Creamy Beef and Pasta
A friend shared the recipe for this fix-it-and-forget-it meal. I often make it for our children when my husband and I go out. Even the baby-sitters have commented how much they like it. - Carol Losier, Baldwinsville, New York
Ingredients
- 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 2 cups shredded cheddar or part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
- 2 cups uncooked small pasta
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Reviews
We farm and I often stop in at home and throw all of this in the crockpot just a few hours before supper time. It only takes 3-4 hours on low. My husband and kids love it and I love how easy it is. I make a similar oven mac & cheese that doesn't call for ground beef and only one can of soup. Bake @ 350 for one hour uncovered stirring half way through. I think when I am short on time I am going to try throwing in some browned hamburger and see how it turns out. Bet it tastes the same!
Loved it! Thankfully, I read the reviews first - it barely took 2-1/2 hours on low. My husband teased me about making "Hamburger Helper" from scratch. Then he took a bite, and was too busy eating to tease anymore. Rated a definite keeper by him and the kids!
Have not yet had pleasure making this; planning ahead ~ having same day surgery in few weeks. It will be terrific to come home to dinner made in advance.
I wanted to pass along my changes, and how I adapted it to be a quick meal, instead of a slow-cooker meal (I didn't run across it in time to make it in the slow-cooker). I cooked the pasta just shy of al dente and used only 1C of milk, figuring that the amt. of milk in the slow-cooker version was needed to cook the dry noodles. I probably used only 1 1/3C of cheese, too, that being all I had. I added a few generous shakes of Worchestershire sauce, and just mixed it all as you would any pasta bake. Baked at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. It was very, very good. A nice alternative to the only other pasta bake I seem to have in my repertoire (sausage, spinach, mozzerella, tomato sauce and penne). I will make this again.
I only put 4 stars due to the cook time. Thank goodness I read the reviews first or it would have been ruined. Mine finished on low in 2 1/2 hrs and the pasta is almost over cooked. The only thing I changed was used some real onion since I didn't have powder and followed someone else and added some worstershire and ground mustard. Good simple meal and I agree about the beef stroganoff comparison
This is a good recipe. I did alter it a bit - I also added 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup, and 2 cans of seasoned diced tomatoes, a bit of worcestershire and a bit of ground mustard. I noticed that the pasta was cooked almost immediately, so I cooked it on low the whole time, but if I wasn't home to watch it, I don't think I would add the pasta until the very end. I also used 2 cups of marble cheese (what I had on hand). Very good - a keeper. I'm contemplating adding some italian seasoning and/or garlic powder - hmmmmm.
My family loves this recipe and it only takes about 3 hours in the crock pot on high. If you cook it too long the noodles get mushy. It's a lot like beef stroganoff or a homemade hamburger helper.
This recipe is so simple but my kids just love it. They request it all the time and I love that it is so easy to throw it all in the crockpot and go about my day. I did find though that six hours is too long at least in my crockpot. The first time I made the recipe, it burned all around the outer edge so the next time I cut down on the cooking time and it turned out perfect.
Finished in half the time--3 hours. Had to stir half way through to make sure pasta along top edge would cook. Kind of reminded me of Hamburger Helper. My kids loved it!
I doubled this recipe and used my 8-qt Rival. Pasta was a little overdone at 5 hours but still very good. I did not double the cheese and it still was creamy.