Raise your hand if you grew up on Hamburger Helper. 🖐 Yeah, me too. :) This Beef Taco Pasta is like a homemade version of your favorite childhood dinner in a box with a southwest spin. It has ground beef, a cheesy tomato sauce, green chiles, pasta, a healthy dose of taco seasoning, and tons of delicious comfort all in one bowl. Plus, it all cooks in one pot, which makes dinner time so fast and easy. #WIN
What Kind of Pasta to Use
I used small pasta shells this time around because that’s what I had on hand, but I originally made this recipe with egg noodles. You can use other short pasta shapes as well, keeping in mind that you may need to simmer slightly longer or for less time depending on the type of pasta used. Rotini and penne are also good options.
What Else Can I Add to Taco Pasta?
This is my favorite part of any recipe. I love rummaging through my fridge or pantry looking for leftovers that can be added to whatever I’m cooking to make sure nothing I buy goes to waste. Here are some other ingredients that you can add to your Beef Taco Pasta that would also taste great with this flavor profile:
- Jalapeños (fresh or pickled)
- Sour cream
- Avocado
- Black olives
- Black beans
- Pickled red onions
Swap Out the Meat
This recipe is super flexible, so if you want to use a different type of ground meat, like ground turkey or ground chicken, that would work just as well. Likewise, you could use a vegetarian ground beef alternative, or just skip the ground beef altogether and replace it with a can of black beans. So many options!
One Pot Beef Taco Pasta
Servings 6 1.3 cups eachIngredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($3.00)
- 1 packet taco seasoning* ($0.67)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.79)
- 1 4oz. can diced green chiles ($0.67)
- 1/2 lb. small pasta shells ($0.50)
- 2 cups beef broth ($0.26)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ($1.15)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a deep skillet or wide-bottomed pot. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft.
- Add the ground beef and taco seasoning and continue to cook and stir until the ground beef is cooked through.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with juices) and diced green chiles (with juices) to the beef and stir to combine.
- Finally, add the pasta and beef broth and stir to combine once again. It's okay if the pasta is not fully submerged under the broth.
- Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the broth to come up to a full boil. Once boiling, give the pasta a stir, place the lid back on top, and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Let the pasta continue to simmer, stirring every few minutes and always replacing the lid, for about 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. There should be some thick saucy liquid left in the pot once the pasta is cooked.
- Add the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Top with sliced green onions and serve!
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Beef Taco Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add them to a deep skillet or wide-bottomed pot with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft.
Next, add ½ lb. ground beef and one packet of taco seasoning (or homemade taco seasoning). Continue to cook over medium until the ground beef is cooked through.
Add one 15oz. can diced tomatoes (with juices) and one 4oz. can diced green chiles (with juices).
Add ½ lb. pasta shells (uncooked) and 2 cups of beef broth. Stir everything to combine. It’s okay if the pasta is not fully submerged in the broth.
Place a lid on the skillet or pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a full boil, give the pasta a stir (put the lid back in place), turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the pasta continue to simmer, stirring once every few minutes and always replacing the lid, for about 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
Once the pasta is tender there should still be some thick saucy liquid left in the skillet.
Add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese to the pasta and stir until it has melted into the thick tomato sauce.
Top the cheesy taco pasta with sliced green onions and serve!
Simple, delicious and pleased 4 adults easily! We joked that this is grown up Hamburger Helper, but way better. It took about 24 minutes for the pasta to cook to our liking and I was amazed at it cooking with so little liquid. Game changer!
Delicious! I used a full pound of beef because I wasn’t sure what to do with the other half a pound. My family loves all your recipes!
This is great. Made it last night for dinner and couldn’t wait to have another bowl for lunch today! How long will this keep in my fridge? 4 days?
The length of time that things last in the refrigerator can vary depending on so many things, but in general I keep cooked food for about four days.
Mine turned out like soup. Were the juices supposed to be drained from the Chiles and diced tomatoes? Might be a typo in the recipe.
Logan, I’m sorry, and also unsure why that happened. The recipe has been tested multiple times, and no one else has said anything about soupy results. You should not drain the tomatoes or the chiles. The uncooked pasta should soak most of the liquid up. Without having been there with you, all I can theorize is there must have been a mistake in measurement. Make sure you use the right size cans of tomatoes and chiles and that you used the right amount of uncooked pasta. The elevation could also be an issue, though higher elevation usually requires more water, not less. If you try it again (and I hope you do, it’s really yummy) and you see that there is too much liquid, you can always leave the top off and allow the steam to escape, and the sauce will reduce. XOXO -Monti
Yummy!! It’s soo delicious. I would like to try it on this weekend!
So good! We had this as we usually have hamburger helper (served on top of mashed potatoes). It was so good. Everyone went back for seconds.
Made this over the weekend (with a few substitutions and additions) and it tasted so comforting and good. Thinking of making it again this weekend.
I didn’t have canned green chillies so instead I got some pickled jalapeno slices from a jar to chop up and added that and a bit of the pickling liquid. I also chopped up some zuchinni and sweet peppers to add.
Planning on making the vegetarian version with black beans and extra vegetables next time I cook for coworkers too.
This was so delicious!!! Very easy and quick to make. I already had a lot of the ingredients in my kitchen cabinets. Thank you!
It’s rare that I find a recipe that my entire family likes but this is a favourite! I double it to allow for leftovers as it reheats well also.
I first tried this back in 2014 when I first found your site and since then we’ve modified it to our tastes. My now 10 year old has loved it every time I make it. Most of the time, I swap out the meat for black beans, but no matter how I make it, my children LOVE taco pasta.
Great recipe, it is very familiar but with less salt and sugar than the box stuff.
I know it sounds lame, but pasta with beef is a classic that you can eat every day
pasta with beef is a classic that you can eat every day
I must have used some extra spicy taco seasoning, but it was still yummy. I was craving something like this…cheesy, beefy, noodle-y. This was so far beyond Hamburger Helper. I would definitely try this again and will substitute lower fat cheese and extra lean ground beef. Yummmmy!
This has been one of our easy favorites for a while, but recently we added crushed Fritos to the top and it really takes it to the next level!
I only had 6 oz egg noodles so I reduced the beef broth to 1.5 cups and it worked well, had to simmer a couple extra minutes. I also used 8 oz ground beef and 3 oz cheese and thought the ratios were good. Oh and subbed a 10 oz can of rotel.