Yes, We Went There: Spaghetti Tacos

Our kids are huge fans of the Nickelodeon show, iCarly.  Actually, the whole family is.  It’s a fun show that all of us can sit around and watch together, and we’ll all enjoy it.  One of the dishes frequently mentioned or eaten on iCarly is Spaghetti Tacos.

I’ve been hearing about these things for probably two years now, and the other day at lunch time, I was looking in the fridge when I saw the container of leftover spaghetti and meatballs.  I made a mental note to ask the kids if they wanted spaghetti for lunch, and then a few minutes later I spied the leftover taco shells in the pantry from a taco night a few weeks past.  I’ll readily admit, the idea of Spaghetti Tacos did not appeal to me.  I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of squishy Italian flavored spaghetti tucked into a crispy crunchy corn taco shell.  When lunch time came around though, I asked the kids if they wanted to try Spaghetti Tacos, and you would have thought I offered them ice cream for lunch- they were THAT excited.

There’s really no recipe here- I really and truly just reheated leftover spaghetti and meatballs. ( It wasn’t even made with homemade sauce.)  While those heated up in the microwave, the taco shells went into the oven to freshen up and re-crisp.  A few minutes later, I squished spaghetti into the shells and topped with grated Parmesan.   Zander wanted his without meatballs, Abigail wanted hers with.  Being brave, I opted to make myself one taco with meatballs.  The only thing I wish I had to add was some freshly shredded Mozzarella.

You know what?  I’m afraid they’re rather tasty.  I don’t know why I had issues with the idea of combining spaghetti with a corn taco shell- it’s not that different from topping polenta with marinara.  I think some nice gooey melty Mozarella would have made these tacos even better.  Abigail was not a fan of the meatballs in there- I thought they were fine, but she said it made her tacos more messy.   I made two tacos each for the kids, and they cleaned their plates- they LOVED the Spaghetti Tacos.

This really was a fun way to utilize leftovers in a completely unexpected way.  I would totally make these again if I had the ingredients on hand.   I think they would be really fun for a kids birthday party or something like that.  Thank you to iCarly and Spencer for sharing Spaghetti Tacos with my family.  My kids are very glad you did!