Overnight Taco Pasta – a new family favorite! It is on repeat in our house! Taco mac & cheese with Velveeta and Rotel. YUM! Just dump everything in the casserole dish and refrigerate overnight. No boiling the noodles! Taco meat, cream of chicken, milk, chicken broth, Velveeta, Rotel, taco seasoning, elbow macaroni, and Mexican cheese blend. #macandcheese #taco #mexican #macaroni
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Pin This RecipeEasy Taco Spaghetti Casserole Recipe
Tex-Mex/Mexican food is my favorite. We make a Mexican recipe at least once a week. This Overnight Taco Pasta is a new favorite. Pasta, taco meat, Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, and CHEESE! I made this for lunch and we both absolutely LOVED it. The leftovers for dinner were equally delicious. This Overnight Taco Pasta is super easy to make. You don’t even have to boil the pasta! Just toss it in the casserole uncooked. Such an easy weeknight meal!
How to Make Overnight Taco Pasta with Velveeta
As I said, this Overnight Taco Pasta is very easy to make. Start by cooking some ground beef. Add a packet of taco seasoning and simmer for a couple of minutes. Once the taco meat is ready, add the chicken soup, diced tomatoes and green chiles, chicken broth, milk, and Velveeta cheese. Heat the sauce mixture just until the Velveeta cheese is melted.
Once the sauce is heated, remove from heat and stir in the uncooked pasta. Pour the pasta mixture into a lightly greased baking dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate overnight. It will be ready to bake the next day.
Please note that you don’t cook the pasta before assembling the casserole. The excess liquid in the casserole will soften the noodles overnight and they will be perfect once cooked. I love any recipe that I can make the night before and pop in the oven after work. It is almost as good as a slow cooker meal!
Can I Freeze Overnight Taco Pasta?
You can freeze this taco spaghetti casserole for a quick meal later. I prefer to freeze this particular casserole after it has been baked. Since there are only two of us, I will sometimes split the casserole into two pans and freeze one for later. To reheat the casserole, thaw completely and cover with aluminum foil. Reheat in the oven at 350ºF for 30 to 40 minutes.
What to Serve with Overnight Taco Pasta
This Overnight Taco Pasta is definitely going in the dinner rotation. We’ve already made it several times and absolutely love it. This is a very filling casserole, so you don’t need a lot of sides to go with it. We usually make some spicy black beans or a salad. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this pasta casserole:
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Overnight Taco Pasta
Ingredients:
- 1½ lb lean ground beef
- 1 (1-oz) package taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 1 (10.5-oz) can Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1¼ cup milk
- 1¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 (10-oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
- 8-oz Velveeta cheese, shredded or diced
- 8- oz elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
Instructions:
- Spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain fat. Add taco seasoning and water. Cook for 5 minutes until water has been absorbed.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine soup, milk, chicken broth, diced tomatoes and green chiles, and Velveeta. Cook just until Velveeta melts.
- Combine cooked taco meat and sauce mixture. Stir in uncooked pasta.
- Pour pasta mixture into prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove casserole from refrigerator and uncover.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Top casserole with cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Notes:
- I suggest using Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup in this dish to control the sodium.
- You can buy it by the case at Amazon: https://amzn.to/49n4uZE
- Need Gluten-free Cream of Chicken Soup? You can buy it here: https://amzn.to/3MtqQ1s
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
- Can freeze leftover casserole for later. To reheat – thaw and either cover and bake in the oven or microwave the dish until warm.
- Use mild diced tomatoes and green chiles if worried about the heat.
- I used a bag of shredded Velveeta cheese. Walmart sells it.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning made with chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
Steph
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Pin This Recipe
If I put this in a Pyrex glass dish, is it safe to go from the fridge to the oven? Should I put the dish in to preheat with the oven instead of putting a cold dish in a hot oven or does it matter?
I wouldn’t put a Pyrex glass dish in the oven straight from the refrigerator. It could shatter. OXO makes their glass dishes with borosilicate glass. It can go to the freezer to the oven without shattering. You can get it here: https://amzn.to/3r3CVTl
If you only have a Pyrex brand dish, let it sit out on the countertop until it reaches room temperature
This is now a family favorite. So so so good. We used hot Rotel because we love spicy foods. Seriously the best casserole type dish I have ever made.