Ranch Taco Pasta Bake ~ A dinner to satisfy BOTH of my children!

You know those nights- you are wiped out, you really don’t want to make dinner yet the thought of leaving for dinner is just too much. Your kids are arguing and of course- they each want something different for dinner. This describes more than a few of our weeknights and frankly- I sometimes regret asking them what they are in the mood for.

I kno0w why I do it- I want to make something that will make them happy, they will eat without complaint and will not go to waste. You would think after 15 years of parenting I would learn my lesson ????

So on this particular night one son wanted plain tacos with no ‘extra stuff’ and my other son wanted pasta. I just wanted dinner on the table- FAST!

I literally made this up as I went and what I came up with was one of the best things I have made in a long time. A few things: don’t add salt to this. Between the Ranch dressing mix and other add-in’s it is salty enough. Als0, I used Creamette rotini pasta for this. I really like the way it turned out and stayed firm throughout the baking process. When boiling be sure to cook until al dente- do not over boil (think mush).

Garnish with what you have or typically like on tacos. I grabbed some leaf lettuce from the garden, some leftover olives and sour cream. You really don’t need anything else!

Ranch Taco Pasta Bake

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Ingredients

• 2 lb lean ground meat or ground beef
• 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
• 1 28 oz can of Red Gold tomato sauce
• 1 15 oz can of Red Gold petite diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 TB cumin
• 1 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 lb of rotini pasta (cooked al dente)
• 2 C of taco blend cheese
• garnish: black olives, sour cream, lettuce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown meat in a large skillet, drain off fat.
3. Add the Ranch packet along with 1/2 C water.
4. Allow to cook on medium/low 2 minutes.
5. Add spices, tomato sauce/diced tomatoes and stir to combine.
6. Remove from heat and toss in cooked pasta.
7. Add to a 13×9 baking dish and cover with cheese.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is heated through.
9. REmove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve with garnish.

Important Notes

A great pitch-in meal or for when you need to feed a crowd!

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