Mexican Stuffed Shells

By now, you already know how much our family likes Mexican food. We even got married in Mexico. I knew these shells would be a hit the minute I saw them, so I made one pan for our dinner, and another to freeze for when we have a newborn and cooking is not on the agenda. Good thing, because the hubby loved them...

Yum. He also loves his nephew, who we got to babysit on Saturday. It was so nice out that we went to the park near our house.

Lots of Uncle Jeff bonding time :)

So stinkin cute!

Ok, now on to these shells. Start with 1.5 - 2 lbs of lean ground beef.

Brown this in a large skillet, then add in the taco seasoning and water and let cook for about 5 minutes. Once some of the liquid is absorbed, add in your cream cheese and stir to combine.

While that is cooking, boil some water for your large shells!

Next, put a layer of salsa on the bottom of a casserole dish. You can use store bought, or homemade. We were lucky enough to have lots of leftovers from our baby shower :)

These were the party flavors....made by my friend Kayce and her Dad. Perfect! And complete with a monogram :)

Stuff your shells with the beef filling and lay them on top of the salsa.

Next, pour some taco sauce over the top and cover the dish with foil. Bake for about 30 minutes, then remove the foil and add some cheese, and bake another 15 minutes. Yum.

You are really gonna love this one.  It's delicious!

MEXICAN STUFFED SHELLS

Adapted from The Way to His Heart (I adjusted the amount of ingredients)

Ingredients:
1.5-2 lb. ground beef
2 packages low-sodium taco seasoning ( or better yet use this Taco Seasoning!)
8 oz. cream cheese
i package jumbo pasta shells
1.5-2 cup salsa
1-2 cups taco sauce

1-2 cups cheddar cheese
green onions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.  Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.  While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed.  Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

Comments

[Maeghan]

I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for checking out my blog.

[Megan]

Yum-o!!!