A One-Pot Twist on Taco Night

Tacos are such a quick and easy way to get everyone excited to come to the dinner table in my house. We tend to celebrate taco night any night of the week because we all enjoy Mexican food so much.

Sometimes it’s nice to mix things up and branch out a bit, even though it can be a bit scary for picky eaters! To make it easier to try something new, I like to put a new spin on an old favorite. This time around I took tacos and pasta and combined them into this simple dinner —One Pot Taco Rigatoni — that’s ready in under 30 minutes.

For this recipe, you’ll need a pound of ground beef, cheddar cheese, rigatoni, salsa, diced green chiles, and a packet of Old El Paso™ taco seasoning. I like to top the finished dish with some freshly chopped cilantro, as well.

Start by browning the meat. Once it’s cooked through and crumbled up, go ahead and stir in your taco seasoning.

I like to use 90/10 ground beef, so that I can skip the step of draining off any extra fat. If you’re using ground beef with a higher fat content, drain or spoon out the grease before stirring in your taco seasoning.

Once the meat is coated with the seasoning, add the salsa, rigatoni, diced green chiles and the two cups of water.

I used a medium salsa, but you can choose whatever heat level you’d like! (Mild works just as well.)

Bring the mixture to a boil. Then, reduce the heat down to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and let it continue cooking until the pasta is tender. This should take about 15 minutes. During the cooking process, stir the dish about every 5 minutes.

After the pasta is tender, stir in the cheese and then top with the lid to let it all melt together for a minute or two.

Right before serving, sprinkle the pasta with chopped cilantro.