoning.
Chop the cream cheese into chunks and stir those in.
Grease a 13×9-inch baking dish and put the pasta shells in there.
Divide the taco mixture between the pasta shells.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Then, bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling.
Serve, garnished with green onions.
Whether you can’t choose between Italian and Mexican, or you simply want to try something new, you can’t go wrong with this amazing taco stuffed pasta shells recipe.
Taco Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1½ pounds lean ground beef
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup tomato salsa
- 8 ounces large pasta shells
- 1 package taco seasoning mix
- 2-3 minced garlic cloves
- ½ cup chopped green onions
Instructions
- Follow the directions on the package to cook the pasta shells, then drain and rinse.
- Meanwhile, sauté the beef until browned and drain off the excess fat.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Stir the garlic into the beef and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the salsa and taco seasoning.
- Chop the cream cheese into chunks and stir those in.
- Grease a 13×9-inch baking dish and put the pasta shells in there.
- Divide the taco mixture between the pasta shells.
- Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling.
- Serve, garnished with green onions.
Storage Instructions:
Keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days. You can reheat it in the oven or microwave. Another idea is to freeze it for up to 3 months and then thaw in the fridge overnight.
Variations and Substitutions:
Use salsa, pico de gallo or canned chopped tomatoes. Feel free to add hot sauce or minced jalapenos to spice the dish up a bit.
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