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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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!
Just love making this for my family. They love it n its so easy to make. Always a goto for dinner.
I substitute in plain Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream …on point ,
much better and I used 1/2 cup of Parmeason mix topping baked it at 350°F for 45min..yummy
How much greek yogurt did you use?
Do I add the flour to the Hamburg mixture
I added the flour to the hamburger, to prevent adding it to sauce. It can clump, if added to sauce as is, I would make a flour slurry, which is equal parts flour and water to thicken any sauce without lumps! I’ve learned this as a young adult. I hope my comment helps! I’ve also added it to melted butter to thicken gravys, to make them richer!!
I loved it I made it for dinner. Room mate is picky but have 2 servings. Thank you
This was a big hit with my family. It was so tasty and easy to make! It’s so hearty and I have been sharing the recipe with close family and friends! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
I was surprised at how bland this turned out to be considering the type & amount of of ingredients. I may try this again but I will definitely be adding more spices to kick up the flavor.
Just made it! Me and my family love it
My kids and I enjoy this plate of this yummy foods
A meal always in my rotation. So delicious. Almost like a healthier hamburger helper. Definite crowd pleaser.
This is such a delicious and comforting meal. Followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious! I like that I could easily add extra veggies into the mix if I wanted to and that most of the ingredients I almost always have on hand. I will certainly be making this again! Thank you!
A hit in our family! I’ve made it at least 6/7 times already. I cook 1 lb of pasta and cook at least 2 minutes less than al dente. I sub onion powder + garlic powder for onions bc of picky kids 😉 and use full 8 oz of shredded cheese. Damn delicious, indeed!!
Would love nutritional info so I don’t have to calculate it!
This is a free recipe, i think you can take 5 minutes to calculate the carbs/fats/calories, etc.
Ally sounds hangry.
Can you substitute sour cream for the heavy cream? I can find everything else in my cupboards and fridge most of the time, but I don’t buy heavy cream unless I am making mashed potatoes. (try potatoes cooked in cream in the slow cooker and for special occasions you will never go back to boiling in water). Anyway, back to my question – sour cream instead of heavy cream. What do you think?
I have made this with sour cream instead of heavy cream, and it makes an excellent substitution! I used about 3 heaping spoonfuls of sour cream (just attempting to match the color in the photos/video). The only qualifier would be that it does make for a thicker sauce, as you’re not really getting the liquid content that you would with cream, so if you like a thinner sauce I would add slightly more broth (maybe 1/4 – 1/2 cup) during the simmering stage to loosen up the end result. But the tangy flavor certainly compliments the tomato sauce and brightens up the dish.
It was an amazing dish, we didn’t have an onion for yours so I did a rou with 2 and 2 tablespoons of flour and olive oil. Also I used venison instead of ground beef.
You make a roux with olive oil? I’ve only ever made it with margarine. This does look like the kind of recipe that I would use; I’m incredibly frugal with 4 boys to feed (not including my husband).
You can use any fat to make a roux (bacon fat, sausage, olive oil, butter).
To answer your other question about sour cream, I think it might work. Another option would be to use evaporated milk since it’s shelf-stable, if you don’t want to use regular milk or half and half.
Easy to make . I’d use a little more than a pound of beef next time and I added a half teaspoon of paprika. It was delicious and my family loved it. Will absolutely put this in my recipe box!
The first time I made this (with GF pasta and corn starch instead of flour) my family saw it and complained- but then there were no leftovers! It’s a hit and a go-to for us when we need a quick, easy dinner. Once I accidentally used a can of diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce and it turns out we prefer it that wat. We also add a little more garlic and seasoning (and extra cheese, because why not) but overall this is one of our faves!