Looking for a change from your normal Taco Tuesday? Check out these Creamy Taco Shells! This is a quick 30-minute meal cooked in one pan – ground turkey, black beans, taco seasoning and whole-wheat shells combined to make a hearty, healthy & delicious weeknight dinner!
Creamy Taco Shells
Why, hello gorgeous dinner with healthy ingredients and SO very easy to make! These Creamy Taco Shells are incredibly delicious and make an easy dinner for any day of the week. Taco Tuesday or any day!
(recipe & photos updated from August 2013)
What’s the easiest way to make a taco?
This is kind of silly, but maybe don’t make a taco! Try making taco pasta instead! My Creamy Taco Shell Recipe is a great way to feed your family for a very affordable meal that goes a long way.
When I make this, my kids are so excited about it because they love pasta AND tacos. Win-win!
What kind of pasta is best for these Creamy Taco Shells?
What kind of pasta is best for these Creamy Taco Shells?I really love the medium sized shells for this Creamy Pasta Shell recipe because they cook quickly and are easy to find on the shelf at the grocery store. I have to say, it is sometimes hard to find the whole wheat version so do what you can.
I’ve made this with several different kinds of pasta and find it works well with most shell versions.
This meal is so easy! It’s cooked all in one pan and takes only 30 minutes from start to finish. My favorite kind of dinner!
I made my own taco seasoning but you can definitely use any store bought version.
You can omit the ground turkey if you want a meat-free dish or switch it up with ground beef if that’s what you have on hand.
My family really loves this recipe and I’ll definitely be adding it to our dinner and leftovers-for-lunch rotation!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large red onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 4 Tbsp. taco seasoning store-bought or homemade
- 1 28-oz can petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 14-oz cans black beans, drained & rinsed
- 3 cups water
- 1 13.25-oz box whole grain medium shells
- 1/2 cup light sour cream
- 3 ounces light cream cheese
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in large saucepan. Add diced onion and cook for 3-5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add in taco seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in tomatoes, black beans and water. Add in uncooked pasta. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.
- Once pasta is cooked, add in cream cheese and sour cream. Stir until combined and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop into bowls and serve with avocado, cilantro, salsa, limes...you get the point! Enjoy!
Mom’s are the best gift ever aren’t they? Mine saves me all the time. Luckily she only lives 13 minutes from me…yes she clocked it once. That might mean she comes over WAY to much to rescue me! This dish looks awesome! And super easy which I always need more of!
These look delicious! Taco Tuesday seems like a great idea!
Love this Jen! This is a perfect quick weeknight meal and we head into the school madness! 🙂 Pinning and sharing on social media! 🙂
Krista @ joyfulhealthyeats
Hi Jen, this looks delicious! Happy birthday to your son!
Thanks for linking up to Saturday
Dishes at Call Me PMc ~Paula
Your recipe is wonderful, and thank you so much for sharing it with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are staying cool on this hot summers day, enjoy your weekend!
Miz Helen
I have to tell you – I made this last night and my non-veggie eating 3 year old son (actually he usually only eats things that are “beige”) knocked this meal out! I mean, LOVED it. In the rotation – and great for the entire family! Thank you! Tomorrow we are giving your easy pulled pork a try 🙂 Thanks for the recipes!
Yum! Love mixing Mexican & Italian dishes! Thanks for sharing at Sweet & Savory Saturdays #25!
~Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later!
http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com
I would love to make this for dinner tomorrow night. Could you tell me how many servings this is? I am on weight watchers so will need to figure out points. Thanks!
AHHH!! I LOVE comments like this! Thanks for making my day! I am thrilled your 3 year old loved it! I hope you liked the pork just as much! XO!
Hi Valerie! Hmm…this is a good question. I’m going to have to say about 6 servings. I should probably start figuring out servings for my meals, huh? I hope this helps a little! And I hope you like it! 🙂
Hi Jen, this was a great dish!! Question for you, I would like to use less pasta, maybe only half the box (per hubby’s request), so do you think reducing the water to 2 cups would be ok? This was really good, really, really good, just too much pasta for his liking. Thanks!
Hi Ashley! I’m so happy you liked it! Yes, you should definitely be able to use less pasta with less water! I would say 1 1/2 – 2 cups water for half a box of pasta would work just fine. Thanks for the comment!