Taco Spaghetti Recipe is your new go-t0 family dinner! Taco meat, diced tomatoes, garlic and onions are tossed in Spaghetti with tons of cheese! It combines the flavor or our two favorite family meals (tacos and spaghetti) into one casserole dish with DELICIOUS results!
A couple of months ago, we merged two yummy dishes together when we shared this recipe for Taco Lasagna. How much fun is it to combine a Tex-Mex dish with an Italian Dish?!?!? We thought we’d keep with that motif and do it again! So, today, we are sharing this Taco Spaghetti Recipe.
What Is A Taco Spaghetti Recipe?
Imagine having a taco with all your favorite fixings: ground beef, onios, tomatoes, sour cream and taco cheese. Now, combine that with spaghetti for a hearty, family friendly meal. Are you as excited about this meal as we are? Call it a Mexican Casserole, or a Pasta Bake. It doesn’t matter, it’s TOTALLY delicious. Are you ready to start cooking? Here is what you’ll need:
- GROUND BEEF – We used 80/20 ground beef, but you can use whatever you’d like. You can also lighten this recipe up a bit by substituting for ground turkey or ground chicken.
- ONION – A fresh, small onion will do nicely. You’ll be sauteing this with the ground beef.
- GARLIC – diced garlic cooking up with the ground beef and the onions? The smells will be amazing!
- TACO SEASONING – One packet of taco seasoning. Any brand will do. You can use milk or hot taco seasoning according to how spicy you want this dish to be.
- WATER
- DICED TOMATOES WITH GREEN CHILES – We like to use RO-TEL tomatoes. Don’t worry about draining the tomatoes before you put them in. We will need the water content. And, again, you can use spicier or milder ROTEL varieties.
- SOUR CREAM – This makes the dish super creamy and yummy! If you want another chance to lighten the dish up a bit, you can sub for low-fat sour cream. Or use greek yogurt.
- SPAGHETTI NOODLES – Prepared and drained.
- VELVEETA CHEESE – I think that this is what REALLY makes this dish. Velveeta cheese is perfect for recipes like this, where it melts in with all the other ingredients.
- TACO CHEESE BLEND – Shredded and ready to sprinkle on top!
- JALAPENOS – Sliced and used for a garnish. This is optional but we think it gives the dish some nice color and a little extra kick!
Storage and Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave.
Unfortunately, I would really hesitate to freeze this recipe. With the sour cream and all the cheese, I’m just afraid that it wouldn’t reheat well. This recipe is best served fresh, hot and the day it was prepared.
Velveeta Cheese, Really?
Yes. Velveeta Cheese. Trust us on this, you are gonna want to use Velveeta in this recipe. If you NEVER eat Velveeta, make this time the one exception. It just melts so perfectly in this pasta dish. Shredded Cheddar Cheese would be the only substitute, but, really, it’s no substitute in this case.
Notes, Tips and Variations
- IMPROVISE INGREDIENTS?- One of the really cool things about this dish is that you can fiddle around with it as desired. Some other ideas of ingredients to add would be Black Beans, Black Olives, Red Peppers or garnish options like fresh Cilantro, Green Onions or any other favorite taco toppings.
- DON’T DRAIN THE CAN OF TOMATOES- You will need the water that is in the can of tomatoes to cook this dish. Don’t worry about draining it. Just dump it all in there.
- USE A VERY LARGE SKILLET – This is a super easy, one pot meal. So clean up is a cinch! But just make sure you are using a large enough skillet to fit all the ingredients in! We like to use this one!
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Taco Lasagna. It’s destined to be a family favorite! Please let me know how it turned out for you in the comments section.
LOOKING FOR MORE EASY FAMILY DINNERS? CHECK OUT:
- KING RANCH CHICKEN CASSEROLE
- CROCK POT CHICKEN CASSEROLE
- RITZ CHICKEN CASSEROLE
- BACON, RANCH AND CHEESY CHICKEN
Taco Spaghetti Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- ¾ cup water
- 1 10- ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 16- ounce package spaghetti prepared
- 2 cups shredded Velveeta cheese
- 1 cup shredded taco blend cheese
- Sliced jalapenos for garnish optional
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Stir in the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent.
- Add the taco seasoning, water, and tomatoes with chilies. Stir to combine and sauté until sauce begins to thicken, around five minutes.
- Stir in the sour cream.
- Add the cooked spaghetti and Velveeta cheese. Toss to coat the pasta with sauce and cheese.
- Sprinkle the taco blend cheese over the top of the pasta. Cover and cook until cheese is melted, around 5 minutes.
- Top with jalapeno slices before serving, if desired.
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