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    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    Taco Pasta Casserole

    Published: Feb 27, 2023 · Modified: Mar 29, 2025 by Genevieve · This post may contain affiliate links · 12 Comments

    49 shares
    Jump to Recipe

    Taco Pasta Casserole Bake is an easy cheesy taco pasta that will remind you of a burrito supreme from Taco Bell in pasta form, but so much better! This easy taco pasta bake will be the hit at the dinner table and is the perfect comfort food meal all year long! Taco pasta casserole is like Macaroni and Cheese but turned up a notch. This creamy taco pasta bake will send a smile to everyone's face!

    taco pasta casserole taco pasta macaroni noodles on a purple backdrop with forks this …
    Taco Pasta Casserole in a pasta bowls!

    Taco Pasta Recipe can be made all year long! If you're looking for more Mexican-inspired recipes why not try my Dorito Casserole With Ground Beef or my Beef Burrito Bowls or how about my Carne Asada Burritos need some food prep ideas? Make my Zucchini Boats With Ground Turkey or my Easiest Crispiest Fried Chicken Need more pasta recipes in your life? Try my Basil Lemon Pesto that is the best pasta sauce ever! All of these are easy and fantastic dinner ideas that can all be made in under thirty minutes!

    Jump to:
    • 🥘🌮 Ingredients For Cheesy Taco Pasta Bake
    • 🥘🌮 How To Make Easy Taco Pasta Casserole
    • 🥘🌮 Tips and Tricks For Taco Pasta
    • More Delicious Dinner Recipe Ideas
    • 📖 Recipe
    • Pin This Recipe For Later
    • 💬 Comments

    🥘🌮 Ingredients For Cheesy Taco Pasta Bake

    Ingredients for taco pasta casserole tomato, bell pepepr, beef, macaroni, salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream
    All the ingredients you need for taco pasta casserole!

    Ingredients For Taco Pasta Bake With Sour Cream

    • Elbow Macaroni or Macaroni Shells
    • Ground Beef
    • Yellow Onion
    • Sour Cream
    • Salsa (I like to use Pace Salsa)
    • Tomato or diced tomatoes
    • Bell Pepper (Red bell pepper, green bell pepper, or orange bell pepper)
    • Fresh Cilantro
    • Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend and Shredded Cheddar Cheese
    • Beef Stock or Chicken Stock
    • Taco Seasoning (You can also make Homemade Taco Seasoning )
    • Tortilla Chips for topping
    • Dutch Oven
    • Baking Dish or Casserole Dish

    Taco noodle casserole is so easy to make and only uses one pot! We are huge fans of one-pot meals in our house.

    🥘🌮 How To Make Easy Taco Pasta Casserole

    a white bowl with taco noodle casserole and chips on top
    taco pasta casserole allrecipes

    Instructions For Cheesy Taco Pasta

    Step 1: Saute the ground beef and chopped yellow onion in the Dutch Oven on the stovetop over medium heat. Halfway through cooking, add the taco seasoning and some water and saute for 10-minutes until ground beef is cooked through. While the gound beef is cooking, cook pasta.

    browning ground beef in a metal pan on the stovetop
    Brown the ground beef with the chopped yellow onion and taco seasoning

    Step 2: Add the Pace salsa to the ground beef and stir.

    add the salsa to the ground beef
    Salsa takes this pasta taco bake to the next level!

    Step 3: Add the sour cream to the salsa and ground beef mixture and mix the taco pasta casserole well until combined.

    sour cream being sautéd with ground beef
    taco casserole with noodles

    Step 4: Add the diced tomatoes to the sour cream, salsa, beef mixture and combine.

    fresh cilantro being added to ground beef in a pan on the stovetop
    taco bake with noodles

    Step 5: Add the dry macaroni pasta to the ground beef mixture and then add the beef stock and cover the Dutch oven and simmer over medium heat. Stir the pasta frequently to keep the macaroni from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

    Add the cooked macaroni to the ground beef mixture.
    Combine the taco casserole with noodles for taco pasta casserole.

    Step 6: Add the Mexican shredded cheese and cup shredded cheddar to the taco casserole with noodles mixture and mix well until combined. The macaroni should be nice and cheesy.

    Mexican shredded cheese, macaroni noodles being combined with taco ground beef
    taco macaroni casserole

    Step 7: The taco pasta bake recipe will be nice and cheesy, next transfer the taco casserole into a casserole dish (or if you cooked the baked taco pasta in a Dutch oven you will leave it in the Dutch oven ) and cook for 10-15 minutes in the oven at 350-degrees. You could also add Doritos or Tortilla chips as a topping for taco pasta casserole with doritos.

    combined shredded cheese and beef macaroni
    This taco noodle bake is ready for the oven!

    This Mexican pasta bake taco beef casserole is so good, it will be on repeat at your dinner table! Taco bake with noodles taco noodle bake will impress all of your guests and take little time.

    🥘🌮 Tips and Tricks For Taco Pasta

    • Using a Dutch oven and making this a one pot pasta recipe makes this recipe easier.
    • Use Beef Stock instead of water for the pasta casseroles
    • Cook everything in one pot and then bake it in the oven, no mess, no fuss!
    • Add tortilla chips for a delicious crunchy topping, similar to a taco supreme from Taco Bell!
    • You can make this 5 ingredient taco pasta by leaving out any ingredients that you don't want. Or leave out the salsa to make this taco pasta bake no salsa
    • pasta casserole recipes are a cinch to bake and make wonderful leftovers and freezer well!
    • You can turn this into taco spaghetti casserole with rotel by using spaghetti and rotel instead of macaroni, but I find macaroni pasta works best.
    • You can also use cream cheese for an even creamier pasta sauce!
    • You can also use Jack cheese
    a bowl of taco pasta casserole on a purple backdrop and props
    The easiest and creamiest pasta you'll ever make!

