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Taco night meets mac and cheese in this irresistibly cheesy, flavor-packed taco macaroni and cheese! This one-pot wonder is loaded with seasoned ground beef, tender pasta, and melty cheese, making it the ultimate comfort food. It’s rich, hearty, and comes together in just 30 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights. Whether you top it with sour cream, salsa, or a sprinkle of cilantro, it’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. If you love tacos and mac and cheese, this dish is the best of both worlds in one easy meal!
South of the border flavors combine with cream cheese and pasta to make this hearty fusion taco macaroni and cheese dish. It’s a brand new take on two classic dishes.
You might also enjoy loaded mac and cheese, taco stuffed zucchini boats or some of these taco flavored recipes.
Why You’ll Love It
Delivers amazing flavors: Meaty ground beef, tasty cream cheese and cheddar, pasta shells, salsa, and more ensure this is a wonderful-tasting meal.
Easy to prepare: This is a one-pot meal (less washing up – hooray!) so you just need to add your ingredients to the pot in the correct order and it all cooks perfectly.
Makes a tasty change: If you’re tired with your usual go-to pasta-based dinners and Mexican staples, you’ll find this makes a flavorful change to the usual fare.
Taco Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients
Ground beef: A hearty, tasty protein.
Cheese: Cream cheese and cheddar cheese feature in this dish.
Beef broth: You might like to use my bone broth recipe here!
Salsa: Hot, medium or mild – take your pick.
Taco seasoning: I used a package for convenience but you could make your own.
Onion and garlic: For aromatic savory flavor.
Pasta shells: Or macaroni or your preferred pasta shape.
Optional garnishes: Choose from crushed corn chips, sour cream, tomatoes, avocados, and tomatoes.
How to Make Mexican Mac and Cheese
Brown the ground beef: The first step in this one pot cheesy taco skillet is to heat some oil in a Dutch oven (or large pot) and then you can fry the onion in there, before adding the beef, and some salt and black pepper. Once there is no pink left in the meat, drain off the fat.
Add more ingredients: Stir the broth, salsa, taco seasoning, taco seasoning, and pasta shapes. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and let it gently cook for about 15 minutes, stirring it occasionally.
Cook off the liquid: Remove the lid and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed.
Add the cheese and serve: Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cream cheese and some of the shredded cheese. Serve it hot, with the remaining shredded cheese sprinkled on top and with your preferred garnishes and toppings.
Substitutions and Variations
Ground beef: Substitute ground pork, turkey or chicken. Leftover taco meat is another option.
Beef broth: If you’re using a light protein such as ground chicken, you might also want to swap the beef broth for chicken broth.
Salsa: You can use mild, medium or hot salsa, as you prefer.
Taco seasoning: If you don’t have this ingredient, you can just add a pinch each of salt, pepper, ground cumin, chili powder, dried oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder, or whichever of those flavors you like.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Enjoy shrimp ceviche to begin. Jalapeno popper tacos are another option.
Side dishes: Garlic bread or crusty bread, a lemon and parmesan salad or a watermelon jalapeno salad would be good alongside your taco mac and cheese.
How to Store Taco Macaroni with Cheese
Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 3 to 4 days.
Freeze: This dish freezes well, so freeze it in portions for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheat: Warm it back up in a pan on the stove or in the microwave, adding a splash of broth or salsa if needed to loosen it up first.
Top Tips
Browning the beef: Make sure there’s no pink left in the beef before adding the broth and other ingredients, so you know it’s safely cooked through.
Use the right pan: I recommend a Dutch oven or something heavy and sturdy for making this. A pan that’s too small makes it hard to stir the ingredients without spillage while a pan that’s too light and thin might burn the macaroni pasta on the bottom.
Add toppings: Add a splash of color and fresh flavor with chopped tomatoes, green onions, a dollop of sour cream, avocado slices, or anything else you like.
Taco Macaroni and Cheese FAQs
You can, since leftovers will be fine for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator or several months in the freezer. Reheat leftovers in the microwave or on the stove, adding a little more broth if needed.
This depends what kind of salsa you use, but if you do want to liven it up, you might like to add some fresh chilies, chili flakes or hot sauce. If not, use mild salsa and don’t add any chilies. If some people like it hot, you can always offer hot sauce at the table so they can add their own.
Easy One Pot Taco Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
Taco Macaroni and Cheese
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or Large Heavy Pot
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 white onion, small, diced
- 1 Pound ground beef
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- ¼ Teaspoon black pepper
- 2 ½ Cups beef broth
- 1 Cup salsa
- 1 Package taco seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 Cups pasta shells, uncooked
- 4 Ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 Cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Optional Garnishes:
- sour cream
- corn chips, crushed
- avocado, sliced
- tomatoes, diced
- green onions, sliced
- cilantro, or parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over a medium-high heat. Fry the onion until it is soft.
- Add the ground beef, salt and pepper, and use a wooden spoon to break up any chunks of meat as it cooks. When the beef is no longer pink, drain the fat out of the pan.
- Stir in the broth, salsa, taco seasoning, garlic powder, and pasta.
- Put the lid on the pot and allow this mixture to cook for about 15 minutes, on low heat. Stir the mixture every 5 minutes or so.
- Remove the lid. If the liquid is absorbed, you can move to the next step. Otherwise, leave the lid off and cook for a few more minutes to allow the extra moisture to steam off.
- Turn off the heat and add the cream cheese and 2 cups of shredded cheese (leave the extra cup of cheese to use as a topping). Stir until the cheese is completely melted.
- When you are ready to serve, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and top with with any other garnishes you choose.
Notes
Use the right pan: I recommend a Dutch oven or something heavy and sturdy for making this. A pan that’s too small makes it hard to stir the ingredients without spillage while a pan that’s too light and thin might burn the macaroni pasta on the bottom.
Add toppings: Add a splash of color and fresh flavor with chopped tomatoes, green onions, a dollop of sour cream, avocado slices, or anything else you like. Get your toppings ready as the taco macaroni and cheese is cooking.
Nutrition
Looking for a simple 30-minute meal you can make in one pot? If you’re a mac and cheese fan, I just know you’re going to love this taco macaroni and cheese which pairs south of the border flavors with pasta and cheese for a delicious, fusion meal. Make this one pot taco mac and cheese for dinner tonight!
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Taco macaroni and cheese is a genius mix of flavors—comfort food at its best! So satisfying.
Easy cooking is the best, and this one-pot meal nailed it.
From the titles itself, the BEST! It is the best, indeed! No leftover yesterday when I made this! 😋
I love tacos and incorporating this flavor to Mac and Cheese was a clever idea!
Tried this recipe and it was pure deliciousness! Definitely a winner.
Looks amazing! I think I’m going to adapt this to make it in my Instant Pot. I will probably reduce the pasta to 2 cups, keep everything else the same but only use enough broth to barely cover everything once it’s all in there and it should turn out good. Thanks for the recipe and idea!
I am craving this now. These photos are beautiful!