Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta
Y’all know I love my global flavors, but every once in a while I get in the mood for straight up American food, like cheeseburgers. When that craving hit this week I decided to make a pasta version of cheeseburgers, which gives me all the “cheeseburgery” flavor with a lot less actual burger. When meat is one of the most expensive items at the grocery store you have to streeeeeeeeetch it any way you can and this Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta does just that.
Hamburger Helper watch out, I’m comin’ for ya. (j/k)
How to Serve Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta
I’m usually all about stuffing my recipes with as many vegetables as possible, but I couldn’t figure out a way to incorporate more vegetables into this recipe without diluting the hamburger-ness, so I’m just going to suggest you serve it with a simple side salad. Nothing fancy, maybe just some Romaine, tomatoes, and dressing. Keep it easy. :) And maybe Homemade Garlic Bread? Because every meal is better with garlic bread.
Freeze Some For Later
Saucy pasta dishes like this freezer pretty well, IMHO, so if you’re cooking for yourself this would make a good cook-and-freeze-for-later dish. If you’re extra sensitive to texture changes like pasta getting slightly softer, though, you may not be a fan of the leftovers.
Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef ($3.84)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 8 oz. can tomato sauce ($0.69)
- 2 cups beef broth ($0.26)
- 1/2 lb. pasta shells, uncooked ($0.50)
- 4 oz. shredded sharp cheddar ($1.20)
- 2 Tbsp hot dog relish ($0.16)
- 2 green onions, sliced (optional) ($0.20)
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion. Add the olive oil, onion, and ground beef to a large deep skillet and sauté over medium heat until the beef is fully browned and the onion is soft and transparent. Drain off any excess fat, if needed.
- Add the flour to the skillet and continue to stir and cook for one minute more. The flour will form a paste that may coat the bottom of the skillet. Be careful not to let the flour burn.
- Add the tomato sauce, broth, and pasta to the skillet. Stir to combine the ingredients and dissolve any of the flour off the bottom of the skillet.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let the liquid come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the pasta simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened. Turn the heat off.
- Add the cheddar, a handful at a time, and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Stir the hot dog relish into the sauce and then top with sliced green onions. Serve hot.
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos! If you love easy one pot pasta dinners, check out our One Pot Meals category!
Step by Step Photos
Start by finely dicing one onion. Add the onion, 1/2 lb. lean ground beef, and 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large deep skillet (like this one). Sauté the onion and beef until the beef is fully browned and the onions are soft and transparent. Drain off any excess fat, if needed (if you’re using 94% lean or higher, there probably isn’t anything to be drained off).
Add 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour to the skillet and continue to stir and cook for one minute. The flour will become kind of paste-like and may coat the bottom of the skillet. This is okay, just be sure to watch it closely and not let it burn. The flour will help thicken the sauce later.
Add an 8oz. can of tomato sauce and 1/2 lb. uncooked pasta shells.
Also add 2 cups of beef broth (I use Better Than Bouillon to make my broth). Stir everything together and dissolve any flour that might be stuck to the bottom of the skillet.
Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the liquid to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the skillet simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened. Turn the heat off.
Stir in 4oz. shredded cheddar, one handful at a time, until it has melted into the sauce.
Finally, add 2 Tbsp of hot dog relish (mustard relish), and stir it into the sauce. I feel like the relish is what really made this taste like a hamburger, but if you’re not into relish you probably won’t like this last step. It will still be some really great cheesy-beefy pasta without the relish, though. :)
I had some green onions in the fridge, so I sliced a couple up and added them on top. They were pretty and added a nice little “fresh” touch to the Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta.
Hello homemade!
I don’t know a single thing about kids, but I feel like it’s a safe bet that they’d eat this Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta (especially if you TELL them that it’s “cheeseburger” pasta). ;) #cheeseburgery
So good! The flavors really come together into a fantastic tasting dish. I totally agree on that note that the hot dog relish really gives the dish an oomph. I only wish it made more because I’m so excited to eat this it disappears fast. One note, the pictures don’t show nearly how cheesy it is. I love the cheesiness, but did the recipe actually mean 4 fluid ounces, ie 1/2 cup, rather than 4 net wt ounces, which is about a cup? It’d probably come out good either way, but you really should specify. Great recipe, highly recommend it
whoops, forgot to put the five star rating there
It’s weight ounces. :) Solids, like cheese, are always weight ounces, while fluids are always volume ounces.
I’m usually on the fence about “one pan” or “one pot” meals because they lack flavor, or they’re just a pot of mush. Not the case here. This is grown up hamburger helper. I recently had to go gluten-free for health reasons, so I replaced the flour for cornstarch and the regular pasta for Trader Joe’s black bean fusilli pasta. Instead of hot dog relish, I used Cha Cha (chow chow) for a little less sweetness. This is definitely in the regular rotation!
Oh my STONKIN godness, this recipe is far, FAR more than the sum of its parts. I needed to cook something for the end of the month–the fridge was looking a little bare but I had thawed some ground beef and had some pantry things and cheese…enough to make this.
I looked at the ingredients list and
I DOUBTED. “I don’t have any relish; it probably won’t have the right flavor.” I put the lid on the pot to simmer and I DOUBTED. “This is going to taste like pasta with canned tomato sauce, even with all my seasoning. Sigh.” Then I stirred in the (weighed out) cheese, watched the sauce thicken, and felt HOPE. “Well, maybe this will turn out all right!” I stirred 1 T ketchup and 1 T mustard to substitute for the relish. Then I took the FIRST BITE and became a BELIEVER!!! HOLY COW IT’S DELICIOUS!!! Thank you, BudgetBytes! I don’t think I can ever go back to that boxed stuff!