This creamy, cheesy beef and shells dish comes together in 30 minutes and has flavors everyone will love. There are few special touches to the sauce that make it super delicious.
You can use any pasta for this recipe, but I like the shells because they hold little pockets of meat and sauce. If you wanted to make this a bit a fancier, you could put it in a baking dish with some shredded cheese on top and bake until the cheese is melted and browned. I like it as is though.
The sauce for the dish is made of beef stock, marinara sauce (I used leftover pizza sauce I had from making pizza that I thinned with a little water), cream, sour cream and cheese. Add that mixture to ground beef seasoned with onion, garlic and spices and you have a tasty meal. I used italian seasoning, a little smoked paprika, garlic powder and onion powder to add extra flavor.
Serve this dish with some grated parm on top and a side salad or some garlic bread for a complete meal.
Cheesy Beef and Shells
Ingredients
- 8 oz medium shell pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp AP flour
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 cups marinara sauce or 1 cup pizza sauce
- 3/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese not the bag kind
- grated parm
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package, drain well and rinse in cold water and set aside.
- In a large skillet cook the ground beef with the spices over medium heat until fully cooked and set aside. Add the oil and onion and garlic to the skillet and cook for a minute.
- Whisk in the flour and stir for 1 minute, then whisk in the beef broth and marinara sauce. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Whisk in the cream, sour cream and then slowly add the cheese a little at a time and stir until melted and creamy. Add the pasta and beef and allow to simmer for a minute or two. Serve with grated parm and garlic bread or salad.