Crockpot Taco Spaghetti takes all the Mexican flavors and traditional taco seasonings of a Tex-Mex meal and prepares it Italian style with pasta noodles slow-cooked in the sauce. Set it and forget it until dinner is done.
Easy Slow Cooker Taco Pasta
Our Crock Pot Taco Spaghetti recipe is a fun mashup of Southwestern flavor that meets comfort food in taco pasta form.
This easy crock pot taco pasta recipe is a unique twist on its Italian-style cousin. It is made with noodles that replace the taco shells and a southwestern-seasoned meat mixture, Rotel, and beef broth instead of traditional tomato sauce.
All of the components for this crockpot taco pasta recipe are cooked in one pot, including the dry noodles (like my crockpot spaghetti but with a south-of-the-border spin); once you’ve browned the beef, stir everything together and let the kitchen appliance do the rest of the work.
Don’t have a crockpot handy? No worries, check out our viral Taco Spaghetti recipe on the stovetop!
Why We Love Crockpot Mexican Spaghetti
- Quick and easy to make.
- Uses a handful of simple ingredients.
- There’s no need to pre-cook the pasta for slow cooker recipes because the noodles soften in the crockpot and become tender with a perfect texture.
- Slow cooker makes delicious homemade dinners to feed your family, especially when you’re too busy to bake a taco spaghetti casserole.
- Perfect any day dinner that tastes like you spent all day making it, without any of the work.
Crockpot Taco Spaghetti Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Lean ground beef
- Yellow onion
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Taco seasoning: You can use a store-bought taco seasoning packet or make your own Homemade Taco Seasoning.
- Rotel Original diced tomatoes with green chilis
- Fresh cilantro
- Dried spaghetti noodles
- Beef broth
- Water
- Sharp cheddar cheese
Substitutions and Additions
- Pick Your Pasta: Pick Your Pasta: You can use standard spaghetti, thin spaghetti, angel hair pasta, or even short pasta if you prefer. Cooking times may vary depending on the size and shape of the pasta you pick.
- Choose Your Cheese: I like the flavor that the sharp cheddar cheese adds to this cheesy taco spaghetti recipe, but another great cheese substitute would be Colby Jack, pepper jack cheese, or a combination of shredded cheese.
- More Meat Options: Feel free to make a lighter version of this dish by using ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork instead of ground beef.
- Make it Meatless: For a vegetarian version of this meal, swap in an equal amount of your favorite plant-based meat alternative, like Beyond Beef or Impossible Burger. It has a similar texture to ground beef and cooks up much the same way. Tempeh is another plant-based option that will work for Taco Lasagna. Simply break it into crumbles and follow the recipe as written.
- Tasty Toppings: Add your favorite taco toppings to this dish, like crushed tortilla chips, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, and sour cream.
How to Make Crockpot Taco Spaghetti
- Brown The Beef: Brown the ground beef with olive oil, onion, salt, and pepper. Cook until no pink remains in the meat and the onions are translucent. Drain the excess fat from the skillet.
- Stir In The Slow Cooker: Add the cooked ground beef mixture, taco seasoning, Rotel diced tomatoes, cilantro, spaghetti noodles, beef broth, and water to the crock pot. Stir everything together so that the spaghetti noodles are submerged in the liquid.
- Cover And Cook: Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
Pro Tip: You can check for doneness at 1 ½ hours to be sure that you do not overcook your noodles. - Serve: Turn the crock pot off, remove the lid, and stir the spaghetti. Mix in the shredded cheese and top with cilantro. Serve straight from the crock pot and enjoy!
Tips For Making Crockpot Taco Spaghetti
- If you use thin spaghetti, you may want to check your spaghetti for doneness at the 1½-hour mark to ensure that you do not overcook your pasta.
- I used the original Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis for this recipe, but you can certainly substitute the mild, or the hot, according to your preference of spice level.
- If you have an aversion to cilantro, you can substitute fresh chopped parsley.
How to Store Crockpot Taco Spaghetti
- To Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the taco spaghetti once it has cooled completely for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
- To Reheat: Thaw completely before reheating in the crockpot or microwave. You may need to add a splash of water or beef broth, to loosen up the spaghetti mixture when reheating.
