Make dinner easy tonight with this One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta! It comes together in a single pot (even the pasta cooks right in the sauce!) for super speedy cleanup.
It’s been a while since I shared a one pot pasta recipe, so I figured it was finally overdue!
I love one pot pastas, because they are SO easy to make and cleanup is a breeze.
There are nights I simply do NOT want to handle more than one pot. You know, when the kids are running riot and the baby is being extra fussy.
(Baby #3, and I’m still surprised there always seems to be a next-level fussiness…)
This One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta is a favorite around here – filled with protein-rich lean ground beef, healthy vegetables and lots of flavor!
How to Make One Pot Taco Pasta:
Can you really cook everything in one pot?
Yes! One pot pasta is an absolute busy weeknight game changer.
Please do not cook the pasta before adding it in this recipe. I always get complaints on one pot pasta recipes about the sauce being watery, and usually it turns out the pasta was pre-cooked.
But no! The pasta can go in dry, uncooked, straight from the box!
What pasta shape can I use?
Any short pasta shape is fine.
And in fact, any long pasta shape is fine, too! Make it with spaghetti and you’ll have Mexican spaghetti and meat sauce 😉
Although if you have very young kids, friendly PSA, spaghetti is the absolute worst.
It’s a rare occasion that I serve up spaghetti (the kiddos love it…), but it’s always messy and stressful and you are 100% allowed to skip that kind of dinner stress!
Can I freeze this cheesy taco pasta?
I often get asked about freezing one pot pastas, because they’re so easy to make when you’re pregnant and want to stock a few dinners in the freezer.
But please, don’t. The pasta gets really, awfully mushy when you freeze, defrost and reheat a one pot pasta.
What do I do with leftovers?
Leftovers are a little weird here, too, but they work as a pasta casserole.
Simply place the leftovers in a casserole dish, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Evenly sprinkle with cheese and bake until piping hot and bubbly in a 400°F oven.
With 3 kids under five, this has definitely become my go-to meal lately.
Prep is easy, cleanup is easy, the ingredients are wholesome, the kids LOVE it… What else does a mom want 😉
More One Pot Pasta Recipes You’ll Love:
One Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (works with short pasta as well if you don’t want to handle little kids and spaghetti 😉)
One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta
Recipe details
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 3 cups water or more, depending on your pasta (some kinds need more liquid, but you can add more as it cooks)
- 1 cup salsa
- 12 oz small pasta shapes regular, high fiber or whole wheat all work – though higher fiber pastas may need more liquid than regular
- 1 red pepper chopped
- ½ cup sweetcorn
- Salt & pepper to taste
- ½ cup shredded Mexican blend cheese or more to taste
- Toppings: chopped tomatoes sour cream, cilantro, avocado, lime…
Instructions
- Brown meat: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Stir in the onion and celery and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the taco seasoning.
- Add remaining ingredients: Pour water and salsa over the meat mixture. Add the pasta, red pepper, corn, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until sauce has thickened and pasta is done (about 10-15 minutes, depending on your pasta). Depending on the thickness of your pasta, you may need to add up to 1 extra cup of water during cooking if it's looking dry.
- Finish: Once pasta is done, take the skillet off the heat. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the cheese and let the pasta sit for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately with your favorite toppings.
Nutrition
More recipe information
P.S: Check out our collection of easy dinner recipes with ground beef for more ideas!
Joyce says
The family loved it. I did add black beans to the recipe.
Shawn says
Thank you! Great dinner idea! I didn’t want to comment because I made changes but they were minimal so here goes…I added more taco seasoning and less salsa only because I didn’t have enough salsa on hand. I also threw in some western dressing because I always add it to my taco meat.Delicious meal thank you!
Kirstan says
I have been wanting to try this recipe but there’s a lot of missed information. The sauce is not mentioned, the type of salsa is not mentioned, and do we need to drain the meat after we brown it , before we add the taco seasoning &’ the rest ?
Nora Rusev says
Kirstan, sorry you felt you needed more information, I’ll put the recipe on my list of recipes to add more instructions and notes to. As for your questions: There is no need to cook a separate sauce – the sauce and pasta all cook together in one pot! For the salsa you can just use your favorite regular plain salsa, mild or hot is up to you. And I’ll be honest, I never drain my beef. We usually buy half a cow from a farm here and it’s very lean, so there’s not much to drain. If you use a fattier product or just prefer draining, go for it! Hope this helps, happy to answer more questions if need be.
Carrie says
Great recipe. My family really liked this pasta dish. Thank you.
Javier Valverde Sr says
I’m dropping your website. I’m very irritated by the fact that I can’t print your recipes without advertising’s taking most of the page printing area.
A recipe that should only take 1 page it now takes 2 pages because of all the useless advertising.
Nora Rusev says
Javier, if you use the print button that’s right there in the recipe (instead of your brownser button) there will be zero advertising on the printout.