Cheesy-Mac-n-Beef
Let me start by saying, sorry about the photo, I started eating this before I remembered that I needed a picture, in short it was good!
The whole point of Hamburger Helper is to be quick and cheap, this cheesy-mac-n-beef isn’t that; it can be close, but it’s certainly not as “efficient” as the stuff from the box. That said, this cheesy-mac-n-beef doesn’t have to be more costly than the stuff in the box and it tastes so much better. You can use things that you already have in your kitchen to cut cost and use up those leftovers.
Have leftover protein from another meal? Pulse it in the food processor to get the right consistency and use that instead of the ground beef, or substitute ground chicken for something leaner (not that this is by any means healthy).
As for timing, this should be a quick 20 minute meal, but with prep and the fact that I’m not the fastest in the kitchen (the wine gets me), it typically takes me about double that.
Lastly, I always recommend reading a recipe from start to finish before starting, but if you skip step 1 you’ll notice that you can cook the pasta in step 8 in the same pan as the rest of the meal. It saves one or two additional dirty dishes and adds a lot of flavor to the noodles.
Enjoy!
Cheesy-Mac-n-Beef
Equipment
- Large Frying Pan
- Medium Pot Optional (can cook pasta in step 8)
Ingredients
- 2 strips bacon
- 1 ea small sweet onion diced
- ½ lbs lean ground beef Can be substituted with almost any protein
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tbsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tbsp tomato paste
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- ⅛ cup cream cheese
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ lbs shredded or grated cheese I use mostly sharp cheddar with some parmesan
- ½ lbs elbow mac use your favorite noodle
Instructions
- Start cooking pasta noodles to desired doneness according to the box, recommend 1 minute less than listed on the box to finish the noodles with the rest of the meal. Strain and set cooked noodles aside reserving a small amount of the pasta water.
- chop the bacon into pieces and toss into frying pan, start to cook until fat starts to render out over medium heat
- add ground beef salt and pepper and start to cook down until mostly browned
- add onion and start to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. If there’s a lot of grease from the ground beef/bacon you may want to drain some off at this point.
- add garlic and spices, cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or un til beef is fully browned and garlic is fragrant
- Add tomato paste, stir this in and cook for an additional minute
- Add chicken stock and reduce heat to a low simmer and cook down until almost completely reduced. Don’t forget to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan for a great flavor boost.
- Add cream cheese and start to stir in slowly adding heavy cream, bring to a low simmer. If you want you can add uncooked pasta noodles now and cook them directly in the chicken stock/heavy cream; you may need to add an additional 1 cup of water or chicken stock, just cover and cook for about 1 minute less than listed on the box, then remove the lid and reduce the liquid down.
- add shredded/grated cheese and stir in until melted
- If you pre-cooked the noodles now would be a good time to add them and stir everything to evenly mix.
- Serve immediately
Notes
Looking for sides to go with your cheesy-mac-n-beef? Try a simple Feta Arugula salad to add some quick balance to this meal.
