Creamy One-Pot Taco Pasta
Taco pasta recipe with seasoned ground beef, a creamy tomato sauce, and melty cheese, all made in one skillet. An easy 35-minute weeknight dinner.
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Taco Pasta is the dinner I make when tacos sound good but I don’t want to fill a dozen shells one at a time. Ground beef browns with taco seasoning, then simmers with pasta right in the same skillet until everything turns creamy, cheesy, and packed with taco flavor in one pan.
The trick that makes this taste like more than beef and cheese dumped over noodles is blooming the taco seasoning in the hot fat before any liquid goes in. Thirty seconds in a dry, hot pan wakes up the chili powder and cumin so the flavor spreads through the whole dish instead of sitting flat on top. Cooking the pasta right in that seasoned broth does double duty too, it soaks up flavor as it cooks and releases starch that thickens the sauce on its own.
A block of cream cheese stirred in at the end is what pushes this from saucy to actually creamy, no roux or extra dishes required. Use a store-bought seasoning packet or your own spice blend, either way this is a genuine one-skillet dinner with cleanup that takes about two minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One skillet, start to finish. Beef, pasta, and sauce all cook in the same pan, so cleanup is fast.
- A real creamy sauce. Cream cheese and two melty cheeses turn this into something closer to queso than a dry taco bowl.
- Ready in about 35 minutes. Faster than ordering delivery, and everyone at the table actually eats it.
- Endlessly toppable. Sour cream, diced tomato, avocado, whatever’s in the fridge works on top.
Taco Pasta Ingredients
Canned diced tomatoes with green chilies do a lot of the flavor work here, bringing tang and a little heat without any chopping. Regular diced tomatoes work in a pinch, but the dish loses some of its taco personality without them.
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- 12 oz medium pasta shells, uncooked
- 4 oz cream cheese, cubed and softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
- Sliced green onions, for serving
Recipe Variations
- Swap the pasta shells for rotini or elbow macaroni, any medium shape that holds sauce works.
- Stir in a drained can of black beans or corn with the tomatoes for a heartier dinner.
- For extra heat, use a hot diced tomato and green chile blend or add a diced jalapeno with the onion.
How to Make Taco Pasta
- Brown the beef: In a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, breaking it up as it cooks, about 6-8 minutes. Drain off the excess grease.
- Bloom the seasoning: Add the garlic and taco seasoning directly to the skillet. Stir and cook for about 60 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the liquids: Stir in the diced tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce, and beef broth. Bring to a simmer.
- Cook the pasta in the skillet: Stir in the pasta shells, cover, and simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Melt in the cream cheese: Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cubed cream cheese until fully melted and the sauce turns creamy.
- Finish with cheese: Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar and Monterey Jack until melted.
- Serve: Top with sliced green onions and serve warm.
Recipe FAQs
Why Is My Taco Pasta Too Soupy?
Give it a few more minutes uncovered on low heat, the sauce thickens as it sits and the pasta keeps absorbing liquid. It also firms up more once the cheese and cream cheese are stirred in.
Can I Use Ground Turkey Instead of Ground Beef?
Yes, it works well here. Ground turkey is leaner, so you likely won’t need to drain any grease after browning.
Can I Make This Spicier or Milder?
For more heat, use a hot diced tomato and chile blend or add a diced jalapeno with the onion. For milder, use plain diced tomatoes and a mild taco seasoning.
What’s the Best Pasta Shape for This?
Medium shapes that catch sauce work best, shells, rotini, or elbow macaroni. Skip long noodles like spaghetti, they don’t cook evenly stirred into a thick sauce.
Can I Double This, and What Should I Serve It With?
Yes, just use your largest skillet or a Dutch oven and add a few extra minutes for the pasta to cook through. A simple green salad or a basket of tortilla chips rounds out the meal.
Cooking Tips
- Shred the cheese from a block instead of using bagged shredded cheese, it melts smoother into the sauce.
- Let the taco seasoning toast in the hot fat for a full 60 seconds before adding liquid, that step is where a lot of the flavor comes from.
- Stir in the cream cheese over low heat, not high. Too much heat makes it separate into a grainy sauce instead of a smooth one.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To freeze: Freezing isn’t ideal here, the cream cheese sauce can turn grainy once thawed. If you do freeze it, expect a slightly different texture after reheating.
To reheat: Warm in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of broth or milk, or microwave in 1-minute bursts, stirring between each.
How to Serve Taco Pasta
Taco Pasta is good on its own with a scoop of sour cream and diced tomato on top, or served alongside tortilla chips for scooping up extra sauce. A simple side salad with a squeeze of lime rounds it out if you want something fresh next to all that cheese.
Loved This Recipe?
Taco Pasta turns a weeknight taco craving into one skillet, one pan to wash, and a dinner the whole table finishes.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Taco Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef 85/15
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- 12 oz medium pasta shells uncooked
- 4 oz cream cheese cubed and softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
- green onions sliced, for serving
Instructions
- Brown the beef: In a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, breaking it up as it cooks, about 6-8 minutes. Drain off the excess grease.
- Bloom the seasoning: Add the garlic and taco seasoning directly to the skillet. Stir and cook for about 60 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the liquids: Stir in the diced tomatoes with green chilies, tomato sauce, and beef broth. Bring to a simmer.
- Cook the pasta in the skillet: Stir in the pasta shells, cover, and simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Melt in the cream cheese: Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cubed cream cheese until fully melted and the sauce turns creamy.
- Finish with cheese: Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar and Monterey Jack until melted.
- Serve: Top with sliced green onions and serve warm.
