Lightened Taco Pasta

Happy Saturday everyone! I have already enjoyed a 7 mile run this morning, and I loved it! I ran without music for the first time in a long time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will be doing this more often!

I wanted to share a new recipe with you guys in case anyone is looking for something to cook tonight. I think this would be a great date night at home meal! Are Ryan and I the only ones who like to cook and stay in sometimes for our date nights? 🙂

So I have already wrote in my in one of my earlier posts that most of this past week I have had to eat dinner at the cafeteria because I hadn’t had time to go grocery shopping. I finally got to go Thursday  night, so that meant I actually got to make Ryan and I dinner! 🙂 I had 1 pound of ground turkey meat that I wanted to use, so I started to brainstorm what I could make. I was looking through my Pinterest boards and came upon this taco pasta recipe that I made for my Mom’s birthday last summer. I thought I could lighten it up some to make it healthier and it still taste really good so I decided to give it a try. It ended up being a total success! Ryan went back for seconds, so I know it is man-approved! 🙂

First, bring a pot of water to boil to cook your pasta according to the directions.

Then, ground your turkey meat and cook about 1/2 to 3/4 of a small onion.

Then drain off the fat from the meat and mix in some minced garlic and a little garlic powder. After you mix the seasoning in the meat add 1 cup of salsa and one packed of low sodium taco seasoning.

Whenever your pasta is done cooking drain the noodles, and save 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set the water aside.

After you have let your meat, salsa, and taco seasoning simmer over medium heat for about five minutes add the pasta, Greek yogurt/cream cheese mix,  plain Greek yogurt, and reserved pasta water to the meat.

When I was grocery shopping I saw this instead of regular cream cheese, and I was so excited! The original recipe calls for cream cheese, but this has less fat and more protein so I decided to give it a try. It ended up being great! The original recipe also calls for sour cream, and I substituted plain Greek yogurt for that.

Stir everything until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Finally tope with shredded cheese and you will end up with a pan full of delicious taco pasta!

I cooked some corn and roasted brussels sprouts to go with our meal. I fixed myself a big plate, and enjoyed every bite!

I also chopped up 1/4 of an avocado to mix in with my taco pasta, and this ended up being a great addition! This pasta is supposed to be made with pasta shapes, but I had spaghetti noodles, so I just used what I had. Ryan and I both loved this meal, and it seriously made so much! We have a ton of leftovers, so this will feed us for many meals. Here is the exact recipe of what I did. If you want the original recipe you can find it here. Let me know how you like it if you try it!

What you need:

• 1 pound turkey meat
• 8 ounce small dry pasta shapes (I used whatever noodles I had at home)
• 1/2-3/4 of an onion chopped
• Approximately 1-2 teaspoons of minced garlic. (I didn’t measure mine out, but I would guess this is about right.)
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 packet reduced sodium taco seasoning
• 3 ounce cream cheese/Greek yogurt (see picture above)
• 1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic powder
• Avocado (1/4 per person)
• Shredded cheese for topping

 

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, keep 1/2 cup of pasta water, and set aside.

 

2. While noodles are cooking cook ground turkey meat and chopped onion over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.

 

3. Drain off the fat and mix in minced garlic and garlic powder.

 

4. Add in salsa and reduced sodium taco seasoning. Let this simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

 

5. Stir in the cooked pasta, Greek yogurt/cream cheese mix, plain non-fat Greek yogurt, and reserved pasta water.

 

6. Stir the pasta until the Greek yogurt/cream cheese mixture is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

 

7. Top with as much shredded cheese as you want.

Now I am off to spend the day with my wonderful Mom doing some wedding planning So fun! I hope everyone has a great Saturday!

What are your weekend plans?