    🥘🌮 Pro Tip

    Taco noodle casserole freezes well! Simply put leftovers into glass, airtight container and reheat in the oven at 350-degrees in a greased casserole dish.

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      Easy Chicken and Potatoes in Dutch Oven with Vegetables 
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    featured image taco pasta bake

    📖 Recipe

    featured image taco pasta bake

    Taco Pasta Casserole

    Genevieve Jerome
    Taco Pasta Casserole Bake is an easy cheesy taco pasta that will remind you of a burrito supreme from Taco Bell in pasta form, but so much better! This easy taco pasta bake will be the hit at the dinner table and is the perfect comfort food meal all year long! Taco pasta casserole is like Macaroni and Cheese but turned up a notch. This creamy taco pasta bake will send a smile to everyone's face!
    5 from 114 votes
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    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 15 minutes mins
    Course Casseroles Recipes, Dinner recipes, Pasta Recipes, Easy Dinners
    Cuisine American
    Servings 6 people
    Calories 108 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 Dutch Oven

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 16 oz box Macaroni noodles or Mac Shells
    • 1 pound ground beef
    • 1 diced yellow onion
    • 1 packet Taco Seasoning
    • 1 diced tomato
    • 1 chopped red or green bell pepper
    • 1 cup sour cream
    • 1 cup salsa
    • 1 bag Mexican Shredded Cheese
    • 1 18 oz bag Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese
    • 1 bunch fresh cilantro
    • 1 box Beef Stock
    • Tortilla Chips for topping
    Get Recipe Ingredients

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 350-degrees
    • In a Dutch oven on the stovetop, saute the ground beef and chopped yellow onion and taco seasoning. Add ¼-cup of water and simmer the beef on medium heat until browned.
    • Add the diced tomato and chopped bell pepper to the ground beef mixture and combine. Keep the ground beef mixture on low heat.
    • Next, add the sour cream, and salsa and mix until well combined.
    • Add the dry macaroni pasta to the ground beef mixture and then add the beef stock and cover the Dutch oven and simmer over medium heat. Stir the pasta frequently to keep the macaroni from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
    • You can also cook the pasta separately and then once it's cooked, add it to the beef mixture.
    • Once the pasta is cooked through, add the Mexican shredded cheese and the Sharp Cheddar shredded cheese and mix the pasta and beef mixture until well combined.
    • Top the prepared taco pasta casserole with tortilla chips and cover the Dutch Oven, and bake it in the oven at 350-degrees for 10-minutes.
    • Remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, then add to pasta bowls and top with the fresh cilantro and enjoy!

    Notes

    Recipe Notes: 
    We cook everything in the Dutch Oven to make this recipe easier and clean up a breeze. You can also cook the pasta separately if you see fit. 
    Taco Pasta Casserole freezes well. Simply place leftover in a glass, airtight container and reheat in a greased casserole dish at 350-degrees in the oven when ready to eat. 
    This recipe makes a lot of food! You're bound to have leftovers which makes a for a yummy lunch the next day! 
    You can store Taco Pasta Casserole in the Dutch Oven in the fridge for 3-days, or freeze any leftover right away. 
    You can also make this entire recipe in a stock pot using the same instructions above. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1bowlCalories: 108kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.002gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 771mgPotassium: 221mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1866IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 57mgIron: 1mg
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vivian McMillan

      June 21, 2023 at 2:54 pm

      What size box and bags?

      Reply
      • Genevieve

        June 25, 2023 at 2:03 am

        Hi Vivian! 16oz box of macaroni shells and a 8oz bag of shredded cheese, but to be honest we like a lot of cheese in our house so we usually go for the 16 oz bag. I hope that helps! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Ashley

      December 20, 2023 at 11:13 pm

      Very confusing. One set of instructions completely skips over the beef stock, while the other set of instructions adds it.

      Reply
      • Genevieve

        January 04, 2024 at 2:02 am

        Hi Ashley, you use beef stock for the base. I hope this helps!

        Reply
    3. Amy Liu Dong

      August 13, 2024 at 9:10 am

      5 stars
      Wow! This Taco Pasta Casserole looks absolutely delicious and very enticing! A treat that is perfect for any given occasion. Loved this already!

      Reply
      • Genevieve

        August 17, 2024 at 1:56 am

        It's so easy to make isn't it? I hope you guys enjoy it Amy!

        Reply
    4. Juyali

      August 13, 2024 at 10:39 am

      5 stars
      This was such an easy and delicious weeknight meal. Only 25 minutes! The whole family loved it. It's a great way to use up pantry staples. Delish. thanks!

      Reply
      • Genevieve

        August 17, 2024 at 1:56 am

        That's so great to hear Juyali! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it!

        Reply
    5. Jacqueline

      August 13, 2024 at 2:34 pm

      5 stars
      This is a super one pot family meal. Really quick and easy to make and so very tasty!

      Reply
      • Genevieve

        August 17, 2024 at 1:55 am

        We love how easy it is too! Thanks, Jacqueline!

        Reply
    6. Swathi

      August 14, 2024 at 3:35 am

      5 stars
      Taco pasta casserole is delicious great meal idea. I tried it my family enjoyed it.

      Reply
      • Genevieve

        August 17, 2024 at 1:55 am

        I'm so glad your family enjoyed it, Swathi!

        Reply
    5 from 114 votes (110 ratings without comment)

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