Mexican stuffed Shells combines my love for pasta with my love for Mexican food. What could be better than a large pasta shell stuffed with Mexican taco mean, spices, and cheese?
If you want to make this a vegetarian recipe, simply replace the ground beef with a can of refried beans.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef (or for vegetarian version, 1 can of refried beans)
- 1 package low-sodium taco seasoning (or use homemade Taco Seasoning!)
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 14-16 jumbo pasta shells
- 1.5 cup salsa
- 1 cup taco sauce (This is a smooth, tomato based sauce found in the Mexican section)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 cup monterey jack cheese
- 3 green onions
- Sour cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions or if making vegetarian version, heat refried beans and add taco seasoning to it.
- Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.
- While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
- Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.
- Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.
