Mexican Spaghetti, one of my favorite one-pot wonders, adds a little “spice” to your dinner table and shaves valuable time off a busy weeknight.
This recipe, also called fideo, is one that gets pulled out of the recipe box pretty frequently at my house (though I really don’t need the recipe anymore at this point, LOL), and you’ll definitely want to add it to your one-pot repertoire!
I love this recipe because it truly couldn’t be simpler and even picky eaters will call this one “a keeper.” If you don’t mind washing one more dish, you can always serve a green salad on the side (with a nice cilantro, lime vinaigrette, YUM!), though it’s really a nice meal on its own. All it takes is a little Italian/Mexican fusion to marry taco night with everyone’s favorite pasta and create everyone’s new favorite weeknight meal!
Does your family love spaghetti recipe as much as mine? Here a some of our favorites, million dollar spaghetti, spaghetti recipe with ground beef, super-easy chicken spaghetti, and crockpot spaghetti!
What is Mexican fideo?
Fideo means “noodle” in Spanish, and authentic Mexican spaghetti is cooked using the pilaf method, similar to Mexican rice, where the noodles are toasted, sautéed a bit with aromatics, then cooked in a mixture of tomatoes, water or broth, and Mexican spices.
There’s also a version that’s a tomato-free Mexican spaghetti with sour cream and ham – espagueti a la crema con jamón. My version adds green chilies, corn, hearty ground beef, all with a generous sprinkling of cheese melting on top.
I suppose the thing that makes Mexican spaghetti fideo is that toasting step, which I skip in my recipe since it tends to make the final dish a little greasier than I’d like, but it still has all the robust flavors you’d expect from mixing Italian and Mexican cuisines.
Mexican Spaghetti Ingredients
- Beef: I use 80/20.
- Onion: Use either a yellow or white onion.
- Taco Seasoning: I use mild so the dish is kid-friendly.
- Chilies: I like mild green chilies, again, to keep it kid-friendly. If you like things spicy, go for canned Hatch chilies.
- Tomatoes: I like the petite diced version.
- Corn: Adds a touch of sweetness and a bit of crunch.
- Tomato Sauce: Adds a great base to the sauce.
- Pasta: I use Barilla spaghetti.
- Cheese: I use either cheddar, Monterey jack, or pepper jack.
How To Make Mexican Spaghetti Recipe?
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In a large skillet over medium heat, brown beef, and onion until there is no longer any pink in the beef. Drain off any fat.
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Stir in taco seasoning, green chilies, diced tomatoes, corn, tomato sauce, and water.
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Bring to a boil.
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Stir in noodles.
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Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Serve.
***See the full instructions below.
Recipe Notes for Mexican Spaghetti
- Let’s talk turkey – Not a ground beef fan or just want to lighten things up a bit?
- You can easily substitute ground turkey or chicken in this recipe. You can also use leftover chicken chunks (or a store-bought rotisserie chicken) to make this a Mexican chicken Spaghetti.
- Picky about pasta – A gluten-free or whole wheat pasta works well in this dish, though you may need a touch more water and cooking time if you go the whole wheat route.
- If you’re really watching your carbs, you can use spiralized zucchini noodles or make a Mexican spaghetti squash version. Just omit the water in the recipe and cook the sauce long enough for the flavors to meld.
- Toss it with steamed spaghetti squash shreds or blanched veggie pasta instead of actual spaghetti.
- Seasoning mix savvy – If you use taco seasoning mix as much as I do, it might be worthwhile to make up a big batch from scratch to keep on hand. There are lots of recipes to choose from online, and you likely have all the ingredients in the pantry already.
- The homemade version gives you the flexibility to adjust the seasonings to your liking, perhaps lowering the salt, for example, or bumping down (or up!) the heat.
- If you have a homemade mix to substitute in this recipe, you’ll need about 2 Tablespoons to equal a packet.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Will This Keep In The Fridge: This will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Remember, as this sits in the fridge, the pasta will absorb more sauce and will change in texture.
- Can You Freeze This? No. The texture of the pasta will become mushy. I only serve this fresh.
- Make-Ahead Tips: You can brown the meat and onion in advance.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.
Serving Recommendations
We love this with a fresh salad like our strawberry salad, strawberry spinach salad, or even carrot salad. It’s great with garlic bread or an easy-to-make beer bread.
More Spaghetti
- Crack Chicken Spaghetti Bake
- Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel
- Italian Spaghetti
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Spaghetti Pie
- Spaghetti Stuffed Garlic Bread
- Chicken Spaghetti Bake
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mexican Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 1 envelope taco seasoning
- 1 (7-ounce) can dice green chilies undrained
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed and drained
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 2 3/4 cups water
- 8 ounces dried spaghetti noodles broken into thirds
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown beef (1 pound), and onion until there is no longer any pink in the beef. Drain off any fat.
- Stir in taco seasoning (1 envelope), green chilies (1 can), diced tomatoes (1 can), corn (1 cup), tomato sauce (1 can), and water (2 3/4 cups) and bring to a boil. Stir in spaghetti noodles (8 ounces). Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
- Sprinkle with cheese (1 cup) and serve.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Let’s talk turkey – Not a ground beef fan or just want to lighten things up a bit?
- You can easily substitute ground turkey or chicken in this recipe. You can also use leftover chicken chunks (or a store-bought rotisserie chicken) to make this a Mexican chicken Spaghetti.
