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! 😍
Yummy! Doubled recipe and subbed fusilli for shells. This was a hit with the whole family; the kids added ketchup. Adding it to our rotation of recipes to make while camping since it’s so fast and easy and is simple to clean up! Thanks!
Beth wtf this is so goooood!!!! I am not a big cheeseburger fan but I had been seeing the picture from this recipe on your homepage for so long and it looked so appetizing I finally tried it. Holy smokes!!!! It’s incredible!!! Like another commenter, I used veggie broth and fake ground beef and it was just perfect. I didn’t have relish but I used ketchup (like a different commenter suggested) and now I really want to try it with relish. A+ 10/10 will DEFINITELY make again.
I also tried another version where I added chili powder, a little cumin, and half a green pepper and that was amazing, especially with some salsa.
replying to this five months later to say that this is still SO GOOD, probably my favorite recipe on Budget Bytes. I make it probably four or five times a month. Someday I will get sick of it but it has not happened yet! Thank you Beth for a fantastic recipe!!
We love this recipe and have been making it for years. It says it was updated in May, but I don’t see noticeable differences. Did you change something?
My husband and I have more recipes in our rotation than I count that belong to you. Thank you so much for this website!
– Sam
No changes to the actual recipe, just updated the photography and written instructions for clarity. :)
Can I sub tomato sauce for ketchup?
I don’t suggest that as ketchup has a lot of sugar compared to tomato sauce, so your pasta will end up being very sweet.
I made this vegan by using Beyond meat, veggie broth and vegan cheese and it turned out fantastic. It was so quick and easy to make and it was a big hit with everyone.
This was phenomenal! I decided to use a velveeta Mac & cheese box and added some extra ketchup but wow this was great.
I made this today using impossible burger and mushrooms instead of the ground beef and it was SUPER TASTY. I also didn’t have any relish but finely chopped pickles seem to work great too
Wow!! I am pregnant and this hit the craving spot. The whole family loved it too.
This was so satisfying. Like everyone else on here I hemmed and hawed about it as it was cooking but it came out great! We loved it.
Any way to make this without ground beef? Would I have to add anything if I used brown lentils instead, for instance?
I’ve made similar dishes with canned black beans or pinto beans in place of the beef and it works great. :) No need to add anything extra. Just add the drained beans after the onion is sautéed and go from there.
wow I didn’t even see this comment before I made this, but I did exactly that (I had black beans on hand already and didn’t feel like buying ground beef) and it was delicious and still tasted plenty “meaty.” I thought the texture of the beans might make things a little weird, but it didn’t! idk how but the way they end up incorporating into the sauce as it simmers leaves you with spmething not too far off in texture from a meat sauce.
Would ground chicken ruin it? I guess it wouldn’t have that beefy flavour…has anyone tried?
Hi Cindy, I use ground chicken for this meal every time and it’s delicious!
Oh yea of little faith! OK, I doubted…I didn’t believe …I was skeptical. I’m old, I’m grumpy and I am a cynic.
Virtually every recipe from this site has, here to for, been four or five stars. The difference is really only our personal taste preferences, because each one is terrific-every single one. This time, I thought, ‘this young whipper snapper is really going to step in it this time!’ I lived in California 35 years and ate dozens and dozens of Cheese burgers from In ‘n Out Burger-The gold standard for Cheese Burgers in America.
I followed the recipe, I added a few simple ingredients, I stirred, it burbled and I’m thinkin’, ‘Ain’t no way’. Then we sat down to eat. I took one bite…. and I started to laugh. My wife looked at me and said,”What’s so funny?”. ” It tastes like a damn cheeseburger!” It’s supposed to be four servings, but we ate 3/4 ths of the pan…and we were trying to be restrained! We’ll have to double the recipe so we can have left-overs for the freezer….but why when it’s so easy to make? So let me close with one more comment…about this “young whipper Snapper”.
She is, in my personal experience, the rarest of all human creatures. Straight arrow to the bone…solid as a rock…A no BS kind of lady. And probably one who is not to be toyed with! If she says it, it is so. Ya got me Beth…we love you, and your food. If you enjoy cheese burgers make this recipe!
You are FAR too kind! ❤️
So good! The flavors really come together into a fantastic tasting dish. I totally agree on that note that the hot dog relish really gives the dish an oomph. I only wish it made more because I’m so excited to eat this it disappears fast. One note, the pictures don’t show nearly how cheesy it is. I love the cheesiness, but did the recipe actually mean 4 fluid ounces, ie 1/2 cup, rather than 4 net wt ounces, which is about a cup? It’d probably come out good either way, but you really should specify. Great recipe, highly recommend it
whoops, forgot to put the five star rating there
It’s weight ounces. :) Solids, like cheese, are always weight ounces, while fluids are always volume ounces.
I’m usually on the fence about “one pan” or “one pot” meals because they lack flavor, or they’re just a pot of mush. Not the case here. This is grown up hamburger helper. I recently had to go gluten-free for health reasons, so I replaced the flour for cornstarch and the regular pasta for Trader Joe’s black bean fusilli pasta. Instead of hot dog relish, I used Cha Cha (chow chow) for a little less sweetness. This is definitely in the regular rotation!
Oh my STONKIN godness, this recipe is far, FAR more than the sum of its parts. I needed to cook something for the end of the month–the fridge was looking a little bare but I had thawed some ground beef and had some pantry things and cheese…enough to make this.
I looked at the ingredients list and
I DOUBTED. “I don’t have any relish; it probably won’t have the right flavor.” I put the lid on the pot to simmer and I DOUBTED. “This is going to taste like pasta with canned tomato sauce, even with all my seasoning. Sigh.” Then I stirred in the (weighed out) cheese, watched the sauce thicken, and felt HOPE. “Well, maybe this will turn out all right!” I stirred 1 T ketchup and 1 T mustard to substitute for the relish. Then I took the FIRST BITE and became a BELIEVER!!! HOLY COW IT’S DELICIOUS!!! Thank you, BudgetBytes! I don’t think I can ever go back to that boxed stuff!