In a traditional stuffed shells recipe, cooked pasta shells are stuffed with beef and ricotta and topped with marinara and mozzarella cheese. Taco stuffed shells are much different than that. These are shells stuffed with taco meat, then topped with salsa and cheese and baked until piping hot with plenty of melted cheese!
Ingredients needed:
jumbo pasta shells 90% lean ground beef onion bell pepper garlic canned diced tomatoes packet of taco seasoning salsa cheddar cheese Monterey Jack cheese
How to make Taco Stuffed Shells:
Cook the pasta shells until they are an al dente texture (a little bit of a firmness to the pasta). Make the taco meat. Sauté the beef, onion, bell pepper and garlic until the beef has browned and the veggies are soft. Add tomatoes, taco seasoning and water. Simmer until thickened. Spread 1/2 cup of salsa in the bottom of a casserole dish. Spoon taco meat into the shells, and place them into the casserole dish. Spoon the remaining salsa on the taco stuffed shells. Sprinkle cheese on top.
Cover and bake for about 30 minutes (until it looks like this). It will be hot and cheesy!
You can certainly eat these on their own with no adornments at all, but I wholeheartedly believe that these taco stuffed shells are not complete until you add your favorite fixings! I recommend shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, chopped onion, sour cream and maybe even a little guacamole. Add what you usually like best when you make traditional tacos.
What’s not to love? You get two favorite meals (tacos and pasta) in the same dinner. Sign me up! This is one dinner recipe that your family is sure to ask you to make again and again. Enjoy!
