Southwest Beef Shells

"This recipe was given to me years ago in a recipe swap by my Aunt Shirley. It won 2nd place in the 1995 Mississippi Beef Cook-Off. I use medium or hot picante sauce because we like ours a little hotter. You can also use less cheese and ground turkey and it's just as fabulous. It is an easy recipe and we have it with some great jalapeno cheese bread!"
 
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Ready In:
50mins
Ingredients:
8
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Cook shells in 3 qts. boiling water for 12 minutes, stirring often. Drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well.
  • Heat skillet over high heat. Add oil and brown beef until no longer pink. Remove from heat; pour off drippings.
  • Add all other ingredients to the meat except picante sauce.
  • Spread 1/4 cup picante sauce in bottom of 9x13 inch casserole.
  • Stuff shells with a spoonful or so of meat mixture and place on sauce. Any extra meat mixture may be placed on top.
  • Pour remaining picante sauce over shells. (May be frozen. Thaw completely before baking).
  • Bake covered in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until hot in center.
  • Serve shells with sprinkling of cheese and fresh cilantro.

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Reviews

  1. I made this to go with fajitas I was making. I halved the recipe. I did tweak it a little, adding minced onion to the ground beef while it cooked and adding a bit of cooked rice and black beans to the mixture. I used a chunky salsa. I was really good. I garnished with shredded MJ cheese, diced green onions, and sour cream. LK Devildog, this was a good recipe, thanks for posting, Sue
     
  2. We liked this dish. Kind of a twist on your typical Italian Shell dinner. Anything with cilantro in it has my vote. We will make this again. Thanks for posting LK!
     
  3. This was really good! To the ground beef mixture I added 3/4-1 can of black beans and 3/4-1 can of spanish rice. Even made a few shells with Boca burger instead of hamburger and they were very tasty. Thanks for posting!
     
  4. My hubby LOVED this recipe (and he tends to be pretty picky). Didn't have any cilantro so I left it out but still very good! I also tried it as a lasagna type dish, using marinara sauce instead of picante, and a mixture of mozzerella and monterey jack cheeses (and still left out cilantro). Both will definitely become a staple in our house!!
     
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Tweaks

  1. My hubby LOVED this recipe (and he tends to be pretty picky). Didn't have any cilantro so I left it out but still very good! I also tried it as a lasagna type dish, using marinara sauce instead of picante, and a mixture of mozzerella and monterey jack cheeses (and still left out cilantro). Both will definitely become a staple in our house!!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I live near the Lakes Region in New Hampshire. ?I've lived in Texas, Arizona, Japan, South Carolina, California, North Carolina?and Northern Virginia. I obviously love southern cooking, Thai food, BBQ...and just about everything else. I?retired after 24 years in the Marine Corps and much traveling. I get quite a few recipes from my sister (sky hostess) and have several of my mother's favorites as well.
 
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