Cheeseburger Pasta

5 from 1 vote

A cheap, quick, and easy cheeseburger pasta recipe that cooks in under 30 minutes. Makes 6 servings to easily feed the whole family for dinner - or yourself for a week!

Servings servings

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Equipment

Large sauté pan at least 14 inch

Ingredients

1 pound rigatoni
1 pound ground beef
½ small red onion diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
14 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup water
2 pinches salt
1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon pasta water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente, according to package directions.
In the meantime, brown the beef in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until there’s no pink left, about 6 to 8 minutes, then drain excess grease if there’s too much in the pan.
Lower the heat to medium-low and stir in the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, just a minute or so.
Then, add the crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire, ketchup, heavy cream, water, and salt. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and stir in the shredded cheese until it’s melted.
Reserve some pasta water before draining the cooked pasta. Add the pasta to the sauté pan with about 1 tablespoon of pasta water, then stir to combine. Adjust salt to taste and serve hot.

Notes

Draining the beef: If the ground beef is super greasy after browning, carefully drain some of the excess. Make sure you don’t drain all the grease out, though - you’ll want some grease to cook the aromatics in before building the sauce.

Simmering the sauce: This sauce doesn’t need much time to simmer down, so we like to bring it to a simmer and then immediately lower the heat to stir in the cheese. If you find the sauce is too thin for your liking, simmer for a bit longer before adding the cheese.

Meal prep: This pasta is one of those dishes that almost tastes better reheated than it does fresh! Prep the whole batch at the beginning of the week, then portion it out into individual containers for easy lunches or dinners throughout the week.

Storing and reheating: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat single servings in the microwave for about 1.5 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Author: Nicole Langdon

Calories: 685kcal

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Fusion

Keyword: big batch, cheddar cheese, crushed tomatoes, garlic, ground beef, heavy cream, ketchup, meal prep, red onion, rigatoni, worcestershire

Nutrition