Y’all know I love to get creative with flavors, but every once in a while I get in the mood for straight-up American comfort food, like cheeseburgers. When that craving hit this week I decided to make a cheeseburger flavored pasta, which gives me all that cheeseburger flavor with a lot less actual burger. Because when meat is one of the most expensive items at the grocery store you have to streeeeeeeeetch it any way you can. This One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta does just that. If you loved Hamburger Helper when you were growing up, you’re going to love this homemade version even more!
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Hot Dog Relish is the Secret Ingredient
This cheeseburger pasta is super good even without the relish, but adding a couple spoonfuls of hotdog relish at the end really makes it taste like you’re eating a hamburger. What is hot dog relish? It’s basically a dill pickle relish mixed with yellow mustard. If you can’t find hot dog relish at your grocery store, you can buy plain dill relish and mix a little yellow mustard into it (about a teaspoon).
How to Serve Cheeseburger Pasta
I’m usually all about stuffing my recipes with as many vegetables as possible, but I couldn’t figure out a way to incorporate more vegetables into this recipe without making it less hamburger-like, so I’m just going to suggest you serve it with a simple side salad. Nothing fancy, maybe just some Romaine, tomatoes, and dressing. Keep it easy. :) And maybe Homemade Garlic Bread. Because every meal is better with garlic bread. ;)
Freeze Some For Later
Saucy pasta dishes like this freezer pretty well, IMHO, so if you’re cooking for yourself this would make a good cook-and-freeze-for-later dish. If you’re extra sensitive to texture changes like pasta getting slightly softer, though, you may not be a fan of the leftovers.
Tips for Cooking One Pot Pasta
Cooking one pot pasta recipes is a little bit like riding a bike. You have to watch it and adjust to the nuances of the pasta as it cooks, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze. Here are a few tips:
- Use heavy, thick cookware to help the ingredients heat evenly.
- Use a burner size close to the size of the bottom of your pot for even heating.
- The broth does not need to fully cover the pasta for it to cook, so resist the urge to add extra water or broth.
- Make sure the liquid is simmering the whole time the pasta is cooking. If the heat is too low, the pasta will just get gummy.
- Stir the pot occasionally to prevent sticking, but not too often or your risk breaking down the pasta.
- Use your judgment. If your pasta looks close to being cooked through, but there is too much liquid left in the skillet, let it finish simmering with the lid off. If the liquid is gone but your pasta is still not tender, add a splash more water or broth and continue to simmer.
One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.25)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.50)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1 8oz. can tomato sauce ($0.29)
- 2 cups beef broth ($0.26)
- 1/2 lb. pasta shells, uncooked ($0.50)
- 4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded ($0.75)
- 2 Tbsp hot dog relish ($0.16)
- 2 green onions, sliced (optional) ($0.20)
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion. Add the onion, olive oil, and ground beef to a large deep skillet and sauté over medium heat until the beef is fully browned and the onion is soft and translucent. Drain off any excess fat, if needed.
- Add the flour to the skillet and continue to stir and cook for one minute more. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the skillet. Be careful not to let the flour burn.
- Add the tomato sauce and beef broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve the flour off the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the uncooked pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. The liquid in the skillet may not fully cover the pasta, but that is okay.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let the liquid come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir to loosen any pasta from the bottom of the skillet, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to low. Let the pasta simmer, stirring occasionally (always replacing the lid), for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened. Turn the heat off.
- Add the shredded cheddar to the skillet and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Stir the hot dog relish into the sauce and then top with sliced green onions. Serve hot.
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Equipment
- Deep Stainless Steel Skillet
Nutrition
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If you love easy one pot pasta dinners, check out our One Pot Meals category!
How to Make Cheeseburger Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Start by finely dicing one onion. Add the onion, 1/2 lb. lean ground beef, and 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large deep skillet. Sauté the onion and beef until the beef is fully browned and the onions are soft and translucent. Drain off any excess fat, if needed (if you’re using 90% lean or higher, there probably isn’t anything to be drained off).
Add 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour to the skillet and continue to stir and cook for one minute. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the skillet. This is okay, just be sure to watch it closely and not let it burn. The flour will help thicken the sauce and help the cheese melt smoothly into the sauce.
Add an 8oz. can of tomato sauce and 2 cups beef broth. Stir to dissolve the flour off the bottom of the skillet.
Add ½ lb. uncooked pasta shells to the skillet and stir to combine. The liquid in the skillet does NOT need to fully cover the pasta for it to cook. The steam in the skillet will help cook the pasta that is above the surface and the pasta will be stirred to ensure even cooking.
Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the liquid to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, give it a quick stir to loosen any pasta from the bottom of the skillet, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to low. Let the skillet simmer, stirring occasionally (always replacing the lid), for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened. Turn the heat off.
Add 4oz. shredded cheddar cheese and stir it into the pasta until it is melted and creamy.
Finally, add 2 Tbsp of hot dog relish (mustard dill relish), and stir it into the sauce. I feel like the relish is what really made this taste like a hamburger, but if you’re not into relish you skip this last step and still have an amazingly cheesy beef pasta.
I had some green onions in the fridge, so I sliced a couple up and added them on top. They add just a little extra pop of flavor and nice visual appeal to the otherwise very monochromatic dish.
OMG look at that cheesy sauce! 😍
Did anyone else have trouble getting their pasta to soften up? This is on the stove right now, and the pasta is still too hard, after more than the allotted time. :(
Mine took a little longer to cook as well. Just let it simmer until the pasta is soft enough.
I made this without the meat as I want to cut down on eating red meat. That said, I did use a beef cube to make the stock. I just mixed it with 1 cup hot water to dissolve the cube. Seeing as I didn’t use meat, I thought to up the taste, I’d use some mixed herbs, a dash of crushed chillies and a few slugs of Worcester sauce. For the cheese, I used 3 different types to make 4oz. Also didn’t have tomato sauce on hand so I subbed it for a can of chopped tomatoes which i blitzed in the food processor.
The pasta dish was so tasty. Husband loved it.
This is soooooo good. It’s also easy and pretty cheap. We leave the cheese on the side, and, on our first time cooking, left the relish on the side as well because we were skeptical. We now mix it in directly because it’s such a tasty addition–I would even go as far as to say it makes the meal (that is coming from someone who is not a relish person). We happily make double the recipe and feast on the leftovers with huge smiles :). Happy eating!
Phenomenal! My daughter and I are vegetarians, so I did substitute veggie broth and I made the hamburger on the side. But yuuuum!
Delicious as always. Thank you Beth! I added about half of a red bell pepper and a zucchini. I also added about a tablespoon of italian herbs blend.
If you want to cut down the meat to only 1/4 lb. would it ruin the rest of the proportions??
It would probably just taste less beefy. :) But it won’t mess up the texture of the sauce or anything.
I’m using this as a starting point, but using more Italian flavors because I have ground Italian sausage I’d like to use up. I’ll pass on the condiments and cheddar, but add some green peppers, mushrooms and more onion with some Parmesan cheese. I also think I’ll use chicken broth.
It went over very well last night. I too was hesitant about putting in the relish, but it added a nice tang I think. I used farfalle and it worked very well. I also used beef bullion (via cubes), as that’s what I had. Perfect. My teenage daughters both scarfed it down. I might try adding diced zucchini or something just to hide a little bit more veggie in it.
This. This was awesome and comforting. I added a diced green bell pepper for the “what to do about adding veggies” dilemma. My 10 -month old son loved this so much he clapped the whole time. I used small shell pasta and they worked just fine.
When I saw this I knew I would be making it soon. I was hesitant about adding the relish so I stirred a small amount into one servingn and found it quite tasty. Every fall I make and can several types of relish so in the future I’ll be trying it with corn relish, dill cucumber relish, beet relish, sauerkraut, etc. I expect all of them to be good and I thank you for giving me a new way to use relish.
Oh man! This looks so good. I know what I’m making tonight :D
This looks so good. I can’t wait to try it. I think I will have to leave out the relish because my husband is way too picky. Actually when I first read the recipe I was really confused. It says “hot dog relish” and stupid me was thinking like a relish made out of hot dogs. I was like that sounds gross. It took me a good minute to figure out what hot dog relish means lol.
I love recipes like this! Plenty of room for substitutions and additional herbs and spices – curry, Mexican, Italian – and it takes no time at all. Thanks.
Mmmmm that’s tomorrow nights quick and easy tea sorted :-) I love your website, it’s my go to for budget friendly quick to make tasty food. EVERY single recipe I’ve tried has turned out perfectly. Rated a 5 because I know it will be good x
Subbed ground turkey (kept the beef broth), and wow, so good! Once again, you nailed it! Any thoughts or experiences on freezing this dish?
I think freezing would work, although sometimes flour thickened sauces and cheese sauces separate after thawing, so I’d have to test it out.