Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells Freezer Friendly

All you need to add to this delicious taco inspired casserole is a simple tossed salad, or some roasted broccoli!

What Pasta To Use

If you can’t find them, try substituting for the smaller shells and creating a casserole (layered like I do with my baked ziti), rather than stuffed shells.

How To Make Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells

To make these stuffed pasta shells:

Cook the pasta shells to al dente (they’ll cook a bit more in the oven).
Brown the ground beef and onions and drain fat.
Add tomatoes, taco seasoning, water, and veggies (per the recipe below). Cook until all of the water is evaporated.
Fill each pasta shell with a few tablespoons of the beef mixture. Add them to a casserole dish.
Top with salsa. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Then, add cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes to melt the cheese.

You bet, these are even freezable! You can prepare these up until step 5, and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours or freeze them (more on that below).

To Make This a Freezer Meal

This meal can be made ahead of time and frozen. Prepare as directed but don’t add the cheese on top and don’t bake it. Ensure the filling is cooled and cover tightly with plastic wrap and then wrap in foil.

To Cook: Remove it from the freezer the night before and refrigerate overnight. By dinner time the next day it’s ready to top with cheese and bake.

Storing and Reheating The Leftovers

Have leftovers? No worries! They will last about 3 days in the fridge, covered.

These reheat pretty well. To reheat this stuffed taco casserole, microwave for a couple minutes, or reheat in the oven at 350°F for about 10-12 minutes.

More Tasty Taco Takes

We love all taco inspired foods from a 5 minute taco dip recipe to Walking Tacos on the go!

We love traditional ground beef tacos and often cook the meat up in batches for meals. Add taco meat to your regular ground beef dishes to spice them up like taco lasagna or taco casserole.

Leftover meat is also great on Taco Salad or in a taco soup recipe!