Cheesy Beef Taco Pasta

Our cheesy beef taco pasta recipe is perfectly cheesy and filled with delicious pasta you will love this easy ground beef recipe. This pasta dinner recipe is one of my go-to favorite recipes to make. It is a great way to use ground beef, which is a great budget-friendly dinner recipe.  

It is even picky eater approved in this house, so I always count that a win and pull this recipe out when I need everyone to eat without complaining. I feel like that is always taken into consideration. I am all about having my kids try a new dinner, but there are just some nights where I do not feel like putting up a fight to have the pickiest eater at least “try” (the smallest nibble) a bit of the dinner.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

To make our cheesy beef taco pasta in the slow cooker, you need the following ingredients:

• Lean ground beef
• Onion, finely diced
• Salt
• Pepper
• Taco seasoning
• Water
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Canned diced green chilies 
• Chunky salsa
• Beef broth
• Canned corn
• Small shell pasta
• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Taco toppings

To make our cheesy beef taco pasta in the Instant Pot, you need the following ingredients:

• Lean ground beef
• Onion
• Low-sodium taco seasoning
• Rotini pasta
• Chunky salsa
• Green chilies
• Low-sodium chicken broth
• Mexican-blend shredded cheese
• Salt and Pepper

Equipment Needed

For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:

• Skillet
• Spatula
• Slow Cooker
• Spoon (Wooden)
• Instant Pot

How to Make Our Cheesy Beef Taco Pasta Recipe

Slow Cooker Instructions

1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onion over medium-high heat until ground beef is fully cooked, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Drain grease.
2. Mix in taco seasoning and water and cook for 1-2 minutes over heat.
3. Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Add cooked meat, tomatoes, chilies, salsa, beef broth, and corn to the slow cooker. Mix all together.
5. Place lid on top of slow cooker and cook on HIGH heat for 3-4 hours or on LOW heat for 5-6 hours.
6. Remove lid, stir in pasta, and put lid back on. Switch the heat to HIGH heat. Cook the shells for 20-25 minutes in the slow cooker or until they reach the desired doneness.
7. Remove lid and sprinkle cheese on top. Stir in cheese until it melts and taco pasta is creamy.
8. Serve topped with your favorite toppings (pico de gallo, guacamole, lettuce, cilantro, sliced olives, etc).

Instant Pot Instructions

1. Plug in your Instant Pot and push “saute” button. Add in ground beef and onion and brown until fully cooked.
2. Add in taco seasoning, pasta, salsa, chilis, and chicken broth. Stir to combine. Place lid on Instant Pot and seal. Make sure that your valve is in the “seal” position and not the “vent” position.
3. Push the “manual” button and then set for 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to pressurize and then it will start the 5 minute cooking time.
4. Once the 5 minutes are up, do a quick release (move the valve from “seal” to “vent”) and let all the pressure out. Once the steam has stopped coming out of the vent and the pin in the lid has dropped, remove the lid.
5. Stir the pasta, add in the cheese and stir until completely combined and cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper as needed and serve.
6. If desired, top with your favorite taco toppings.

Recipe Notes

Instead of using all of the shredded cheese, you can swap out ½ cup of the shredded cheese for a ⅓ cup of cheese queso dip! We love to make our own or use the Tostitos brand of queso dip and it turns out great! To make your own queso to use for this dish, Kitchn has a great rotel and velvet cheese dip recipe that would also work great in this recipe, not to mention perfect to serve some tortilla chips with.

We love using ground beef in this recipe, but you can use other options as well. Both ground chicken and turkey would work great in this recipe and are still lean meat choices. 

Enjoy More Delicious Pasta Recipes

We’ve rounded up some of our best pasta recipes, including creamy tomato rigatoni, puttanesca, macaroni and cheese, and more. Check out our comprehensive collection of pasta recipes here.

• Baked Spaghetti Casserole
• Beef and Noodle Casserole
• Cheesy Pizza Pasta Casserole
• Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna
• Chicken Pasta Casserole
• Creamy Chicken Lasagna
• Homemade Lasagna
• Instant Pot Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
• Instant Pot Loaded Mac and Cheese
• Skillet Lasagna