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 heck of 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)
And since I couldn’t figure out a way to incorporate more vegetables into this recipe without diluting the hamburger-ness, I’m just going to suggest you serve it with a simple salad. Nothing fancy, maybe just some Romaine, tomatoes, and dressing. Keep it easy. :)
Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta
Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta
Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta is a fast and easy "from scratch" version of the classic hamburger helper boxed dinner.
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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
This is pretty good, but I felt it needed some modifications. Don’t be afraid to season the meat and onion mixture with salt, pepper, and maybe even some other spices. Although I thought that the dish would be salty because beef broth is salty, the noodles actually soaked up the salt, and the sauce tasted kinda bland. To help remedy that, I added salt and tang in the form of ketchup, about 1/2 cup, mustard about 1/8 cup, more relish and a splash of white vinegar.
As a side note, I made this dish with organic gluten free noodles from Aldi, and they turned out great. Also used Daiya vegan cheddar cheese with good results.
Next time, I think I will also reduce the amount of flour by half, and maybe add 1/4 cup more liquid.
Overall, a hearty, comforting, I’m-not-sorry-I’m-American dish!
I converted this recipe for my Instant Pot and it turned out amazing! I cooked the meat using the sautee function, then added everything else and put it on manual for 5 minutes. I did a quick pressure release and the pasta was perfectly cooked but the sauce was still thin. I added some more flour and a Tbsp of tomato paste (already ready in my freezer thanks to your old article!) and it thickened up beautifully. I think next time (there will be a next time!) I’ll try doing a natural pressure release for 10 minutes or so and see if that helps thicken the sauce more. Thanks so much for your recipes, I love your site!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
I. Am. Obsessed. I swear I make this 3-4 times a month. It’s so easy, so few dirty dishes, and such a good comfort food. I sub veggie broth and veggie grounds to make it vegetarian, and it’s great. The recipe is great just as it’s written, but also simple enough that you can experiment with it a little. I like to add some minced garlic in with the onion, along with some dried oregano, paprika, and sometimes dill. A can of diced tomatoes is a good addition too. One problem I’ve had is that my liquid tends to boil off before the pasta is cooked, so I just add an extra cup or so of water or broth.
(A note about the veggie grounds: Trader Joe’s and Lightlife both hold up well, Beyond Meat definitely does NOT. Those are the only brands I’ve tried so far.
This was soooo goood! I used egg noodles, and chopped dill pickle and a squirt of mustard instead of hot dog relish (which I couldn’t find where I live). The pickle really is key to the cheeseburger flavor. I also stirred it often to prevent sticking. At first I was worried it wasn’t enough liquid but it came together. One pot pasta dishes have a kind of heavy texture compared to when you cook the pasta separate and this dish was no different but the ease of the recipe was worth it and it was totally delicious and filling. Husband and toddler agreed!
My husband loved this but even with watching it closely and stirring while simmering, it burned to the bottom in a bad bad way. I had to soak the pan overnight to get the burned parts off. I think it may be good to add the flour after the pasta has cooked to thicken the sauce.
The Skillet Cheeseburger Pasta is amazing. Since my sister HATES pickle relish, we added 1/2 teaspoon. We also added ketchup and mustard, which made the pasta taste like a cheeseburger. It was so good that I came back for seconds. I want to make this recipe again in the future. Thank you, Beth!!! :-)
This tasted delicious, but my boyfriend decided to doubled the entire recipe and the pasta was really tough. It was the shells that nested into each other too. It was hard to get these to soften up and separate. I think it’s hard to double one-pot recipes like this because of something with the water absorption ratio. We tried to add additional water well after the done time, but it made the pasta both gloopy and yet tough. Still the taste was DELICIOUS. My boyfriend was skeptical about the relish but soon was a fan and wanted to add even more relish, lol. We added peas in an it complimented the dish well. I am going to make this again very soon and then I will give it a rating. TIPS 1) Don’t double this recipe 2) Don’t use pasta that can nest into each other with these one pot recipes since the water cannot flow as freely between pieces of pasta 3) If Beth says to add an unusual secret ingredient, DO IT
This was amazing! Takes just like those cheeseburger hot pockets! We added small diced kosher pickles instead of the relish and it was perfect.
This was the first recipe I made from this site and I loved it. Not only was it easy, but it was delicious! It warmed up even better the second day. I didn’t want to share with my family – I just wanted to eat it all! Will definitely make this again.
I changed a few things. I used extra-lean ground beef and didn’t have to drain it. I cooked it with no oil, but I’ve never cooked ground beef in oil? I added onion and garlic powder to the cooking beef (instead of onions). I used a squirt of yellow mustard instead of relish and it gave the pasta a nice little zing.
So glad I found this site! I think almost all my recipes will come from it. Thanks very much!