Mexican Stuffed Shells
Let’s be honest. Cooking dinner every night can get So. Boring. These Mexican stuffed shells make your dinnertime menu a little unique and give your tastebuds a twist! This recipe combines your typical Italian stuffed shells and a taco. The bonus is, Mexican stuffed shells are so easy to make! There are no fancy cooking terms or methods. Just simple and delicious.
I was first introduced to this recipe by my best friend’s mom. Basically my second mom. It all started by me requesting this dinner almost any time I was planning on coming over, especially when I was coming home from college and craved some comfort food. Eventually, she caved and gave me the recipe so I could make it myself. But if we’re all being honest here, I think she was sick of making it all the damn time for me.
Mexican stuffed shells have become one of the monthly staples in my house.
It would totally be weekly if I didn’t try to pretend to be well rounded and try to make 30 different meals every month. Like I said, dinner time meals get boring so I always try to add variety. And yes, some meals have terribly failed along the way. But not Mexican stuffed shells. In fact, it’s now become one of the signature meals that now my friends put in requests with me. I’m proud to say I’ve become a recipe prodigy. AKA I steal all of her recipes and add them to my meal rotation. Okay, I don’t steal them, she gives them to me.
But if you went through my recipe box, about half of my go-to’s are Stace’s recipes. (Love you Ma!) The other half is a mixture of my parents, Pinterest, and my personal favorite: I found this in the fridge smorgasbord delight.
If you have fussy kids, this is great because you can eat it with your hands if you want! And we all know if you give kids the opportunity to eat with their hands, the meal gets bumped up immediately. And before you ask, YES! You can totally make these the night before and put them in the fridge for the next day…Just up the time about 5 minutes when cooking.
Print Recipe
Mexican Stuffed Shells
Equipment
- Large Skillet
- 9 X 13 baking dish
- Stockpot
- Strainer
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 6 oz. Tomato Paste
- 1 can Green GiantTM Mexicorn strained
- 1 1/2 lb. ground hamburg
- 1 16 oz. Jar Salsa (I prefer Newman's Own Medium)
- 1 bag Shredded Mexican Cheese (16 0z.)
- 12 oz. pkg. Jumbo Shells cooked according to package
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit, coat 9 X 13 pan in nonstick spray, set aside
- Boil shells, drain, and cool.
- In a large skillet, fry hamburg until browned, strain excess grease and return to burner.
- Stir in corn, salsa, and tomato paste to the hamburg.
- Simmer mixture for about 5 minutes, until heated thoroughly.
- Remove meat mixture from heat.
- Scoop a small amount of cheese into the shells then fill shell with the meat mixture ( adding the cheese first helps prevent the shells from sticking, it catches the liquids before it seeps through the shells!)
- Add shell to baking dish, continuing until all shells are filled.
- Top shells with remaining cheese, use as much or as little as you'd like!
- Bake in over at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melty and bubbly.
- Serve immediately!
Notes
This dish not only is a delicious addition to any family’s dinner menu, but it’s also cheap and easy. There’s nothing I hate more than a meal that takes significantly longer to prep than it does to eat. It also only costs about $15 to make, so you’re not breaking the bank even if you have to double or triple the recipe. And like I said prior, you can do it the lazy way and just toss the mixture and cheese in with a box of pasta (cooked, obviously) and viola! You have a quick, easy Mexican skillet dish!
I hope you enjoy this recipe. Made it? Let me know your opinions in the comments below!
One Comment
Lilieritah
Looks really delicious. I need to try this out