- Picky about pasta – A gluten-free or whole wheat pasta works well in this dish, though you may need a touch more water and cooking time if you go the whole wheat route.
- If you’re really watching your carbs, you can use spiralized zucchini noodles or make a Mexican spaghetti squash version. Just omit the water in the recipe and cook the sauce long enough for the flavors to meld.
- Toss it with steamed spaghetti squash shreds or blanched veggie pasta instead of actual spaghetti.
- Seasoning mix savvy – If you use taco seasoning mix as much as I do, it might be worthwhile to make up a big batch from scratch to keep on hand. There are lots of recipes to choose from online, and you likely have all the ingredients in the pantry already.
- The homemade version gives you the flexibility to adjust the seasonings to your liking, perhaps lowering the salt, for example, or bumping down (or up!) the heat.
- If you have a homemade mix to substitute in this recipe, you’ll need about 2 Tablespoons to equal a packet.
Nutrition
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Source: Gonna Want Seconds
This is a great weeknight wonder recipe. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! 🙂
Can you make the sauce and add the spaghetti later
Hi! Yes, that’ll work 🙂 Enjoy!
Perfect meal for a busy week-day.
Agreed at 20 min mark!!!
If you like cooking everything in one pot, then this is one to try very tasty.I’ll put this one in my RV recipe box.
Yaay! Thank you so much. I’m glad you like this spaghetti 🙂
Delicious with a capital D! So easy to make, I have found a new fav spaghetti! ❤❤
Yaaay! That’s awesome, Kelly! Thank you so much 🙂
This is a keeper. I also used the hot taco seasoning. I wouldn’t change a thing. My husband loved it. Very tasty. I will be making this again. Yummy 😋
Yum, extra spicy! Thank you, Laura! 🙂
This is a great recipe! We loved this taco spaghetti mashup! I always use beef broth with the taco seasoning for extra flavor, soo good! I misread the directions tho and accidentally bought two cans of tomato sauce so I had to improvise. I had some mild Herdez salsa on hand so I used that in place of the can diced tomatoes. I also used a pre-cut tiny bit like half of cups worth Velveeta cheese with the cheddar, then topped with green onion, cilantro, a dollop of cream and Fritos corn chips! Will most definitely be making this again, thanks for the recipe!!
You’re so welcome Naomi! I love how you’ve adapted it for your family. So happy you enjoyed it!!🙋🏼♀️
I used elbow noodles and homemade pico de gallo and used Julio’s seasoning…. Turned into more of a Mexican goulash
I make my noodles separate.
When every thing is cooked I mix togeather and civer it with cheese and Bake it till cheese is melted.
Great idea, Bev! 🙂
Agreed at 20 min mark!!!
I just tried this recipe & it was SO good! I twerked it, a little. I used the hot taco seasoning, the fiery hot Rotel, added diced fresh jalapenos, some garlic salt, & a jar of meat sauce. It made a HUGE pot of spicy spaghetti, & my husband & I, both, loved it. I even took a picture of it. It made a really pretty dish. I wish I could post the picture!
Hi, Rebecca! That’s amazing! Extra hot is extra awesome. I wish I could see the picture too! Thank you so much for sharing your positive review 🙂
This was just as good as I’d hoped!! AND as with the Italian version it was even better the next day ❣️❣️❣️
Hi, Patti! Yay, I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Boy, I really screwed this one up. My first mistake was using homemade taco seasoning and forgetting that I do not add salt or flour to it, so the only salt was from whatever was in the canned tomatoes. The spaghetti was done in about 15 minutes so there was A LOT of thin, watery liquid still in the pot. At this point I realized it was in desperate need of salt and hastily stirred some in. I stirred in the cheese, but it disappeared into the broth rather than cling to the meat and pasta. I added more cheese but it too seemed to disappear. I ate it anyway and it seemed somewhat bland despite substituting an equal amount of Rotel for the regular tomatoes. After dinner, I tried to salvage it by draining off all the liquid into another pot and simmering it until it was reduced by more than half, then returning it to the pot.. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks better than it did. ?
If I attempt this again, I’d definitely use store bought taco seasoning and cut back on the water by about a cup.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Marianne. Update us on your second try! 🙂
I love this and have shared it with others who love it too. So easy and quick to make.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this, Shannon!
This was amazing. Whole family loved!
I’m so happy to hear it, Lisa!! <3
I had to try this recipe because it’s very similar to another Mexican Skillet Spaghetti recipe I’ve been making since I was still living with my family. And yes that’s a long time! Anyway the difference in recipes is mine used 2 taco seasoning packets and 15 oz tomato sauce and 4 3/4 cups water. It did not use the green chilies nor canned diced tomatoes. So what I did was follow your recipe up to the point of adding the spaghetti. I tasted it to see if I would like the extra seasoning packet. I like spicy food! So I did combine the two recipes together and used about 3 3/4 cups water. It was very yummy ? My husband really loved it. Cannot wait for leftovers because I know it will always be even better.
Thank you, Karen! I gotta try your recipe too! 🙂
Mom mentioned how delicious the thumbnail looked on Pinterest so we decided to make it and it didn’t disappoint! Delicious, just as she thought. 🙂
Hi, Katharina! I wanna thank you and your mom 😀 I’m glad she found it and tried this recipe!
I am making this tonight. It sounds so delicious. I cant wait to try it.