More Easy Crockpot Recipes
Other Easy Pasta Recipes
- Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Pasta
- Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Tomato Basil Pasta
- Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Bacon Pasta
- Rotel Chicken Spaghetti
If you tried this Crockpot Taco Spaghetti Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!!!
Crockpot Taco Spaghetti
Serves — 8
Crockpot Taco Spaghetti is a delicious mashup of Southwestern flavor meets an Italian style meal.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ pounds ground beef
- ¾ cups diced yellow onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ounce packet of taco seasoning
- 20 ounces (2 10-ounce) cans Rotel Original diced tomatoes with green chilis
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro divided into 2 tablespoons and 1 tablespoon
- 1 pound dried spaghetti noodles broken in half to fit inside the crockpot
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3 cups water
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- In a skillet on medium-high heat, add the olive oil, ground beef, diced yellow onion, salt, and black pepper. Cook and brown the meat for 5-6 minutes or until no pink remains in the ground beef and the onions are translucent. Drain off all the excess fat from the skillet.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1½ pounds ground beef, ¾ cups diced yellow onion, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Transfer the cooked ground beef mixture to the insert of a 6-quart crockpot. Add the taco seasoning, Rotel diced tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro, spaghetti noodles, beef broth, and water. Give all the ingredients a stir, and be sure that all the spaghetti noodles are submerged in the liquid.1 ounce packet of taco seasoning, 20 ounces (2 10-ounce) cans Rotel Original diced tomatoes with green chilis, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, 1 pound dried spaghetti noodles, 2 cups beef broth, 3 cups water
- Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on HIGH for 2 hours (3½-4 hours on LOW). You can check for doneness at 1 ½ hours to be sure that you do not overcook your noodles.
- Once the noodles are cooked, turn the crock pot off and remove the lid. Using a pair of tongs or a pasta spoon, give the spaghetti a stir to combine all the ingredients evenly. Add the shredded cheddar cheese to the spaghetti and stir again to combine. Top with the remaining 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro and serve.8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
- To Store: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the taco spaghetti once it has cooled completely for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
- To Reheat: Thaw completely before reheating in the crockpot or microwave. You may need to add a splash of water or beef broth, to loosen up the spaghetti mixture when reheating.
- If you use thin spaghetti, you may want to check your spaghetti for doneness at the 1½-hour mark to ensure that you do not overcook your pasta.
- I used the original Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis for this recipe, but you can certainly substitute the mild, or the hot, according to your preference of spice level.
- If you have an aversion to cilantro, you can substitute fresh chopped parsley in its place.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 487kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 912mg | Potassium: 632mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 710IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 252mg | Iron: 4mg
dried out and starchy
based on other reviews, I didn’t add the pasta until the last 45 min. It was good but for me, needs a little more zip. When I reheat it, I think I might add some enchilada sauce or taco sauce
followed the directions tonight to the letter i should have checked on the reviews because oh my stars it was total mush and went right into the trash i will stick to my oven method
I agree noodles got mushy and I only cooked 1.5 hours. Next time will use penne and cook separately and add at the end. Or no pasta and use as a dip
when my kids were little they made their version of this, i think they invented it lol. When Dad and I were working and they got hungry, they cooked up a bunch of spag and added a ton of taco bell pks to it. Your version looks yummier!
recope calls for 40 ounces of Rotel (2-10 oz cans) I am doubling the recipe so perhaps the parentheses note was just for the original recipe.
Looking forward to making it
It was very mushy.. didn’t look like the picture… might be good as a dip with tortilla chips…. With spaghetti noodles as the secret ingredient…
Not sure what I did wrong, noodles got so mushy it was inedible:-(
I made this recipe too and the pasta was mushy, the sauce was like soup and the onions were raw. The taste of the soup was good. But overall it didn’t work.
When I get ready to make this I will leave the spaghetti out of this and boil it on the stove and then dump it in the pot when it is heated up. That should work better.
I’m cooking it right now for dinner. u wasn’t sure how much beef broth to use. can’t wait to try it.