One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta Recipe - Savory Nothings (2024)

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.

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.

This One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta is a favorite around here – filled with protein-rich lean ground beef, healthy vegetables and lots of flavor!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Beef: I use extra-lean ground beef, because I don’t like this pasta when it is overly greasy and with extra-lean I don’t need to drain it (which is great on a busy night!). Feel free to use a higher fat ground beef, but I highly recommend draining off the extra fat after browning it. You can also use ground turkey in place of the ground beef, if you prefer.
• Taco seasoning: Any taco seasoning you like is fine here; I often make my homemade Taco Seasoning to make it extra mild for my children.
• Pasta: I make this with spirals because they’re easy for the kids to eat and go well with the other ingredients in this recipe. Elbow macaroni or shells are other shapes that work really well. If you use any other kind of pasta, keep in mind that they can have different cooking types and some types need more broth to cook than others. If you make it with spaghetti, you’ll have Mexican spaghetti and meat sauce ?
• Chicken broth: This is my favorite cooking liquid for maximum flavor. You can also use beef broth, which will make the sauce a little darker. If you don’t have any broth on hand, the recipe also works with water. You may need to add a little extra taco seasoning and salt.
• Salsa: I used a plain, mild, chunky salsa from Old El Paso (not sponsored, but I always get asked which specific salsa I use in recipes that need salsa). Feel free to use a hot salsa if you prefer more spiciness. I do not recommend using a salsa with fruit added for this recipe.
• Corn: Both frozen or canned corn work. No need to defrost frozen corn, please drain canned corn well.
• Bell pepper/celery/onion: Feel free to leave either of these out if you don’t have them/don’t like them. They all add flavor and bulk up the dish with vegetables, so be mindful of that if you make any alterations.
• Cheese: I used shredded cheddar, but a Mexican cheese blend also works very well.

How to make Taco Pasta

1. Start by sautéing the celery and onion in olive oil until fully softened, but not browned.

2. Ad the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as it cooks to crumble.

3. Stir in the taco seasoning until it is fully coating the beef and vegetables, then stir in the chicken broth, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the cheese).

5. Stir well, then bring to a boil once. Stir again, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the pasta has cooked and the sauce has thickened. Open the lid every 2-3 minutes to stir – check on the pasta doneness and make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom.

6. Finish simmering without the lid for 1-2 minutes right at the end, then stir in the cheese and serve.

Recipe tips

• 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!
• Try to dice the vegetables evenly for best results – I dice them all about the size of the corn or just slightly larger, this yields the best texture for the pasta dish. Check my guide on how to cut a bell pepper if you’re not sure how to finely dice a pepper.
• Make sure to regularly stir the pasta to keep it from scorching on the bottom.
• If the pasta seems too dry during cooking, pour in a little more broth. But be careful, if you add too much, you will end up with taco soup.

Storage tips

Fridge

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 375°F oven; about 20-25 minutes.

Freezer

I recommend only just cooking it until the pasta is al-dente, then allow to cool to room temperature.

Freeze in a casserole dish, wrapped first in plastic wrap and then in foil for up to 3 months (label with name/date before freezing).

Thaw in the fridge overnight, fully uncover, then sprinkle with cheese and reheat in the oven at 375°F for about 20-30 minutes, until bubbly and fully heated.

Serving ideas

If you need to round out your meal, try one of these side dishes to go with your pasta:

• Cilantro Lime Slaw
• Mexican Bean Salad
• Sautéed Green Beans
• Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad (or Tomato Cucumber Salad)
• Guacamole

PSIf you try this recipe, please leavea review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along onPinterest,FacebookorInstagram.

Printable recipe

Recipe first published on 07/04/2019. Updated with slight improvements to recipe, better text and new photos on 04/12/2021.

More one pot dinners

P.S: Check out our collection of easy dinner recipes with ground beef for more ideas!