Fideo con Carne {aka Mexican pasta with ground beef}

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Fideo is a quick and comforting traditional Mexican dish. There are several variations but are all based on fideo noodles which are short, thin noodles similar to vermicelli or angle hair pasta. This fideo con carne (fideo with ground beef) is an easy, one pot dish that is perfect for busy weeknight dinners.

fideo with ground beef and broccoli spears on white plate

When Carl and I lived in Ft. Worth our next door neighbor was a first generation Mexican American family. I learned a lot about cooking from scratch from the mom. She taught me so much about making simple, frugal meals. I’ll forever be grateful to her for taking the time to teach a young mom how important it is to cook from scratch.

To me, fideo is kind of like Spanish rice but with noodles. As I looked over the internet for “authentic” recipes I realized that ,just like Pancit Bihon, people kind of do their own thing when it comes to fideo.

I make fideo with ground beef but will also sometimes add in chopped greens like spinach, kale or swiss chard. For the tomatoes I use our home canned tomatoes, but have also used dehydrated tomato powder from grinding dehydrated tomatoes.

How to Make Fideo

Ingredients for Fideo con Carne

1 pound ground beef
1 pound fideo vermachelli (or broken angel hair pasta)
1/2 medium onion -diced
4-5 cloves garlic -diced
1 – 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 – 8oz can tomato sauce (optional)
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

browned ground beef with onions in red pot

In a large pot brown hamburger meat with onion and garlic. Since we use grass fed beef I rarely drain the grease from the hamburger but if you have a lot of grease in the pan you will want to drain some off.

fideo with ground beef and onions in red stockpot on stove

Add pasta, if you have enough room in your pan you can brown the pasta just a bit. I’ve done it with browning the pasta and without and haven’t noticed a difference.

browned hamburger meat, fideo noodles, and canned tomatoes in pot for making fideo con carne

Add tomatoes, about 1 1/2 – 2 quarts of water and seasonings. Stir.

Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and cook until pasta is soft.

red pot with fideo con carne in it

We like ours kind of dry so we leave the lid off but if you like it more like soup you can add more water and cover the pot while cooking.

More Mexican Fideo Recipes

There are tons of variations of fideo recipes – each family kind of does it’s own thing for seasoning and adding meats and both. The one main commonality is that the noodle are toasted! Here are some Mexican fideo recipes for sopa de fideo, fideo seca, fideo con pollo and many more.

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Yield: 8 servings

Fideo with Ground Beef

fideo with ground beef and broccoli spears on white plate

Fideo means "noodles" and this fideo with ground beef recipe is a frugal and tasty Tex-Mex one-pot main dish.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound fideo vermachelli (or broken angel hair pasta)
  • 1/2 medium onion -diced
  • 4-5 cloves garlic -diced
  • 1 – 14oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 – 8oz can tomato sauce (optional)
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

In a large pot brown hamburger meat with onion and garlic. Since we use grass fed beef I rarely drain the grease from the hamburger but if you have a lot of grease in the pan you will want to drain some off.

Add pasta, if you have enough room in your pan you can brown the pasta just a bit. I’ve done it with browning the pasta and without and haven’t noticed a difference.

Add tomatoes, about 2 quarts of water and seasonings. Stir.

Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and cook until pasta is soft.

We like ours kind of dry so we leave the lid off but if you like it more like soup you can add more water and cover the pot while cooking.

Enjoy!

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fideo with ground beef and broccoli spears on white plate

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20 thoughts on “Fideo con Carne {aka Mexican pasta with ground beef}”

  1. This is really interesting. Lately, I’ve been intrigued by cooking the pasta in the pot with the other ingredients. I should give it a try.

    Visiting from Tasty Tuesdays,
    Lizy

    Reply
  2. Seriously this is a great recipe. I love it when a recipe takes you out of the box and introduces a new unexpected flavor to a traditional dish. Thank you so much for sharing it on our BBQ Block Party.

    Reply
    • Generally, 1 pound of spaghetti feeds 4 people. So, based on that you would need to multiply the recipe by 6 or 7 to feed 30 people. It just depends on how big their appetites are and how much other food you’ll have. Hope that helps.

      Reply
    • @Angi Schneider, all of my one pound spaghetti/pasta packages say they feed 8, you must have big eaters that you cook for, LOL.

      Reply
      • Yes! When I originally published this recipe all of our 6 children were still at home and 4 of them were boys….lol. Only the youngest is still at home and learning to cook for only 3 is harder than you’d think it should be!

        Reply
  3. I used chicken stock in place of the waterand used el pato hpt tomato sauce and a can of rotele tomatoes for the diced tomatoes,it was awesome!

    Reply
  4. I enjoy making fideo, but always as a sopa because it is one of my many favorites and go to’s of my childhood and one of my many favorite comfort foods – I gave it a twist and added potatoes and for me it’s like having picadillo and fideo all in one meal alongside the flour tortillas and refried beans..
    Thank you for the recipe, I’m 54 years old now and never wrote down any recipes from my grandmother and I have been cooking since I was 8 years old, but your recipe is awesome and something I can share with my older children that has measurable amounts and not any of my a little bit of this and that due to personal memory processing for doing it so long

    Reply
    • Hi Lana, I do the same thing with family recipes! I’m slowing making measurements and writing them down for my kids. I’m so glad you like my fideo recipe. I’ll have to try it as sopa with potatoes. Sounds delicious!

      Reply

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