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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How many servings does this make?
4.
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I added Italian sausage and spinach, and it turned out very good! Thanks for the awesome recipe (and many others!)
That sounds so yummy!
Comfort food at its best! I had the worst, worst day today. TWO bowls later, I’m feeling much better! Now if only someone would do all my dishes!
My only change was to switch from shell pasta to “little ear” noodles because that’s what I had. I wish I could attach a picture here. The dish was really pretty.
That’s awesome, Kathleen! So happy it improved your crappy day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
I went grocery shopping today and bought the ingredients I didn’t already have on hand to make this tomorrow night. I will substitute half & half for the heavy cream (less rich, but works just fine in every recipe calling for heavy cream that I’ve tried) and dried oregano and basil for the Italian seasoning as I don’t care for the rosemary in it. I am also going to saute some diced celery with the onion. Can’t wait to try it!
Let us know how it goes!
SO GOOD and So easy I made it between taking calls working from home!
Awesome!
Just made this for dinner tonight. It was great, and half and half worked well vs heavy cream. I would recommend adding some veggies, maybe peas, peppers, corn… anything. Or add a side salad. But what a yummy comfort food!
Great idea, Sandy. Thanks for sharing.
This was super easy and very tasty! I mixed in spinach for some extra veggie content. Reheated well too. And my 9 month old thought it was pretty tasty too, so much so she needed to cover herself head to toe in the sauce!
Haha, that sounds too cute! Thanks for sharing.
This looks dreamy! Like comfort in a pan.
I can’t wait to make it for dinner.
You’ve knocked it out of the park this week with the chicken lettuce wraps and this dinner. I love using shell pasta!
This looks like some seriously delicious comfort food! I wish I was eating some right now!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I made this in my instant Pot tonight.
Do steps 2 and 3.
My step 4 was stirring through the pasta and adding 2 1/2 cups of beef stock.
Put on the lid, set for 6 minutes on medium.
Sit for a a couple of minutes before releasing the steam (I did quick release).
I added regular cream but only 1/2 cup (if that) You don’t need the flour because the starch from the pasta thickens it naturally.
If the pasta isn’t as soft as I like I always put the lid back on for a few minutes.
It tastes amazing- like everything else on this site 🙂
Thanks for the tips, Vanessa! Did you use the tomato paste at all?
This looks amazing !! I will have to make this for dinner this week.
This looks amazing! I wish it didn’t have cream in the sauce. I’m going to make it anyway maybe only every couple of months.
Amy I was starving when I made this and I served myself a big scoop and ate it only to re-enter the kitchen and notice I forgot to stir in the cream! You could definitely leave it out and it’s still creamy from the cheddar. Just a stronger tomato flavor.
I made this for supper tonight. I followed the directions exactly as written. This stuff is amazing! It reminds me of a fancy “hamburger helper”. The combinations of flavors are spot on! It’s a great comfort food and very addicting! Thanks for another great recipe!
Couldn’t agree more! Thanks for sharing.
Making this tonight and cannot wait! Love your site and your great recipes! I haven’t been disappointed with one yet! 🙂
Update: it was SO GOOD! Definitely reminded me of those good ol’ Hamburger Helpers but much better and so easy!
Awesome!
This looks so good! How large is a serving? I know it says it makes 4, but just trying to figure out the nutritional information. Thanks!
Hi Sabine! You would have to divide the full amount by 4 servings to get the serving size. Hope that helps!
Going to make this tonight for my 4-year old grandson–it looks good and it better taste good! Thank you for posting.
I hope you’ll enjoy it!
can 2% milk be used for the heavy cream?
Yes, of course, but I find that heavy cream is truly best to maintain that creamy consistency.
That sounds like a real stretch. You might get away with whole milk but based on my experience the use of cream is for it’s fat content. Once that is removed, all recipes become iffy that one of the main ingedients has been substituted for.
This does Look so yummy! My hubby is a Diabetic but I’m going to try this! 🙂
Let us know how you like it!
Do you have a nondairy substitute for the heavy cream?
You could try coconut cream instead, but please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hey Chunga, can you convert this to an IP recipe?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.