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Fideo con Carne {aka Mexican pasta with ground beef}

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.

Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page. We always appreciate your feedback. You can also save the recipe for later by pinning it or clicking on the heart in the lower right hand corner.

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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Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

fideo with ground beef and broccoli spears on white plate

Thanks for sharing with your friends!

Stefanie

Tuesday 15th of August 2023

Easy and very tasty! Would make again and again.

Tracey

Tuesday 16th of May 2023

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!

Angi Schneider

Sunday 21st of May 2023

That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.

Sue

Monday 29th of August 2022

We make it like this and scoop it up into corn tortillas!

Penny Filias

Monday 20th of June 2022

1 lb. fideo or vermicelli . Approximately how many cups is that?

Angi Schneider

Sunday 24th of July 2022

I have no idea. It comes in bags with the weight listed. If I had to guess it would be about 3 cups.

Phyllis Gray

Monday 14th of September 2020

How much do I make of this for 30 people? Please help

Angi Schneider

Saturday 19th of September 2020

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.

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