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Creamy Queso Pasta Recipe Is a 30-Minute Mexican-Inspired Dinner by Donna John

Pasta Dinner Beef Mexican Recipes

7 days ago

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Creamy Queso Pasta Recipe Is a 30-Minute Mexican-Inspired Dinner

What happens when you combine pasta and a queso dip-inspired sauce? A rich, creamy, badass queso pasta recipe, that's what. This easy Mexican pasta recipe is full of flavor and a filling, quick dinner.

Taco-seasoned ground beef and cooked pasta is folded into a rich queso sauce. The easy queso sauce is made with fire-roasted tomatoes, cream cheese, processed cheese, cheddar cheese (lots of cheese!), chopped green chiles and heavy cream, milk or half and half. That's it. No baking involved! Everything cooks on the stovetop and dinner is on the table is 30 minutes.

Spoon the creamy, cheesy pasta into bowls or serve with your favorite side dishes. I served it with a salad dressed in avocado ranch salad dressing.

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Cuisine: Mexican/American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef (optional)
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 ounce (1 packet) taco seasoning (divided)
1 tablespoon water
16 ounces short pasta
14 ounces (1 can) fire-roasted diced tomatoes or tomatoes with green chiles
8 ounces (1 box) cream cheese
8 ounces (1 box) processed cheese loaf, cut into cubes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces (1 can) chopped green chiles
1/4 cup heavy cream, milk or half and half (optional)
optional garnishes: chopped cilantro, chopped red onion, chopped avocado, chopped fresh tomatoes, fresh jalapenos

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Recipe Notes

I recommend using a fresh garnish on top to cut some of the richness (I used chopped red onion and fresh cilantro).

If you want to make it vegetarian or serve it as a side dish, simply skip the first step and omit the ground beef.

I used Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, but use your favorite.

I used fire-roasted tomatoes, penne pasta and Velveeta cheese.

Here's how to make it:

Cook the ground beef and chopped jalapeno in a skillet until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain fat. Add half the packet of taco seasoning (you'll use the rest in the sauce) and water. Cook, stirring, until the water evaporates, about 1 minute. Set aside.
Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain in a colander and reserve a little of the pasta water.
To the same pot, add the tomatoes, cream cheese, processed cheese, cheddar cheese, remaining taco seasoning (2 tablespoons) and green chiles. Stir over low heat until thoroughly melted and hot. If it's too thick, add the heavy cream or some of the reserved pasta water (I used heavy cream).
Put the pasta and cooked beef into the queso sauce. Stir to combine.
Serve with desired toppings.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories: 557

Total Fat: 38.7g

Saturated Fat: 23.6g

Cholesterol: 136mg

Sodium: 1395mg

Total Carbohydrate: 26g

Dietary Fiber: 1g

Total Sugars: 6.3g

Protein: 26.7g

Vitamin D: 10mcg

Calcium: 525mg

Iron: 5mg

Potassium: 156mg

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by VeryWellFit. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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