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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We loved it! Yummyy
This was really good. I read the reviews concerning it being runny and only used 1 cup beef broth. It turned out perfect! Will make again..
Thank you so very much for the chance to enter into your profile, as I already see so many wonderful receipes that I know that I will really enjoy…
This was so delicious! I made it as stated in the recipe only substituted half and half for the cream. This will become a regular dinner!
This has become a regular staple in our dinner rotation! It pleases everyone–which is a true feat with 3 kids! 🙂 It always surprises me with the depth of flavor for what looks like a simple meal. I always serve with a salad, and sometimes garlic bread! Thank you for this easy, tasty recipe!
I used venison instead of beef. Think next time I’d use more shells than just 8 oz. Sauce was runny…but more flour and shells would help that.
Would you consider adding a slide bar with the recipe increasing in incremental serving sizes, i.e. 10, 14, 20 people? Other websites have this feature and I find it very handy. Thanks!
So this sauce was excellent but a bit runny. I am thinking less beef broth…..thought?
So delicious, will make it many more times , thanks
Delicious
This is so delicious and I make it as a “one pot meal.” I brown the beef and onions together, then add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Then I add the beef stock (I used broth), tomato sauce, heavy cream, Italian seasoning (1 Tbsp), garlic powder, salt and pepper. I brought that to a boil then added the pasta and covered with a lid and stirred 2-3 times until the pasta was done (about 15 minutes). I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in the cheese until melted! I like to minimize the amount of dishes I have to do! 🙂
Thank you for sharing! I made mine with your one pot directions and it came out great! Not only did it keep me from having extra dishes, but it also prevented the runny sauce others mentioned since the pasta absorbs it.
so you didn’t use any flour?
This recipe is s delicious!! I substitute ground beef for ground chicken and use chicken stock instead. My entire family loves it!!
Yummy! Kid approved. Definitely a good weeknight dinner.
This is in our regular dinner rotation! I love yummy, fast meals like this. Making it in my cast iron skillet just adds another depth of flavor. Yum!
I made creamy beef and shells tonight and it took about 30 minutes. I liked that it was creamy. This recipe is really good! Very creamy and very tasty. I will make again
I just made this. I substituted Tagliatelle for shells. It what I already had. I also substituted cream cheese for the heavy cream. It turned just fine no change in texture. Also added Cheddar as recipe indicates.
I will make it again !
My partner and I have MANY saved recipes from your website that are all a part of our regular rotation. We love this one for a simple comfort meal! We’ve had it with several different shapes of pasta and all of them were great. Usually use rotini.
The only adjustment I make is to mix in the shredded cheese into the sauce mixture before adding the pasta and beef back in to prevent lumping and over mixing the pasta.
I made this tonight (May 22, 2023) and it was quite tasty. I can’t have straight tomato sauce so the cream toned the tomato sauce to more like a rose sauce. I think I would add a bit more italian seasoning but other than that I would keep it as it is. As I made it just for my husband and myself we have leftovers for another supper.
Fantastic! Damn delicious is right! I did make just 3 minor but meaningful alterations. I used a full box of pasta to make it go farther, feeding 6 you know. I added a tsp. of worcestershire. I add it to just about every beef recipe, just gives it that extra something. And lastly added about 2 inches of a block of velveeta to make it extra creamy. I know I got a winner when the wife says “make sure you keep that recipe.” So, so good!
Forgot to add the stars to the original review, so here they are! 5 STARS!
This is one of my families favorite recipes!! Absolutely perfect! It’s creamy, rich, comfy, and satisfying!