Easy Taco Stuffed Jumbo Shells Recipe

EASY taco stuffed shells recipe— jumbo shells stuffed with ground beef taco meat, diced tomatoes and cream cheese. Topped with salsa and shredded cheese baked to perfection! This has turned into one of my favorite meals to feed my family, plus it is freezer friendly!

This blog post will teach you how to make taco stuffed jumbo shells!

Ingredients in jumbi shell recipe

1 lb lean ground beef

1 can diced tomatoes. Use regular diced, fire roasted, or tomatoes with chiles. Depending on how much spice you like.

1-8 oz package cream cheese. Light cream cheese can be used in equal amounts.

1-12 oz box jumbo shells (about 20-25 jumbo shells)

2 cups shredded cheese Mexican blend, cheddar, Colby jack (hand shredded melts better than pre-shredded)

2 cups of your favorite salsa.

3/4 cup water or beef broth

1 package taco seasoning —(about 2 tbsp) want to make your own taco seasoning? Here is our taco seasoning mix recipe.

1/2 onion, diced. I used white onion.

toppings of choice- sour cream, black beans avocado, etc.

Substitutions and Variations

So many ways to mix up this stuffed taco shell recipe to your families liking!

Turkey instead of beef– easily can be replaced with ground turkey or venison instead of ground beef.

Replace regular cream cheese with light- simple way to cut back on calories or fat. You can also add 1-2 cups of vegetables or black beans to the beef mixture. For veggies I would try diced bell peppers, riced cauliflower, or corn.

Try this recipe using penne noodles or a similar noodle– cook the noodles, create the beef mixture and then mix all together with the salsa, and top with cheese in a casserole dish. Bake until bubbling. Yum! You may need to add some beef broth or milk if it is too thick, though.

How to make stuffed taco pasta shells

I always thought cooking with jumbo shells would be hard- but it’s really not! Let us show you how to make stuffed taco shells! It is fairly easy.

1. Heat skillet to medium high heat. Drizzle with olive oil. Add ground beef and onion, brown, drain and return to skillet. While browning the beef, prepare jumbo shells per package instructions, drain and set aside.
2. Add 3/4 cup water or beef broth, taco seasoning and diced tomatoes (not drained) to ground beef mixture. Let simmer about 5 minutes until most liquid has dissolved.
3. Next add the cubed cream cheese, stir until well mixed and cream cheese is melted, 5 minutes approximately. Preheat oven to 350 F.
4. If your skillet is oven safe, remove the beef mixture from the skillet so that you can re-use the pan. If it is not oven safe, find an oven safe skillet, dutch oven or casserole dish. Put 1 cup of salsa in the bottom of the pan or skillet, then add about 2 tbsp of beef mixture to each jumbo shell and set in pan until mixture is gone.
5. Lastly top with remaining salsa and sprinkle all of the cheese on top.Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until bubbling.

Leftover Storage and Freezer Instructions

Storing leftovers: let the dish cool, then store leftovers in a fridge safe air tight container for up to 3 days. Warm in microwave.

Freezer Steps: This recipe for stuffed taco shells would be a great to double batch, and freeze one pan for a busy night or to give to a friend. To freeze, prepare the meat mixture and jumbo shells. Follow the recipe, but do NOT bake. Place the shells topped with the salsa and cheese in a freezer casserole dish and cover with plastic wrap + foil. When ready to eat, thaw in refrigerator and then place in oven 350 F for 25-35 minutes until bubbling.

Want more freezer friendly meal inspo to prep? Check out our free freezer meal toolkit—5 freezer meals + grocery list and tips.

More Taco Inspired Recipes

If you like this stuffed taco recipe- you will LOVE our Taco Bake with Doritos. Or, just check out all of our taco inspired recipes.

More Ground Beef Recipes

Around here, we love recipes with ground beef. Take a look at all of our ground beef recipes.

One of our most popular is our Creamy Beef and Egg Noodle Casserole recipe—it’s a great comfort meal. Another great one is our Swedish Meatball Bake.

Want a chicken week night meal? I think you’d like our one pan chicken Tuscan pasta recipe.

If you loved this taco pasta recipe, check out our cookbook

I have created our own, simple, family cookbook. Filled with our family favorites, a lot of freezer meal instructions and more! Download a copy now.

Rate, Comment and tag us in your creations!

I love to see your final product of our recipes, comments and ratings! Thank you! -Bobbi Jo

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