One-pot taco pasta
Taco-spiced beef and pasta shells simmered together in one pot and stirred into a cheesy, saucy dinner everyone loves.
- 35 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $2.03 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 1 can beef broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles
- 8 oz medium pasta shells
- 1½ cups Mexican blend cheese, divided
- ¼ cup sour cream (optional)
- 2 stalks green onions, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
Each serving has about 450 calories, 27 g protein, 35 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $2.03 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No beef broth? Bone broth works.
- No Mexican blend cheese? Shredded cheddar or cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat a large pot over medium-high, add the beef and onion, and press the beef flat. Leave it 3 minutes, until underneath.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Break it into and cook 5 minutes more, until no pink is left. Spoon off any pool of fat.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika and salt for 30 seconds.
Medium heat
Pour in the broth, water and the tomatoes with their juice, and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir in the shells, cover, turn the heat to low, and 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the pasta is tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 11 min
Dolly’s tip: Scrape the bottom when you stir so nothing sticks.Take the pot off the heat, stir in 1 cup cheese, then scatter the rest on top and cover for 2 minutes to .
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 2 min
Serve with sour cream and green onions if you like.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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