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
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.
All that cream sauce. All that pasta, just collecting that creaminess. And the perfectly crumbled ground beef, again, soaking up every last drop of that creamy, heavenly goodness.
Ugh, I can’t even talk about this anymore because now I need to make this for dinner. Again. For the 14th time.
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.
Did you make this recipe?
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I have an IP in our camper. Do you happen to know how to convert this to an IP recipe?
Wanted to add that next time, I may add some spinach. Or swiss chard for some greens, as another rater mentioned. Also I browned the beef and onion and my added mushrooms all together…just my thing.
Umm. Yes. As I suspected. TREMENDOUS. I used tomato paste and added 2 parts beef broth to one part paste, mixed up. Added some flour from a shaker I use just to make sure it thickened up, which it did. Added mushrooms with the onions. Point is this is an incredibly versatile recipe…just keep an eye on it The sauce WILL thicken. I made 1/4 of this as I am single, but even seemed like enough for two. No matter. Quite incredible. Thank you!
Made this and its was so delicious! My husband who isnt a big pasta guy loved it.
Personally I thought it was better before I put the cream in! (Both excellent though). I’ll be making again tomorrow night without the cream and see which we prefer!
With or without the cream it was indulgent and tasty!
This is really good, but swapping out the Italian seasoning for taco seasoning is also damn delicious. It’s a great, easy weeknight meal. Super simple to make, but also super tasty. (re-commented because I forgot to give this any stars the first time. Sorry!)
Did you use teaspoon measurement of taco seasoning or whole packet with the beef?
This WAS damn delicious! I just made it for lunch and it’s so good! The only adjustment I made was add more Italian seasoning.
I’ll definitely be making it again.
You said it. Damn Delicious! My husband loves it.
My family loved this! I added 1/2 jar of marinara because I wanted a bit more color & flavor. Next time I will use marinara to substitute tomato sauce. Use freshly grated cheddar, never the pre shredded. It melts so dreamy in the cream. The sauce is thick & velvety. I ate way too much garlic bread because it’s so good dipped in the sauce!
One of our family favorites!
The whole family loved it!
So delicious! Probably going to make it again!!!!
So good
I plan to make this for dinner tonight… Anyone’s thoughts on using alfredo sauce instead of the heavy cream??? Might be yummy? LOL
That’s basically how Olive Garden makes their ziti!
Added a lot of different spices (Rosemary, basil, oregano, extra garlic and instead of cheddar cheese I used shredded Parmesan cheese). Huge hit!! Will be making again.
Can you make this in the crock pot?
This was pretty good. I’ll definitely make it again. But, depending on your palate, it may be a little too “robust” as-is. To tone down the flavor, you may want to use only 1 tsp of italian seasoning, and swap the extra sharp cheddar for a sharp cheddar instead.
Delicious! No cream on hand, so used 2% milk that I had. Even with that, it was a hit with my husband and myself!
I prepared as directed.I would give this 3 out of 5 stars. It seems pretty average to me. A little on the bland side, but I can see why it would appeal to families with children. I was surprised at the quantity. The recipe said 4 servings. There was WAY more than 4. I filled a 9×13 pan with it. Even though I let mine reduce, it seemed to have more liquid than it should. Not really an issue for me as I prepared it ahead the night before and will reheat on the day of serving. The pasta will absorb some of that.
I was disappointed because of all the rave reviews, I thought it would be better than it was.
Good base recipe. I followed it for the most part. Added the heavy cream to the beef stock and tomato sauce before the beef and noodles. Also used more cheese than necessary and doubled the amount of noodles. Didn’t double the amount for the sauce, came out great! Didn’t add as much Italian seasoning, but I also threw in some paprika, rosemary, tyme and literally a quick dash of ginger. It wasn’t overpowering adding the other seasonings. I couldn’t tell you how much of what because I didn’t use measurements, went by the smell.
I made this a little different didn’t have heavy cream used sour cream instead and mushroom pasta sauce very good
Delicious, creamy, love it. Followed recipe as shown.
Very tasty for a week night meal.
I had set out to make this today thinking it was a one pot meal. However, once I read the full instructions, realized it was not. But I did it anyway. Once I had all the other ingredients cooked and ready I added the broth and tomato sauce to them and just added about a can of water. You can pretty much eyeball it to see if you need to add extra water or broth during cooking by tasting the pasta and checking your desired sauce level. Mine was still quite saucy at the end so next time I may try without adding extra water to see if it helps. I think I would use less Italian seasoning and add garlic, onion powder. Maybe paprika. I also added crushed chili flakes. I found the Italian seasoning to be a bit overpowering. Also added some Parmesan along with the cheddar. I love these recipes so I can tweak it how I like!