Name: Pasta Shell Tacos
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 8 people
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef (browned); 3 oz package cream cheese with chives (cubed and softened); 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 21 jumbo pasta shells (cooked and drained); 2 tablespoons butter; 1 cup salsa; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1 cup Monterey jack cheese; 1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips; 1 cup sour cream; 3 green onions (sliced); 2 cups lettuce (chopped); 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes (sliced)

When life is busy we all need some easy meals like these Pasta Shell Tacos! Pasta tacos are a fun twist on traditional tacos. The pasta shells make the recipe more filling than regular tacos and this is an easy meal to make.

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Easy and Cheap Meal Idea

Tacos and noodles are two of the easiest, kid-friendly meals and this easy taco pasta shell casserole is an easy weeknight go-to meal! If you have kids that really like mac and cheese you can throw in a few extra shells with only a little or no meat and top with extra cheese for some mac and cheese!

When our family enjoys meals like this we like to teach our kids about basic nutrition and encourage them to think about where food comes from. We’re farmers that raise beef cows, so we use ground beef from our freezer that was grown on our farm. Meat is a good source of protein which helps build muscle. The pasta shells are made from wheat and our family grows wheat! Wheat is a good source of carbohydrates which give us energy. There are three types of cheese and sour cream that are all made from milk. We know several families that milk cows! We may not know the exact families that raised the wheat, milk and other ingredients in this recipe, but we know that we are supporting families like our own when we buy food at the grocery store!

Casserole With Leftovers For Lunch

We like casserole dishes that make enough food to use for lunches the following day. I recommend crushing up the chips and leaving them off of the portion that is saved for lunch. We also waited to add our other toppings like lettuce, tomato, onions and sour cream until we had reheated the taco shells.

I use a basic white casserole dish like this with handles for many casseroles. And I like how clean and simple it looks!

Here is another similar recipe that our family enjoys for Easy Taco Pie! We hope you enjoy Taco Tuesday!

Printable Recipe for Pasta Shell Tacos