The Cozy Cook

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Ground Beef Pasta

This Ground Beef Pasta recipe is an easy 30 minute meal that you can make with any kind of pasta. Your family will love the creamy, cheesy, Italian sauce!

Be sure to serve this with a side of Garlic Bread with Cheese!

A wooden spoon full of creamy Ground Beef Pasta with Rotini noodles.

Ground Beef Pasta

You know the Italian-style version of Hamburger Helper? This is about 60 times better than that, and literally takes the same amount of time to make.

Hamburger Helper looks tasty to me, but always comes up short. I promise, this ground beef pasta recipe does not disappoint. Once you try it, you’ll be making it all the time. I think my family eats it about once a week.

Easy ground beef recipes are the best. The ingredients in this one are super simple, so let’s start there:

How to Make It

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

Cook and crumble the ground beef and onions. Drain grease. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add salt, Worcestershire sauce, and flour. Stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Bring a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Ground beef in a skillet with tomato sauce being added to make Ground Beef Pasta.

Cook for 15 minutes while you start boiling water for the pasta. Boil the pasta for 7 minutes or per package instructions.

Slowly stir in the half and half to the sauce. Reduce heat to low and sprinkle in the cheese. Stir to combine.

Adding cream and cheese to meaty tomato sauce for Ground Beef Pasta.

Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Serve with garlic bread with cheese.

Adding rotini pasta to creamy sauce and combining it for Ground Beef Pasta.

Pro Tips

  • Shred the cheese first and set it aside along with the half and half, they shouldn’t be cold when added to the sauce.
  • If possible, shred your cheese from a block, it melts and tastes better than packaged shredded cheese. I like to use Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Yellow.
  • Penne, Rigatoni, Ziti, Bowtie, or Cavatappi are good pastas with this meal as well.
  • Optional ingredient additions include drained diced tomatoes, frozen peas, carrots, and/or corn.
  • Milk can be used instead of half and half, but the sauce won’t be quite as thick and creamy. Reduce the heat to low prior to adding to avoid curdling it, whole milk works best.
  • This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 136!

Storage

Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

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A close up view of Beef Pasta on a plate with creamy Rotini noodles.

Tried This Recipe?

Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A wooden spoon full of creamy Ground Beef Pasta.

Ground Beef Pasta

4.98 from 99 ratings
This Ground Beef Pasta recipe is an easy 30 minute meal that you can make with any kind of pasta. Your family will love the creamy, cheesy, Italian sauce!

Ingredients

  • 1 + ½ lbs. ground beef, 85% lean
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 Tablespoons flour, optional-helps thicken the sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 16 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • ½ cup half and half, (half cream, half milk)
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • ½ pound Rotini pasta

Instructions

  • Shred the cheese and set it aside along with the half and half. We don’t want those to be cold when we add them to the sauce.
  • Cook and crumble the ground beef over medium heat. Add the onions halfway through and cook until softened.
  • Drain grease. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  • Add salt, Worcestershire sauce, and flour. Stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes to remove raw flour taste.
  • Add chicken broth and use a silicone spatula to clean the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Bring a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes while you start boiling water for the pasta. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for 7 minutes or per package instructions.
  • Slowly add in the half and half to the sauce, stirring as you go.
  • Reduce heat to low and slowly sprinkle in the cheese. Stir to combine. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Serve with garlic bread with cheese.

Notes

Pro Tips:
  • If possible, shred your cheese from a block, it melts and tastes better than packaged shredded cheese. I like to use Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp Yellow.
  • Penne, Rigatoni, Ziti, Bowtie, or Cavatappi are good pastas with this meal as well.
  • Optional ingredient additions: Drained diced tomatoes, frozen peas, carrots, and/or corn.
  • Milk can be used instead of half and half, but the sauce won’t be quite as thick and creamy. Reduce the heat to low prior to adding to avoid curdling it, whole milk works best. Conversely, heavy cream may also be used.
  • This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 136!

Storage: Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 668kcal, Carbohydrates: 60g, Protein: 55g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 146mg, Sodium: 1738mg, Potassium: 1303mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 902IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 316mg, Iron: 7mg
Did you try this recipe?Mention @TheCozyCook on Instagram or tag #thecozycook!

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240 comments on “Ground Beef Pasta”

  1. This is a really good weeknight recipe. The only thing I change is I use heavy cream instead of half and half. I’ve made it twice now. Thanks for sharing this!

    • I’m so happy that you love the recipe Genna! Using heavy cream sounds delicious! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share what you think of the recipe! -Stephanie

  2. Oh man this is good. Such an appropriate name of the cozy cook because this is such a comfort food recipe as most of them look. It’s the first one of yours I’ve tried! 
    I realized I didn’t have Worcestershire sauce so I used a bit of soy sauce and less salt added. I also didn’t specifically have Italian seasoning so I used a different blend I had on hand. So good, I couldn’t stop tasting it after I was putting it in containers. Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow.

    • I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this Katie❤️. It will make a great lunch! I definitely try to fully embrace the Cozy Cook name lol. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!

  3. My husband and I are sensitive to canned tomato type things and all the tricks I’ve tried to lower the acidity never work. So I tried this with a jar of pasta sauce and holy crap on a cracker, was it good! Only other changes I made was I used about 1 tsp of Italian seasoning as the sauce was already seasoned and I used elbow noodles as it was all I had. Taking leftovers for lunch and I had to scold myself about sneaking extra bites while I packaged it up! It reminded us a little of Goulash, only creamy and way better! Definitely making this again!

    • Hey Tara! I am sooo happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, and I really appreciate you taking the time to come back and leave this review, thank you so much! Speaking of Goulash, you’ll have to try my recipe for that sometime, it’s a One Pot recipe and REALLY good/flavorful! Take care!! -Stephanie

      • Credit where credits due girl. As an added note, we liked it better the next day! I took it for lunch and we finished off the rest for dinner and I’m making it again tonight! This is an outstanding dish! Awesome awesome job! ❤

      • Yayyyy! I’m so happy to hear that Tara!❤️ Definitely makes great leftovers. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!

  4. Excellent followed recipe but added red pepper flakes and some veggies 😋 entire family loved it!

  5. Can you use raos Mariana instead of tomato sauce?

  6. Quick and easy! Super simple yet really tasty! andddd the whole family loved it <3

    • I’m so happy to hear that Katie!❤️ This is a go to weekday meal in our house. I love seeing my daughter devour it! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!

  7. This recipe is fantastic! Was easy to make and quick. Both kids and the Wife are quite happy with me at the moment. Thanks!

  8. Can this be made into a crockpot meal?

    • Pasta can turn to mush pretty quickly in the crock pot because they vary so much in terms of heat and timing, so I wouldn’t recommend it. It can also create a gummy sort of consistency.

  9. Taste great, easy to do!

  10. Hi there, the recipe says “tomato sauce” is that like a jar of spaghetti sauce, like marinara? Or a can or tomato sauce? Thanks!

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