Cheesy Taco Pasta

8 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Cheesy Taco Pasta is easy to make and tastes like the Hamburger Helper you used to eat as a kid except better. Much better.

Cheesy Taco Pasta is easy to make and tastes like the Hamburger Helper you used to eat as a kid except better. Much better.Cheesy Taco Pasta is my nod to the hamburger helper I grew up eating as a kid. While this isn’t exactly the “crunchy taco hamburger helper” because I skipped adding the tortilla chips on top, the ooey gooey meat and cheese sauce is still the same and with just a few ingredients!

We LOVED this Cheesy Taco Pasta, just like the Hamburger Helper we grew up with!You can certainly add your own fresh vegetables to the mix instead of the salsa, but I used a good jarred salsa and it tasted fantastic. On occasion I’ve also used fresh salsa (I firmly believe that recipe is one of the best ever), but the higher water content of it makes the pasta more watery.

You can also make this Cheesy Taco Pasta as cheesy as you’d like. I added only a single cup of cheese, while some in my family will add additional piles of cheese to their plate. If you want your pasta to be really cheesy I suggest 2 cups of cheese. A giant bowl of Cheesy Taco Pasta is the perfect quick dinner with just five ingredients!

You can also freeze this pasta for a later date. I’d skip adding the cheese and when you defrost it, use a cup of chicken or beef stock. Then once warmed through add the cheese, mix and serve.

Looking for more great cheesy pasta dishes? Look no further:

Just 5 ingredients in this Cheesy Taco Pasta! So delicious!

And yes, you can absolutely add crushed chips to the top! Then you’ll be re-living some awesome childhood hamburger helper memories. Or if you want something a bit different you can also make my Mexican Stuffed Peppers with all the taco flavors but none of the pasta!

Tools Used in the making of this Cheesy Taco Pasta:
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Large Shells Pasta: I am linking to this because when I sent my husband to the store to get large shells he brought home the variety you stuff! So for reference here is the size you need!
Jarred Salsa: Cuts the prep time down to just a couple of minutes and the flavors are still outstanding.
Taco Seasoning: I use this to cut down on prep time but still keep quality high. You can use my Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe if you’d prefer not to use a packet.

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Cheesy Taco Pasta

Cheesy Taco Pasta is easy to make and tastes like the Hamburger Helper you used to eat as a kid except better. Much better.
Yield 8 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American Fusion
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

Instructions

  • Cook the shelled pasta according to the directions on the box and drain.
  • Add the ground beef to the pan and brown well.
  • Drain the fat.
  • Add the taco seasoning and ¾ cup of water, stir and cook until water is gone.
  • Add the pasta back into the pot with the salsa and cheese.
  • Stir to combine.
  • Serve immediately, preferably with crunchy tortilla chips (optional) on top.

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 408mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Vitamin C: 0.9mg | Calcium: 128mg | Iron: 1.7mg
We LOVED this Cheesy Taco Pasta, just like the Hamburger Helper we grew up with!
A giant bowl of Cheesy Taco Pasta is the perfect quick dinner with just five ingredients!
Just 5 ingredients in this Cheesy Taco Pasta! So delicious!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. It’s hard to find recipes that don’t over complicate weeknight meals. This taco pasta is SO tasty, simple, and fast! Only dirtied one pot too so easy cleanup. I added a can of pinto beans for a lil more volume and protein. I also used ground Turkey instead of beef. Love this recipe and will be printing it out to go on the fridge!

  2. This is one of my favorite quick meals. After a busy day it takes just 25-30 minutes from prep to serve this delicious meal. I just cook the pasta as I’m preparing the meat sauce. I prefer freshly shredded cheese but in a pinch will use pre-packaged shredded cheese and it still tastes great.

  3. Cannot be ready in only 25 minutes. Takes at least 15 minutes to boil the water, and 15 minutes to cook the pasta. Then the meat, thats another 15 or more minutes. Shredding the cheese. Another 10 minutes.

    1. I might suggest preparing the meat sauce in a different pan while the pasta boils if you need longer cooking times for meat and pasta, as well as freshly shredding cheese, and still want the meal in 25 minutes. I will re-test and time this recipe!

      1. Serving sizes become an issue because people will have ingredients of different sizes. Packaged products are weighed and measured at the time of creation which makes their measurements accurate. The only way to accurately know the measurements of meals is to weigh and divide.

  4. This was easy and very tasty. I had used homemade Salsa and that gave it quite the kick. Will be making this again.

  5. One of my all-time favorite recipes! Making it with gluten free elbow pasta tonight and can’t wait. Easy and wildly craveable!!

  6. Hubby and I both loved it. I used ground Turkey and my add-ins were fresh spinach, black beans and corn. Definitely going into our rotation.

  7. Added peppers, onion, garlic! Less salsa added pasta sauce and more cheese. Really flavorful, will make this again ?

  8. This was such an easy recipe, especially for a quick after work meal.
    The guys loved it. Me too.
    Definitely on repeat in my house.

    Thank you. ??

  9. Great recipe. Easy to do on a busy night. I added sour cream to it as I put it on the plate to add additional depth as we all have sour cream on our tacos.

    Thank you for the recipe

    1. Well this made my day!! Your pickiest eater loved it!! Thanks Sarah and thank you for the 5 star rating 🙂

  10. I gave this 5 stars based on the ingredients and ease of making. I have not yet tried it but I now have all the ingredients so will make it very soon. Wondering if I could use frozen meatballs rather than ground beef?

