Creamy Beef and Shells
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Can I substitute the heavy cream with something else? Even if it alters the flavors a little?
You can try coconut cream but please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Creamy Beef & Shells, delicious! Will make again and again
We substituted cottage cheese for the heavy cream
I’ve substituted cashew cream for the cream in a similar recipe and it worked well. I feel like the coconut flavor pairs oddly in an Italian recipe, but works better in Asian recipes. Just a thought! Can’t wait to try the recipe, looks delish!
I use 2% evaporated milk when a recipe calls for heavy cream…..made this dish the other night and hubby loved it…..said I can make any time…
Tonight I used 1% milk and a little Light/fat free sour cream. It turned out fabulous! Tonight I also used all my leftovers!!! Taco beef, Kraft Mac n Cheese, and I didnt’ have sharp cheddar… I used Cheddar Mix and then Italian Mix of Cheeses!!! It was still fabulous!!! Best way to use up food in a whole new way, no one thought leftovers at all!!!! They though it was fabulous!!! Plus, I read one and only one review before I started… it said they used broccoli and not noodles… SO I made steamed broccoli and added 1/2 the meat mixture on it! I put 1/4 of the meat mixture on the Kraft Mac n Cheese, and then I left 1/4 meat mixture for tomorrow to eat on top of the left over baked potatoes!!! This recipe is so versatile !!!! and so yumy!!! I’m thinking of crushing up canned/steamed green beans and stirring them in next time!!! The more the veggies the better!!!
This looks like an amazing weeknight meal — dang, that sauce! Can’t wait to try this one!
Where is the recipe? Can’t navigate to it.
My apologies – the website was undergoing an update but the recipes have now been fully restored. Thank you so much for your patience!