This beefy Taco Pasta Skillet combines tender ground beef, peppers, salsa, and perfectly cooked macaroni noodles with delicious taco seasoning mix to give you an easy at-home meal option this Cinco de Mayo!
Who says you need to go out to a Mexican restaurant to get the amazing Mexican flavors you know and love? Creating a fiesta of flavor at home is easy!
I have partnered with McCormick to create this beef taco pasta skillet that is sure to bring your at-home fiesta to the next level!
I love taco anything… taco salad, classic tacos, taco soup, taco dip… I have tried and loved them all. I do have to admit, this Taco Pasta Skillet just might be my favorite!
This beef Taco Pasta Skillet takes all of those amazing taco flavors and turns them into a mess free and stress free weeknight dinner that is both budget friendly, and kid friendly! And I’m happy to share this just in time for a family fiesta celebrating Cinco de Mayo!
Making this dish in one pan really cuts back on the clean up time and kitchen mess making it “me friendly” too!
Just like in my One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni recipe, browning the ground beef with the onions and garlic in this recipe really helps to bring out the flavors in this taco pasta! While you cook ground beef, you will notice a liquid fat begin to form in the bottom of your pan, you’ll want to make sure you drain the beef before everything else is added to the dish, for both texture and the overall flavor!
Flavorful McCormick® Taco Seasoning mix is added to the beef to create a perfectly seasoned dish and a fiesta of flavor! Feel free to swap in McCormick® Taco Seasoning Mix Hot too if you’d like to kick it up a bit and add an extra flavor boost.
Finally, bell peppers and are added along with salsa, tomato sauce and uncooked macaroni noodles. It all simmers together in one skillet for the perfect simple family meal! Once the noodles are cooked to al dente (tender yet slightly firm), simply stir in the cheese (always my favorite part) and top it with your favorite taco toppings!
My favorite toppings are sour cream and jalapenos, but if you asked my daughter the exact same question you’d get one answer: C-H-E-E-S-E!
To serve this we scoop out individual servings and set all of the toppings on the table in a little bowl. My family loved customizing their meals by adding toppings to create their ‘taco pasta bowls’ before they dove in!
This beef Taco Pasta Skillet will become a family favorite fast. While it simmers, the entire house fills with aromas that instantly made me feel like I was in a Mexican restaurant… minus the colored chili lights and sombreros of course!
Beef Taco Pasta Skillet
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 oz McCormick® Taco Seasoning mix 1 packet
- 2 ½ cups water divided
- 1 cup salsa
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 ¼ cup elbow macaroni
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
-
Brown beef, onion and garlic until no pink remains, about 5-6 minutes. Drain any fat.
-
Add McCormick® Taco Seasoning Mix, green pepper, 2 cups of the water, salsa, tomato sauce and macaroni.
-
Cover and simmer over medium-low heat stirring occasionally 20 minutes or just until pasta is tender adding remaining water as needed.
-
Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese.
-
Garnish as desired with tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream and green onion.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I am excited to have partnered with McCormick to bring you this belly warming recipe. While I was compensated for this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Working with great brands I love allows me to keep bringing you the great recipes you love!
Repin this Fabulous Skillet Recipe
More Recipes You’ll Love
Homemade One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni (Stove Top)
Chili Mac Skillet
Holly, I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now and it is a really good meal. I just want to say that I really appreciate you including the Sodium and Potassium levels in your nutritional values. I have a family member who has Kidney Diseas and those values are really important for him to know.
Thank you, and keep those delicious recipes coming! Have a great day!
I am glad you enjoyed it, Roxi!
We cut this recipe in half using 1/2 lb leftover cooked taco meat from yesterday’s dinner.
Since the meat was already cooked, we omitted the raw onion and garlic and used onion powder and garlic powder instead. There are only two in our home, so this was a great way to use leftover taco meat. This was such an easy recipe to throw together and I will make again.
Hi Bobbie, thanks for leaving a comment! So glad you enjoyed this dish :)
This is a great recipe that I make over and over again. I don’t put in onion and green peppers because it’s already in the salsa. I season the meat with garlic powder and onion powder. And I cook the pasta first and then add it to the skillet. This way it doesn’t soak up all the liquid. But overall a very good meal and it’s easy too.
So glad you are enjoying this recipe, Sharon! Thanks for sharing.
Hello! Trying to make this today but there are some confusing directions- the cheddar cheese is divided but no direction where the second half goes?
Also what is the other option to tomato sauce? “It says 8 ounces tomato sauce or 1 cup” but doesn’t specify the replacement. Thanks
Sorry for the confusion Paige, all of the cheese is added in step 4. And for the tomato sauce it is 8 ounces of tomato sauce which is 1 cup. I hope this helps!
Thank you for giving us the nutritional stats. How much of this skillet dish is a serving? I saw that it is 6 servings, but to stay within a goal of a certain amount of fat, sodium, etc.., could you also give us a serving size for each dish? I’m assuming it’s 1/2 cup, but wondered it you could add serving size to each dish.
Hi Pat, a serving would be about 1 1/2 cups.
Delicious dish, easy recipe, greats flavors! You can definitely customize to your liking. My husband said, its one of his top 10.
So happy to hear this was a hit for your family Leslie!
While looking for gluten free pastas I have run across pasta made from corn. I’m thinking this might be a perfect recipe for that pasta. Thanks for all your recipes.
Enjoy Cath, let us know how it turns out!
My husband and I LOVE this! I added a can of corn. Also, when I make tacos, I’ve always used beer to replace the water with the seasoning packet. So I did it here too.
Yum, that sounds delicious Tammy. Thanks for the tip!
I was trying to find out how much a serving is. Is it a cup?
Hi Lisa, a serving would be about 1 1/2 cups.
I will love to try this recipes
Love the recipes
Thank you Joan!
Made last night was a hit! Will put this in my meal rotation from now on. Thanks
So glad you loved it!
Made this last night. It was a hit with the kids. Will definitely be making it again.
I’m so glad to hear it was a big hit with your family Peter!
Made this for dinner tonight and … deliciousness!!
So glad you loved the Beef Taco Pasta Skillet Jennifer!