    1. Hi Taylor! Sounds like an interesting idea. Are you thinking you want more of a “meatballs and spaghetti” dish with a taco flavor? Or do you plan to thaw and mince the meat to use as if it were ground beef? Looking forward to see what you decided to do and how it turned out!

      1. I decided to use ground beef and followed the recipe but used pepperjack with jalapeno cheese and everyone loved it. Will definitely be making this over and over.

    1. Yes it would add a nice “kick” to the taste! Thanks for the tip Val and thanks for the 5 star rating 🙂

  11. I’ve made this once a week for the last 3 weeks. Everyone loves it. I have started experimenting with it so, tonight I threw some frozen corn in the meat pan a few minutes before it was done cooking. I also use whole grain pasta. It’s a really easy & flavorful recipe. Thanks!!!

    1. With so many salsas to choose from I would be hard pressed to choose for you. I can tell you that if you prefer Muir salsa, you can order it from Amazon.

  12. I prepared as is, but after tasting, I decided to add in a freshly diced tomato and some freshly shredded pepper jack cheese. I may use my own Mexican seasoning mix next time instead of the packaged taco seasoning. Super quick meal that goes great with a fresh salad on the side.

  13. So easy and delish. I didn’t change anything aside from using a tex mex cheese blend instead of just cheddar. The grown up version of Hamburger Helper. This will become a regular staple.

  14. It was still a bit bland using ground beef, even with hot taco mix, so we switched to Chorizo sausage with the casings cut off and cooked like ground beef. Very tasty.

      1. Directions are very vague. Add taco seasoning to what? And what do you do with the pasta after it drains?

        1. Instructions
          Cook the shelled pasta according to the directions on the box and drain. Set the drained shelled pasta aside.
          Add the ground beef to the pan and brown well.
          Drain the fat from the ground beef.
          Add the taco seasoning and ¾ cup of water to the ground beef that has had the fat drained from it and stir and cook until water is gone.
          Add the cooked and drained pasta back into the pot with the seasoned ground beef, salsa and cheese.
          Stir to combine the pasta, seasoned ground beef, salsa and cheese.
          Serve immediately, preferably with crunchy tortilla chips (optional) on top.

          Hope that clarifies the instructions for you. Thank you for reaching out and enjoy the recipe!

    1. Your question got buried over the holiday, my apologies. With a similar texture, ground chicken or ground turkey can be superb substitutes for ground beef. The poultry is a bit paler than beef, which can change the appearance of some dishes, but they still taste equally delicious.
      Hope you’ll try it and let us know!

  15. I make a toppings bar for this recipe. I use halved cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, avocado, sour cream and extra salsa. It’s a huge hit.

  16. This barely fed my family of 3, I have no clue how someone would get 8 servings out of this.
    Simple and delicious recipe, and easy to customize to your preference.
    Will definitely double the recipe next time.

  17. Very quick. I needed a quick meal and I had everything that the recipe called for. I was a little short on the salsa but it turned out pretty good. I added grated cheddar to the top fir a bit more cheese. Overall a keeper.

  18. Made this for my 11 year old twin grandsons, and they loved it (I used homemade taco seasoning). Made a double batch for them to put in the freezer for future meals. After a football game, they devoured the whole pan … all by themselves!! They like to use tortilla chips and either crush them on top or use the chips to dip into the cheesy taco pasta. This is a definite “win”. Thank you.

  19. Made this for my 11 year old twin grandsons, and they loved it (I used homemade taco seasoning). Made a double batch for them to put in the freezer for future meals. After a football game, they devoured the whole pan … all by themselves!! They like to use tortilla chips and either crush them on top, or use them to dip the cheesy taco pasta. Definitely a “win”! Thank you!

  20. This was a great start. I made home made taco seasoning, added a can of rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, a litttle beef stock and heavy cream to create a cheese sauce. Thanks for the recipe, my kids loved this.

  21. I didn’t have shell pasta, so used some spirals I had on hand. Also, I saw someone’s comment about adding cream cheese, so I threw in some of that. I eyeballed the ingredients really, as I make quite a bit of taco type things. This is my first at taco pasta though, and it turned out good. For my family of 5, it was perfect.

  22. Didn’t have salsa so added onions with the ground beef, and a can of rotel.

    Just curious though, I see the nutritional info, but no serving size. I would assume a cup, but wanted to sure.

  23. Excellent recipe! I think we will add the cream cheese for the extra sauce factor. Delicious and for sure will be making again!

  24. I’ve made this several times. It’s very easy and delicious! I always eat way too much of it!! It’s definitely worth it to make the homemade taco seasoning.

  25. Absolutely delicious. I used salsa and queso instead of shredded cheese, and I threw some fiesta corn in too…awesome! Thanks for the recipe!

  26. Quick & Simple. This recipe was very fast to prepare, simple ingredients that mostly everyone will have on hand. While it’s not bursting with lots of flavors, it’s still a good recipe. Next time I make this, I will trying using a “medium” salsa, maybe put some jalapeño and/or hot sauce. I will also try using some velveeta or a combo of Cheddar & monterey jack cheese. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.

  27. This was easy and tasty. I’m sure it would be a hit with the grandkids. I didn’t have shell pasta so used penne pasta that’s what I had on hand. I didn’t have a packet of taco seasoning mix so used a packet of fajita seasoning. I think next time I’ll only use half the amount of ground beef though. Overall a very easy and tasty weeknight meal. I served it with corn seasoned with chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder and cumin.