Taco casserole with pasta is going to be a new kid favorite! Our taco pasta bake is loaded with lean ground beef, salsa, pasta, and cheese, it's baked into the perfect weeknight casserole. Serve topped with taco sauce and diced tomatoes. Gluten-free.
⭐️Cook the onions and meat. In a large skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil then saute the onions until they are translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Add the beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain.
⭐️Prepare the rigatoni. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook rigatoni per box instructions (about 10 minutes). Drain.
16 ounces gluten-free rigatoni
⭐️Add the other ingredients. To the ground beef mixture, add the salsa, refried beans, and taco seasoning. Mix well.
16 ounce can refried beans, 15 ounce jar salsa, 1 packet package taco seasoning
Combine pasta and meat mixture. In a large bowl, combine rigatoni, meat mixture, and 1/2 of the cheese. Mix well.
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
Prepare the casserole. To a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, add the pasta mixture. Top with the rest of the cheese. Cover with tinfoil. To prevent cheese from sticking to the tinfoil, spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray and place that side down.
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
⭐️Bake. Bake covered casserole for 30 minutes. Serve with taco sauce, diced tomatoes, or your favorite taco toppings.
1/4 cup taco sauce
Notes
Serve with taco sauce and your favorite topping including cilantro, diced tomatoes, avocados, or black olives. CCK Features both Gluten-Free Guidance and Kids Cooking Instructions: If you're new to eating gluten-free we understand it's overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don't. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten or cross-contamination.The ⭐️ symbol in the recipe below denotes the steps in which kid cooks may need a helper (depending on age). If there is no ⭐️ symbol, that step (or recipe) doesn't require a helper.