Taco Stuffed Shells

If you like Mexican & Italian - these are for you.
Trust Me!
I was leery about making Taco Stuffed Shells.  I kept putting them off even though I kept filling them in on my meal planning calendar.
I think I was afraid of mixing pasta & taco worlds together.
But, boy am I glad I made them.
We loved them!  They were so delish!






1 lb ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup taco seasoning
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
12 Jumbo Pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
*Optional:  crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, guacamole, avocado slices, tomatoes

Cook your shells.

Brown your meat--I used ground beef.

Add the taco seasoning  & cubed cream cheese.

Remove from heat while cream cheese melts; stir.

Pour the salsa in the bottom of a baking dish.

Stuff the shells with the meat mixture and place in baking dish.

(notice there is no salsa in the bottom of my dish-you'll see why)

Pour the taco sauce on top of stuffed shells.

(**the source I copied this from didn't say to pour the salsa in the bottom of the dish.  It just said pour sauce over top after they were stuffed.  So, in my version, my taco sauce and salsa were mixed together and all poured on top & nothing on the bottom)

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes at 350.

(umm, ooops as I was typing up this recipe and I read "bake for half an hour."  All I read was 'hour'.  So, I baked mine for an hour.
They were yummy though.
The girls did mention they didn't like a few crunchy bites, that might be why???

Take out of oven and sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake uncovered until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

Cook the shells.

Brown your meat--I used ground beef.
Add  taco seasoning  & cubed cream cheese.
Remove from heat while cream cheese melts; stir.

Pour salsa in the bottom of a baking dish.
Stuff the shells with the meat mixture and place in baking dish.
Pour taco sauce on top of stuffed shells.

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes at 350.

Take out of oven and sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake uncovered until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

**When I saw 12 Jumbo shells, I thought that was too many for my teeny eaters.
But, I thought I would make them all anyway.
I am glad, as they weren't so JUMBO after all.
But, my little eaters still only ate one each.
I ate a whopping almost 2.
Point being...we had plenty with a few left over for lunch.


source:  http://www.daydreamkitchen.com/2012/12/taco-stuffed-shells/