One-pot cheeseburger pasta
Everything you love about a cheeseburger, in one creamy pot of pasta.
- 30 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.97 a serving
- 700 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup milk
- 8 oz elbow macaroni
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar
- 2 stalks green onions, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Each serving has about 700 calories, 43 g protein, 54 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $2.97 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No ground beef? Lean ground beef works.
- No beef broth? Bone broth or chicken broth works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No elbow macaroni? Penne works.
- No yellow mustard? Dijon mustard works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or mexican blend cheese or monterey jack cheese works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion into small pieces.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Dolly’s tip: Halve it through the root, peel it, and lay it flat side down. A flat side can’t roll away from the knife.Heat a large pot over medium-high, add the beef and onion, and press the beef flat. Leave it 3 minutes, until underneath.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: No oil needed. The beef lets out plenty of fat as it cooks.Break the beef into and cook 4 to 5 minutes more, stirring, until no pink is left and the onion is soft.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Spoon any pool of fat into a heatproof mug, then turn the heat to medium and stir in the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and tomato paste for 1 minute.
Medium heat
Pour in the broth and milk, add the macaroni, mustard and ketchup, stir well, and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: Milk can foam up fast, so stay close until it boils.Turn the heat to low, cover, and 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the pasta is tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 11 min
Dolly’s tip: Scrape the bottom each time you stir. That’s where the pasta likes to stick.Take the pot off the heat and stir in the cheddar until it into a creamy sauce.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Let it sit 2 minutes to , then serve with green onions on top.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Timer: 2 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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