On the nights that you need to make a warm and filling meal for your family, but you're short on time and don't want to dirty a bunch of dishes, you need to make this Cheeseburger Skillet Recipe! A cheeseburger pasta skillet contains macaroni shells, ground beef, lots of cheese, ketchup, mustard and truly is made all in one pan!
Cheeseburgers are a family favorite in our house! Sometimes nights just seem too busy to stand at the stove flipping burgers though. It's on nights like those, that I start thinking of how else we could get cheeseburger flavor, without making actual burgers.
I regularly make cheeseburger meatloaf, cheeseburger pizza and cheeseburger soup. Now I'll start adding a cheeseburger skillet recipe to the mix!
A cheeseburger pasta skillet is a combination of ground beef, pasta, beef broth, cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard and dill pickle relish. I find the ketchup, mustard and relish are what really bring out the cheeseburger flavors!
Do you want to know what else makes this recipe extra special? It's made entirely in one pot!
If this recipe sounds good to you, then you also need to try my Pink Pasta Sauce with Ground Turkey!
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⭐Recipe highlights
- This recipe can be added to your list of one-pot meals! One pan = less dishes to do at the end of the night!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Easy weeknight dinner recipe.
- This skillet dinner is made in only 30 minutes!
🥘Ingredients
All of these ingredients are easy to find and are all common pantry staples.
- Lean ground beef - I always cook with lean ground beef. We purchase our ground beef from local, grass-fed cows, making it naturally leaner. If you can't find lean beef, then any ground beef will work. You'll just have more fat to drain off after it has finished cooking.
- Macaroni shells - I use medium sized macaroni shells.
- Yellow onion - You'll need about one medium onion for this recipe. Yellow onion or a white onion would both work.
- Beef broth - I usually try to find low-sodium broths whenever I am cooking with broth or stock. This way, you have more control over the salt content. You can always add more salt to a recipe... but you can't take it away once it's in there!
- Cheddar cheese - I purchase pre-shredded cheddar to save myself some time!
- Heavy cream - Heavy cream is best for this recipe and skim milk or low-fat milk will not work as substitutions.
- Ketchup - Ketchup is a must have ingredient to bring out those cheeseburger flavors.
- Yellow mustard - Yellow mustard will give this cheeseburger macaroni the most authentic cheeseburger flavor. I wouldn't swap the yellow for a Dijon mustard or any other variety of mustard.
- Dill pickle relish - I chose a sweeter dill pickle relish.
- Olive oil - You'll need a little olive oil when you cook the onion and ground beef. Butter would work as well!
- Seasonings - You will need garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, kosher salt and Worcestershire sauce.
*See recipe card for exact quantities.
🍽Equipment needed
- Large skillet with lid and deep sides - I use my Lodge Cast Iron 3.6 Quart Braiser Casserole Dish.
- Cutting board and chopping knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
🔪Instructions
Step 1: Cook the ground beef and diced onion, until the onion is soft and the beef has cooked through. Once cooked, add the seasonings and the worcestershire sauce.
Step 2: Pour the beef broth into the skillet and bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, add the macaroni shells. Turn the heat down to low, cover the skillet and let the shells cook.
Step 3: Once the shells have cooked and most of the beef broth has been absorbed into the noodles, uncover the skillet and mix in the heavy cream, ketchup, mustard and relish.
Step 4: Add your shredded cheddar cheese and mix until the cheese has melted and you have a nice creamy and cheesy sauce.
Step 5: Remove the cheeseburger pasta skillet from the heat, let cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy!
I know that your whole family will love this recipe! Family friendly recipes are what I specialize in, and this one pot skillet meal is one of our favorites.
🧂Substitutions
- Meat - You can substitute in ground turkey for the ground beef in this recipe.
- Broth - If needed, you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth in place of the beef broth.
🥣 Variations
- Add veggies - Try mixing in some canned diced tomatoes, diced red bell pepper or fresh spinach.
- Different cheeses - I like the authentic flavor that a good cheddar cheese adds to this recipe. However, you could try adding pepper jack, Monterey jack or Colby cheese.
- Different pasta shapes - Instead of a macaroni shell, you could use elbow macaroni noodles, farfalle or rotini.
What to serve with
I like to serve my cheeseburger skillet with a fresh green vegetable side! Green beans, green salad, broccoli and asparagus are all great options. You can garnish your finished pasta skillet with diced fresh parsley, crumbly cooked bacon or green onions.
🌡️Storage
Store leftovers in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheat in the microwave for 1 minute at a time, until the dish is warmed through again.
💭Top tips
- For best results, choose a "white" pasta for this recipe, made with a refined wheat flour.
- Their is very minimal prep time involved with this cheeseburger skillet recipe. Once you start cooking, the recipe steps actually move along pretty quickly. Make sure you have all of your ingredients out and ready to go!
- You may need to crack the lid on your skillet when the pasta is cooking. If it starts boiling over, then just crack the lid a little.
📖 Recipe
One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet Recipe
On the nights that you need to make a warm and filling meal for your family, but you're short on time and don't want to dirty a bunch of dishes, you need to make this Cheeseburger Skillet Recipe! A cheeseburger pasta skillet contains macaroni shells, ground beef, lots of cheese, ketchup, mustard and truly is made all in one pan!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5-6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- ½ cup yellow onion - diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 cups medium macaroni shells
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over low-medium heat. Add the diced onion and the ground beef. Cook until the ground beef is cooked through and no longer pink. Once cooked, drain the fat from the pan and return the pan to the stove.
- Add all of your seasonings, including the salt and pepper, to the ground beef and onion mixture. Mix to combine.
- Add the beef broth to the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the macaroni shells. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook until the noodles are soft, about 15 minutes. Give the noodles a stir every few minutes to make sure they aren't sticking to the bottom of the skillet.
- Once the noodles are cooked, uncover the pan and mix in the heavy cream, ketchup, mustard and relish.
- Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until the cheese has melted.
- Remove the cheeseburger pasta skillet from the heat, let cool for 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: dinner
- Method: stove top cooking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
Keywords: cheeseburger pasta skillet, cheeseburger skillet
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Did you make my cheeseburger skillet recipe? Tell me all about it in the comments below! I love hearing from my followers and answering any of your questions!
Pam Youngs
Made this on Monday and it came out great ! I served with sautéed cauliflower on the side. I followed the "top tips" and it came together fast and easy - nice for a start of the week night. I'm going to make one of the suggested variations next - ground turkey and use chicken or vegetable broth and add fresh chopped tomatoes since they are abundant now. Leftovers were just as good when I had a meeting the next evening!
★★★★★
Katie
I'm so glad you loved it!