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Yes you heard me right, Cheeseburger Pasta. You have to try this recipe to believe quite how good it is! All of our favourite burger flavours, made into a complete family meal all in one pan, no pasta boiling needed.
Oh yes, my friends. It’s all here. Cheeseburger. Pasta. One Pot. 30 minutes. What’s not to love?!
This is a super easy but lip-smackingly good dinner (and the kids will love you forever for this one).
You know I love a one pan recipe (I’ve even written a book full of them!), and seeing as my one pan pastas like Fajita Pasta and Peri Peri Pasta have gone down so well, along with the hit that is my Big Mac Tacos recipe, I fancied trying out a hybrid of the two.
That’s where Cheeseburger Pasta comes in.
Oh yes. Mince beef recipes are always a bit of a saviour during the week thanks to their versatility, low cost and high flavour, so I’ve always got my thinking cap on as to how we can use this trusty cut differently so we don’t get bored (check out this page for more inspiration).
Why you’ll love this Cheeseburger Pasta recipe
⭐️ Tastes like a treat but healthier than a takeaway
⭐️ Easy one pot with simple ingredients
⭐️ All ready in about 30 minutes
About this One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta
This recipe has all the make-up of classic cheeseburger flavours – beef, onion, pickles, cheese and even ketchup. Trust me, it just WORKS.
And I should know because it’s been tested enough times! In the first testing phase we used tinned tomatoes, as most of my other one pan pastas have this base. However, we felt the beef should be the main flavour here.
So for the next version, we tried without tomatoes but it was a little bland, so we decided to UP the hamburger flavours in other ways… so we stepped up the ketchup, mustard, paprika and Worcestershire sauce! It worked a dream.
Finally, we added pickles, because what is a burger without a gherkin, I ask you?! (Obviously these are optional and you can leave out if you’re a hater.)
I hope you love this as much as we do!
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Cheeseburger Pasta Ingredients
- Oil – Sunflower or olive oil, not extra virgin olive oil though as it will burn
- Beef mince – I use 5% fat but use whichever one you usually buy to your own taste or budget
- Onion – Fresh or frozen is fine
- Garlic – Fresh or frozen, jarred or paste is OK
- Green peppers
- Beef stock
- Ketchup
- Mustard – The yellow American kind
- Paprika
- Worcester sauce – You could also use Henderson’s Relish instead
- Pasta – Any kind of dry pasta is fine
- Chopped pickles – AKA gherkins (drained)
- Cream cheese
- Red Leicester
How to make Cheeseburger Pasta
1. Brown the mince in hot oil as per the recipe below, add the onion, garlic and peppers cook.
2. Stir in the pasta, beef stock, ketchup, mustard, paprika and Worcester sauce and season. Bring to a simmer.
3. When cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese and pickles.
4. Sprinkle grated cheese and grill for 3-5 minutes until melted.
Hint: Cook the pasta until al-dente. Stop cooking when the sauce has reduced and thickened.
Substitutions
- Peppers – You could swap the green peppers in this recipe for another veg of your choice if you prefer.
- Mustard – If you don’t have any American mustard and you can substitute it for Dijon. I’d recommend using around half of the recommended quantity if you do.
- Pickles – Leave the gherkins out if you really hate them but they do add that burger essence!
- Cheese – I use Red Leicester to get the similar colour to ‘burger cheese’, but you can use any other kind of cheese too.
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully before serving.
If you don’t serve this as soon as it’s cooked, you’ll find that the sauce absorbs into the pasta and there’s not a lot left. It won’t affect the taste, you may just want to add a splash more stock when you warm it through.
Can you freeze Cheeseburger Pasta? I’m not a big fan of freezing pasta as it can go quite mushy when defrosted and reheated.
All that said, there’s nothing wrong with freezing for lunch if you have leftovers, it’s just not quite as good as fresh or reheated from the fridge.
Top tip
Sauce
I always make up 750ml of stock and then check on the pasta as it cooks and add more if it’s looking dry.
If you like very ‘wet’ saucy pasta, go ahead and add it all at the start.
FAQs
Try and use a big lidded pan for this recipe. I have tried-and-tested some one-pan pans recently and there were some good ones in that list. Hope this pan review helps.
If you stick to lean beef mince, use wholewheat pasta and omit the cheese, you could reduce the fat content and increase the fibre content.
You could also add additional vegetables.
I sure do! Why not try my Cheesy Baked Gnocchi, BBQ Chicken Pasta, Orzo Bolognese or Tuna Pasta Bake to start with?
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Cheeseburger Pasta {One Pot}
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Sunflower oil
- 500 g Beef mince, I use 5% fat
- 1 Onion, Peeled and chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves, Peeled and crushed
- 2 Green peppers, Sliced
- 750 ml Beef stock
- 6 tbsp Ketchup
- 3 tbsp Mustard, Yellow/American kind
- 3 tsp Paprika
- 3 tbsp Worcester sauce
- 250 g Dried pasta
- 50 g Pickles (aka gherkins), Chopped
To finish:
- 100 g Cream cheese
- 75 g Red Leicester cheese, Grated
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan or saute pan and add the beef mince, cook over a high heat for 5-10 minutes until browned all over.
- Add the onion, garlic and peppers and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Stir in 500ml beef stock, ketchup, mustard, paprika, Worcester sauce salt and pepper (be sure to use plenty of pepper here) and pasta and bring to a simmer.
- Place a lid on and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, until the pasta is cooked al-dente. Stop cooking when the sauce has reduced and thickened. (See notes here.)
- Preheat your grill to high.
- Turn off the heat under the pasta and stir in the pickles and cream cheese.
- Sprinkle grated cheese over the pasta and put under the grill for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Has become a staple in our meal plans. Fab recipe – easy to follow – delicious result 🙂