The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
This Ground Beef Casserole has penne pasta in a delicious meat sauce with parmesan and mozzarella cheese! This recipe is so easy to make, fun to customize, and is make-ahead friendly!
Be sure to try my Beefaroni recipe next!
Ground Beef Casserole
This Ground Beef Casserole is the best way to get a delicious dinner on the table fast! This recipe is straightforward and simple! The pasta is loaded with flavor, with plenty of savory meat sauce to cover each and every bite of pasta. (No dry pasta here!)
This is something you can make ahead of time and pop in the oven for a quick family meal or dinner for guests! Be sure to check out my PRO TIPS below, you’ll be glad you did!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cook the ground beef, onions, and garlic. Drain grease. Add tomato paste and beef broth. Add sauce mixture (Marinara, half and half, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, oregano, basil, parsley, and mustard powder). Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer, uncovered, while you boil pasta to al dente. Stir Parmesan and a little mozzarella into the sauce. Add cooked pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish.
Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Broil at 450° for 1-2 minutes if desired. Serve with Garlic Bread with Cheese!
Pro Tips
- Marinara: I recommend using a high-quality marinara sauce in this recipe as it plays a big role in the overall flavor. I use Rao’s marinara sauce and highly recommend it!
- This recipe uses a lot of sauce, but the pasta continues to absorb it while it bakes and even more as it sits/during storage.
- Mozzarella: Use low moisture, whole milk mozzarella. Shred it from a block to ensure it melts and tastes the best. I use Dragone or Galbani mozzarella.
- Pasta: A variety of pastas will work well with this recipe, Ziti or Rigatoni are great alternatives to Penne.
- Meat: Feel free to use any combination of ground meat including ground pork, veal, sausage, and/or beef.
- Additions: Diced green bell pepper and/or sliced mushrooms can be added when the onions are added. Drained diced tomatoes are another great addition and can be added when the sauce is added. Rotel can be used if you like a little kick.
- Mustard powder and hot sauce are subtle flavor enhancers in this recipe that you can’t taste outright. Regular yellow mustard may also be used if needed. I use Frank’s Hot Sauce.
Make Ahead Method
- Cook the pasta for 1 minute less than al dente to ensure the pasta isn’t overcooked when reheated.
- Assemble the casserole as outlined and place it in a casserole dish. Let it cool first, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Cover and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 10 more minutes.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftovers freeze well. (Be sure not to overcook the pasta.)
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 9 x 13 inch baking dish- The perfect size for this recipe.
- Box cheese grater – Definitely make this with freshly grated cheese, as it melts so much better than packaged shredded cheese.
- 1 quart measuring cup with a spout– This is what I use to combine the sauce ingredients at the beginning. The spout makes it easy to add it in small splashes.
- Pasta Strainer– I have this one and love it.
- Measuring Spoons– I have these magnetic ones which stay nice and organized in my utensil drawer.
Try These Next
-
- Mushroom Chicken Pasta
-
- Chicken Scallopini
-
- Cheese Pasta
-
- Beefaroni
-
- Baked Ravioli
-
- Lasagna Roll Ups
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Tried This Recipe?
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Ground Beef Casserole
Ingredients
Sauce
- 32 oz. marinara sauce, high quality. See notes.
- ½ cup half and half, can sub heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- ¾ teaspoon EACH: Dried oregano, basil, parsley, mustard powder
Casserole
- 1 lb. ground beef
- Salt/pepper
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup beef broth
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 cups mozzarella, divided. See notes.
- ¾ lb. penne
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside. Measure out remaining ingredients before beginning.
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Begin boiling a pot of water for the pasta. Once a boil is reached, add ¾ tbsp. salt.
- Season the ground beef with salt/pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef. Cook and crumble for 3 minutes, then add the onions and garlic. Stir occasionally until the onions are softened and the beef is cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Drain grease well.
- Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the beef broth and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the skillet, (working the brown “fond” into the sauce adds more flavor). Bubble gently and reduce the liquid by half, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the sauce mixture from step 1. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, while you boil the pasta to no more than al dente. Set a timer to ensure you don’t overcook it.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan and ¼ cup of the mozzarella into the sauce, stirring continuously.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Toss to combine. Transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Top with remaining mozzarella.
- Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Broil at 450 for an additional 1-2 minutes if a browner top is preferred. Watch it carefully during this time.
- Remove and garnish with parsley. Let stand for 5 minutes prior to serving. Serve with Garlic Bread with Cheese!
Notes
- Marinara: I recommend using a high-quality marinara sauce in this recipe as it plays a big role in the overall flavor. I use Rao’s marinara sauce and highly recommend it!
- This recipe uses a lot of sauce, but the pasta continues to absorb it while it bakes and even more as it sits/during storage.
- Mozzarella: Use low moisture, whole milk mozzarella. Shred it from a block to ensure it melts and tastes the best. I use Dragone or Galbani mozzarella.
- Pasta: A variety of pastas will work well with this recipe, Ziti or Rigatoni are great alternatives to Penne.
- Feel free to use any combination of ground meat including ground pork, veal, sausage, and/or beef.
- Additions: Diced green bell pepper and/or sliced mushrooms can be added when the onions are added. Drained diced tomatoes are another great addition and can be added when the sauce is added. Rotel can be used if you like a little kick.
- Mustard powder and hot sauce are subtle flavor enhancers in this recipe that you can't taste outright. Regular yellow mustard may also be used if needed. I use Frank's Hot Sauce.
Make Ahead Method:
- Cook the pasta for 1 minute less than al dente to ensure the pasta isn't overcooked when reheated.
- Assemble the casserole as outlined and place it in a casserole dish. Let it cool first, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Cover and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 10 more minutes.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftovers freeze well. (Be sure not to overcook the pasta.)
The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving. There are 6 servings in this recipe.
If freezing this meal to eat later, what is the reheating method?
Hi Kaylee 🙂 You can let it thaw overnight or use the defrost setting on your microwave. To reheat, you can simply microwave it (I like to use the “melt” setting or use lower power to reheat it gradually.) You can also reheat it on a makeshift double boiler on the stovetop, but that’ll take longer. Finally, you can reheat it in the oven in a lightly greased, covered casserole dish at 350 for 20 minutes or so, (depending on how much you’re reheating). Use a dish relatively the same size as the portion you’re reheating to keep things moist! Be sure not to overcook your pasta so that it’s not mushy when reheated.
Made this tonight with a side of sautéed spinach and garlic and it was a hit! Only difference I made was that it called for dried parsley in it but I have fresh so I used that. I will add more veggies next time!
Wonderful! I’m so happy that you loved it Lisa!! THANK YOU! 🙂
This was so good! Normally my kids refuse anything with onions, but they didn’t even notice it in this one because they liked the sauce so much.
I’m soooo happy to hear that Rachel!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! You should try my Hamburger Helper and/or Beefaroni recipes for them to see how they’d like those too sometime! (And no onions in them!)