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.
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I’m feeling absolutely drained today and my dad is coming over for dinner.
Yeah I was gonna make steak, but I’m just not feeling up to it so I sort through my go-to recipes… AH HA! This is an easy meal that everyone loves and I always come back to as a comfort food. Thanks again for this gem!
Easy to make, family loved it!
Made this for dinner the night before last and had it for two meals yesterday! I left out the onion and added a can of fire roasted tomatoes. It’s a great base recipe. You could add almost anything to it. I’m planning to make it again without the meat and adding some corn, black beans and salsa.
I loved this recipe! I can’t wait to make it again & experiment with different cheese & protein options. The only modification I made was adding a small shake of red pepper flakes to my bowl — the heat just adds a little something.
So good! Can the sauce be frozen and reheated at a later date or not the best idea since it has heavy cream in it?
I have frozen and reheated with no issues at all! 🙂
It looks delicious. I will be trying it soon. I dont have any tomatoe sauce. Do you think Rotel will work?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Im going to make it again when my kids are gone and puree a couple cans of rotel to use in place of the tomato sauce and I’m pretty positive it will be amazing lol.
It is good. Thanks for the recipe.
Hello! Just wanted to clarify…is it 6oz of cheese or 1 1/2 cups? That would be 12oz. Thanks! Looks delish
Angela, the recipe calls for 6 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, about 1 1/2 cups (4 ounces yields roughly 1 cup shredded cheese). Hope that helps!
does it have to have all purpose flour ? or can i do it without
I recommend using the all-purpose flour for the best results possible, Christina. 🙂
Delish….thank you, served with salad and garlic bread….will definitely make again ☺️ Used velvetta and Half and half.
I’ve made this before but I remember it as being ok. I made it tonight and really loved it. I may not have had all the right ingredients the first time. I like it even more without the cheese. Thickened perfect and the flavor was just delish. Thanks, Chungah!
We love it, Genny! Thanks for sharing with us! 🙂
I made this last night and WOW! This is fantastic..creamy..cheesey goodness lol…I added sauteed garlic spinach too it to make me feel better lol
My kids are it. Enough said lol
Can you make this without the beef broth? I don’t have it on hand
Absolutely, Dee! You can substitute chicken broth if you have that handy. 🙂
Delicious
I tried this tonight. A few ingredients I didn’t have on hand. I replaced the tomatoe sauce with tomato paste & added a little bit more broth (1/2 – 3/4 cup). Also, I didn’t have heavy cream so I used whole milk and added about a Tbsp more flour. Still turned out amazing!
Definite keeper. Found it to be a bit runny, and got a little nervous but after it sat for a few minutes it thickened up (I made double batch! So there’s plenty of leftovers.)
Soooo delicious and extra creamy which normally I can never do!! Thanks for the easy recipe, my fiancé loved it as well. We had leftovers even tho I halved the recipe (not complaining!!!) and I added some extra veggies the second night for a little different meal. Delicious both times! Will definitely make again
Made this tonight and it was amazing! The whole family kept commenting how delicious it was. I will definitely be adding this into our rotation of meals. Thank you for a quick, damn delicious meal that even my pickiest eater ate!
It was very good and disappeared quickly. I tweaked it by going with equal parts beef broth and red wine.
I liked the dish, but it was a little to eatery and kind of bland. Any suggestions on how to make it more flavorful?
I meant to type watery not eatery.
You can increase the seasonings to your liking, Kylie.
You can cook your pasta at less time and let it cook the rest of the way in the actual sauce which will soak up the sauce more and possibly make it less watery. Hope that helps.
So happy I found this recipe!! It is delicious!! My family loved it, and it’s hard to please everyone. I agree, it was damn delicious!! I used only oregano, and it was still good. It was super fast and easy, and those recipes are the best for busy lives. I will be subscribing and look forward to more great recipes!