Creamy Beef and Shells
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A quick/easy ground beef recipe, this is a pasta dish that will be on your dinner table all week long! So creamy and so comforting!
Featured Comment
why i love this recipe
- All that cream sauce
- All that pasta, just collecting that creaminess
- The perfectly crumbled ground beef, again, soaking up every last drop of that creamy, heavenly goodness
- Made in 30-40 min, a true weeknight superhero
I cannot even begin to tell you how much of this pasta I ate on probably 13 different occasions. Well, first, I should tell you that no plating of any kind was involved here. Nope. This is clearly a straight-out-of-the-skillet type dinner. Just grab your fork and dig right in. Ugh, I can’t even talk about this anymore because now I need to make this for dinner again for the 14th time.
tips and tricks for success
- Use your favorite meat. Ground beef, chicken or turkey will all work very well here.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Freeze as needed. Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
what to serve with creamy beef and shells
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Creamy Beef and Shells: Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
Tomato sauce, in the US, is tomato puree typically cooked down for a thick, smooth consistency with a relatively sweet flavor. Passata is simply uncooked tomato purée. You can use passata in place of tomato sauce, but it is not a completely equal substitute.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop.
Creamy Beef and Shells
Ingredients
- 8 ounces medium pasta shells
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, about 1 1/2 cups
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat. Set aside.
- Add onion to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and Italian seasoning until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in beef stock and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 6-8 minutes.
- Stir in pasta, beef and heavy cream until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in cheese until melted, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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So good the next day. First night it was soupy (I’m not the best cook) but second day it heats up perfectly. Thanks so much for this recipe. FYI didn’t have shells so used elbows.
Was way to soupy. The roux needs more fat.
I will make it again.
Made this today but substituted a can of diced tomatos instead of tomato sauce and it turned out great!!!
Definitely will make again as the family enjoyed it and it was very easy to make. Also used macaroni noodles as that was all i had on hand.
Super easy and came out PERFECT! I didn’t have heavy cream so I used half and half and about 2tbsp of butter. Sat well at low heat with me stirring occasionally while I waited for my fiancé to get home.
Made this today and it came out delicious! Everyone in the family loved it and said it was very flavorful. I added red chili flakes and topped with parmesan cheese. Very easy to make
Loved this recipe so much! I literally cannot wait to eat it again and so easy to make!!
I really enjoyed this recipe. I halved the recipe for my family of 4. We all enjoyed it, and I myself am very picky. Would make this again.
I made this recipe but I added some sun dried tomatoes, liquid smoke, about 6 garlic cloves, red crushed pepper, and used chickpea noodles. It was amazing and will be making again soon. Thank you for posting!
I made this 2 nights ago because I had all the ingredients and it ended up being my husband’s favorite meal in like forever!!
Delicious. Making it as gain as a meal to drop off to a family.
This is SO forgiving! I used what I had on hand (half & half and chicken broth) and it’s so good! We needed comfort food today and this hit the spot.
When you say this is damn delicious, you’re not lying! Made it for dinner last night using what I had: macaroni instead of shells, about 1/2lb of ground beef and milk instead of heavy cream. I also added canned chickpeas. Even though I goofed and forgot to add the cheese at the end this was freakin’ amazing! And so easy. What could be better. Because I used milk, I added some cornstarch and simmered about at least 15 minutes at the end right before serving and the sauce really thickened up. Can’t wait for leftovers tonight!
The entire family really enjoyed this dinner but felt it had too many onions. It reminded them of Hamburger Helper but way better and less sodium. Thank you for the recipe.
Family loved it! Everyone ate at least 2 helpings!
Under quarantine, so used mozzarella since that’s what was on hand. Very tasty. My sister made the same meal tonight and it was nice to know that even though miles apart, we had dinner together.
Amazing taste! So much better than the box stuff. I will definitely make this again.
I used a local cajun cheddar and also used ziti instead of shells- what I had in the fridge.
Turned out excellent, I also added more garlic than it called for, I may double the meat next time, otherwise the recipe is spot on.
Everything on your site lives up to its name! This was in deed, Damn Delicious! My 1 yr old and my very very picky 4 yr old loved it! Thanks!!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious. It reminds me of a homemade more gourmet style of the old school hamburger helper. My kids loved it and so did I. Plenty of food for a family. I will make this again.
made this for my daughter and her family, EVERYONE loved it, thats amazing with 5 kids! My daughter just called and asked me to fined that recipe ASAP! Definitely will be making this again….
Made this a couple weeks ago. It was delicious, and made enough to freeze for another meal. I worried about freezing, as some recipes that contain noodles don’t freeze well, however this recipe did just fine in the freezer. Tastes as good as it did the first time around!
Very simple dish to prepare. Taste factor for me was just ok. If I’m using that much cheese in a dish I’d like there taste factor to be amazing. I didn’t want to use cheddar; I felt it would be too overpowering so I subbed with Italian cheese and ended up with a wet Ziti tasting dish. I have to say the family really enjoyed it, but they don’t know 1 1/2cups cheese and 3/4 cup of cream went into it. Thanks tho.
Fabulous, this was my first attempt at Pasta. Recipe was spot on. Cant wait to try the leftovers.