Taco Pasta!
My constant struggle in sharing my cooking is that I am NOT a recipe follower, I’m a rebel by design, so following exact measurements has never been my thing. It also means when I’m just winging it, I’m not very likely to write down what I did to exactly recreate the next time. I go more from look/smell. This is always completely fine by me, but then upsetting to friends and family when I don’t know how to tell them how exactly to recreate what they see on my Instagram. Sorry guys!
I’ve been sharing this one in various forms on Instagram for a while now, but I’ve recently had an uptick in the amount of people both making it and asking for the ‘official’ recipe, so I remade it today to measure ingredients!
The reasons I love this dish are that:
It’s truly a one pot meal. You only need to dirty a knife, cutting board, spatula, and a pot/large skillet.
It’s easy to sneak in extra veggies. It’s the only way my husband eats bell peppers without complaint. :)
Everyone gets a nice dose of bone broth since I use that as my primary liquid in cooking.
It’s FAST. I can start from nothing and have it done in under 30 minutes. #momwin
Leftovers. I usually cook what most people would consider to be a double recipe. The way I make this usually lasts us two full meals for everyone and then maybe one more serving.
That being said, here is my 3 year old’s favorite dish: TACO PASTA.
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef (turkey works well too)
1 onion
3 bell peppers (I usually go for a rainbow here)
12 oz. pasta (I use Jovial for gluten free and Banza for grain free)
4 cups of liquid (I typically do 3 cups bone broth and 1 of water or milk)
8 oz tomato sauce (You can use a couple tablespoons of tomato paste as well, just add a bit more liquid)
2.5 T chili powder
2 T garlic
1 T salt
2 t. paprika
2 t. onion powder
1 t. pepper
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. oregano
Directions:
(I usually use my largest cast iron skillet for this. If you’re making the full recipe you’ll need a large pot or at least a 12 in. skillet that is deep. I also usually season my meat as it’s cooking, but if you’re straining it you may want to season after draining off some of the fat.)
Dice onions and peppers.
Cook ground meat, onions and peppers together.
If you’ve used a fattier meat, you may need to strain excess grease. Ground Turkey can skip this step.
Add all seasonings, tomato sauce/paste, broth/milk, and pasta.
Stir well making sure to fully incorporate all spices. Smell and taste test a bit of the meat/broth to see if you need to add extra garlic/salt/etc.
Bring to a boil according the directions on your pasta of choice. Usually about 10 minutes. Stir every few minutes to make sure the pasta is cooking evenly.
Reduce to a simmer for another 5-10 until the taco pasta reaches desired consistency. It’ll usually thicken up a bit here.
Serve with avocado, jalapeno, or fresh cilantro!
Enjoy!
