We ate a lot of chicken this week and I was hankering for something with ground beef. Maybe Mexican? But I didn't have any flour tortillas or taco shells on hand (or lettuce for that matter) so tacos and burritos were out. I found a beef enchilada recipe I want to try but didn't have 3 of the necessary ingredients, so that was off the table. Finally I thought of chili mac and figured there must be an easy Mexican-flavored twist to it. So I Googled "taco pasta" and found a couple of recipes that sounded close to what I wanted. I've sort of combined two of them here.
The nice thing about this recipe is you can fix it (well, most of it) and walk away. It was very popular at dinner tonight, getting two thumbs up from everybody. And I have to think this would be a great freezer meal!
SLOW COOKER TACO PASTA
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (7 oz.) can diced green chiles
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg. (or 1/4 cup) taco seasoning
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
16 oz. uncooked mini pasta shells
shredded Mexican cheese blend
sour cream
In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onions; drain and let cool a little. Combine beef and onion mixture, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, green chiles, beans, taco seasoning, and garlic in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse and drain. Stir pasta into beef mixture and serve with cheese and sour cream.
I have to tell you that we love this recipe. I've made it quite a few times and every time it's a hit. I'm totally going to look over your other recipes now to see what else we can try!!
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