Taco Pasta Casserole (5 Ingredients) (2024)

Just 5 ingredients, this cheesy taco pasta is a quick and easy dinner casserole recipe, perfect for busy weeknights. Made with salsa, ground beef, cheese, and taco seasoning! Bake or make on the stove top.

This 5-ingredient, cheesy taco pasta casserole made with salsa is one of those tried and true recipes you can doctor up according to what you have on hand or enjoy it as an easy weeknight dinner without all the extras.

★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★

This taco pasta bake is absolutely delicious in its basic form, but it's also really versatile.

I'm going to show you how to make this taco pasta casserole in its simplest 5-ingredient form and then I'll give you some ideas for ways to change it up — make it healthier, fancier, and even yummier but adding toppings.

Toppings are totally optional. They're a way to customize this dish and dress it up which is nice if you make this for dinner regularly. You can change it up a little each time.

★ Ingredients You'll Need ★

This dish is so simple using just 5 ingredients (plus water for boiling the pasta)!

Here's everything you need to make this Taco Pasta Casserole:

1. Pasta shells. Or any type of pasta you'd like! I like the shells because little bits of seasoned ground beef and sauce get tucked up inside the shells creating a really nice texture.
2. Ground beef. You can also use ground chicken or turkey).
3. Taco seasoning. You can buy 1oz packets of seasoning or buy taco seasoning in bulk.
4. Salsa. Choose your favorite brand and style!
   All salsa is certainly not created equal so depending on what salsa you choose, this can really change the flavor and texture of the whole dish.
   A thicker salsa will make more of a chunky, less saucy casserole. Whereas a thinner, more liquidy, restaurant-style salsa will give you more sauce.
   My favorite is Tostito's Restaurant style salsa. Or sometimes I'll go with fresh made salsa. You could even use pico de gallo or salsa verde if you really want to mix things up. Have some fun experimenting to see what you and your family like best.
5. Mexican cheese blend. You can usually find a few different packaged blends of Mexican, "Fiesta" blend or Taco style cheeses already shredded and ready to go. Any blend works! Some have added spices. Go with whatever floats your boat!

Optional Ingredients for Creamy Sauce

You can add in 4oz of sour cream or a half a block (4oz) of cream cheese to make the sauce creamy.

You can also make the sauce just lightly creamy by replacing the water with milk, half and half or heavy cream.

A combination of all 3 works too! Taste test and see which way you like best.

★ How to Make this Recipe ★

This taco pasta casserole is so easy to make! You just need to toss 5 ingredients together and heat essentially.

This an easy pasta recipe that's also delicious and continually receives excellent reviews on Pinterest. I think you'll love it too!

• First, cook the pasta shells al dente (1 minute less than the recommended boil time on the package) and drain.
• In the same pot, cook the ground beef.
• Add taco seasoning, water and salsa.
• If you want a creamier sauce, add sour cream or cream cheese.
• At this point you can either stir in the cheddar cheese and serve! OR you can sprinkle cheese on top and pop it in the oven to melt the cheese.

To bake or not to bake. To save time, you can make this entirely on the stovetop, just stir in the cheese at the end. I have included an option to sprinkle cheese on top and bake this whole casserole just for a prettier presentation. Say, if you're having people over for dinner. So, your choice how much effort you want to put into this. 😉

Check out the video beneath the recipe (below) to watch step-by-step how to make this pasta casserole.

★ Optional Toppings ★

Adding toppings is a great way to change up this taco casserole and make it into almost a brand new dish. There are a lot of extras you can add that go well with this Taco Pasta Bake!

Try these yummy extras:

• shredded lettuce or other leafy greens
• diced tomatoes
• sour cream
• black olives
• onion (red or white)
• fresh salsa
• salsa verde
• pico de gallo
• guacamole or avocado
• corn
• black or refried beans
• sauteed peppers
• lime juice, cilantro
• pickled jalapeños

Anything you'd put on a taco works!!

★ Substitutions ★

Try different types of meat. Try using shredded rotisserie chicken, ground turkey, steak, or cauliflower-walnut "taco meat" instead of ground beef.

Want to make this vegetarian? Try adding in refried beans or quinoa in addition to or instead of some of the meat for a vegetarian option.

Use any type of pasta. Try using different shaped pasta to change the texture. Experiment and find what you like best. I used shells but you could use elbow macaroni, rotini or even spaghetti noodles! Heck, you could even try using rice.

Change up the cheese. Try different cheeses. You could use a blend of cheese,Cotija (a crumbly Mexican cheese), melty queso, etc.

Try different salsas. I really love fresh or restaurant style salsa but you may love chunky or salsa verde. Any salsa works! You could even make your own salsa.

Like a little heat? Spice it up some with a few dashes of hot sauce, chili powder and/or some cayenne pepper.

Add some extras into the bake itself. For example, corn, beans, peppers, green chilies, etc. would all mix into the sauce pretty well vs. using them as toppings.

★ Tips & FAQs ★

Does this taco pasta casserole need toppings?

Nope! It's very good just by itself. That's really the beauty of this time-saving dish. It's delicious on its own as an easy Hamburger Helper style dish. Or you can really jazz it up if you have time to run to the store and get extras... or maybe you happen to have a few things on hand that would work well as toppings. Great! Throw in what you have and don't worry about it.

This is one of those really easy back-pocket dinner ideas you can keep in your back pocket. So when you've had a long day and you don't want to stress about dinner. Pull this out of your bag of tricks.

How many people will this taco pasta casserole feed?

This is a BIG casserole. It will feed about 8 people good-sized portions. So this is a great recipe for feeding a crowd say, if you're hosting a party or a large family dinner.

However if you have an average sized family, then you could split this recipe in half. Or go ahead and make this recipe but divide it into two casserole dishes and freeze one for later.

How do you make this all in one pot?

This can be made using just one pot if you have a dutch oven. Use it to cook the pasta then after you drain the pasta, use it as your casserole dish.

You could also use a large cast iron skillet. It's just a little harder and potentially messier to boil pasta in a cast iron skillet since the sides are low.

Does this have to be baked or can it be made entirely on the stovetop?

Don't want to fire up the oven? No problem. Try making it in a skillet on the stovetop and just stir the cheese in while everything is still hot.

Topping with cheese and popping this casserole into the oven is optional if you want that melted cheesy layer on top.

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