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This 15-minute cheesy Beef and Noodles recipe is perfect for those busy nights when you need dinner quickly. Ground beef and noodles with a creamy, cheesy sauce.
Featured with this Recipe
15-Minute Beef and Noodles Skillet is a fresher, faster, and cheaper alternative to Hamburger Helper. Actually, Hamburger Helper gives me flashbacks to early days in my marriage when that and a can of green beans was considered a balanced meal. Luckily, I remembered this delicious recipe and it soon took the place of the boxed dinner stuff. This is a recipe that our grandma made when her kids were growing up and it is the ultimate comfort food.
Ingredients in Creamy Ground Beef and Noodles Skillet
- Macaroni Noodles
- Ground Beef
- Onion
- Condensed Tomato Soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Cheddar Cheese
- Salt and Pepper
Additions and Substitutions
Want to add a little more? Try adding any of these ingredients to add a flavor twist to this easy recipe:
- Other pastas – use other pasta shapes such as penne, shells, rotini, or bowties for a fun new look. You can even use egg noodles if that’s what you have on hand.
- Garlic – add some minced garlic cloves when softening the onion to enhance the flavor
- Ground chicken – use ground chicken or ground turkey to make a lighter version of this dish
- Beef tips – sauté beef tips instead of ground beef for a fancier dish
- Cream cheese – Melt in 4-8oz of cream cheese when adding the shredded cheese to add even more creaminess.
- Beef broth – add beef broth or milk to thin out the sauce if needed
- Veggies – stir in your favorite veggie like peas, corn, green beans, zucchini, etc… to make in a complete meal
Suggestions for Beef and Noodles Skillet
- If you are wary of using canned condensed cream of mushroom soup, try our delicious (and easy!) homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe!
- You can use macaroni, rotini, bowtie, penne, or any kind of pasta for this recipe. You can use whole wheat pasta to make it healthier, or even Gluten Free pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente or until just tender.
- Sometimes, if we are looking to add more to this Beef and Noodles Skillet, we will stir in corn, peas, a can of diced tomatoes (drained), extra sautéed mushrooms, steamed broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach.
- Many times when we make this, we try to hide in extra veggies, so we add shredded zucchini and carrots to the ground beef mixture. Really, our kids never know there are any added vegetables. We use a lot too. We have used 1-2 of EACH vegetable added in and they don’t ever catch on.
What to Serve with Beef and Noodles
This can be served as a meal on its own or you can serve it with a simple side dish. We have served it with corn, peas, green beans, or even just a simple side salad. When serving with peas or corn, my kids will oftentimes just mix it all in together, which is also delicious.
Storing the Leftovers
To store leftover beef and noodles, allow the dish to cool to room temperature before transferring it to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to three to four days. When ready to enjoy the leftovers, reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until heated through. You may want to add a little beef broth or milk to thin out the sauce while re-heating. If freezing, place in a freezer safe container and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw in the fridge overnight before re-heating.
More Recipes Using Beef and Noodles
How to Make Creamy Ground Beef and Noodles Skillet
Creamy Beef and Noodles Skillet
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound macaroni noodles or similar, like Cavatappi or Cellentani
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 10.5 ounces tomato soup condensed , not prepared
- 10.5 ounces cream of mushroom soup condensed, not prepared (see note above for substitutes)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Prepare noodles according to package directions.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef and onion together until beef is browned and onions are clear.
- Add condensed soups and salt and pepper.
- When noodles are done, drain well and add to skillet.
- Gently stir in cheese and serve!
Notes
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- If you are wary of using canned condensed cream of mushroom soup, try our delicious (and easy!) homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe!
-
- You can use macaroni, rotini, bowtie, penne, or any kind of pasta for this recipe. You can use whole wheat pasta to make it healthier, or even Gluten Free pasta.
-
- Sometimes, if we are looking to add more to this Beef and Noodles Skillet, we will stir in corn, peas, a can of diced tomatoes (drained), extra sautéed mushrooms, steamed broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach.
-
- Many times when we make this, we try to hide in extra veggies, so we add shredded zucchini and carrots to the ground beef mixture. Really, our kids NEVER know there are any added vegetables. We use a LOT too. We have used 1-2 of EACH vegetable added in and they don’t ever catch on.
- Monterey Jack or Mozzarella cheese can be used in place of, or in combination with, the cheddar cheese.
Hello, I was just searching for a recipe and came across this one of yours, creamy beef and pasta,looks so yummy, I wanted to ask you what can I use to substitute the mushroom soup, thank you
You can use cream of chicken soup or if the canned condensed soup is the issue you can use our homemade condensed cream of mushroom soup or homemade condensed cream of chicken soup recipe. 🙂 Hope this helps!
My daughter loves this (and she is a reformed picky eater – lol)! Instead of the tomato soup, I use pasta sauce (Rao’s, Prego, etc.). Delicious! This has been added to the rotation a few months ago, but wanted to share because we love this dish. Thanks!
It’s ok. It reminds me of canned pasta. The tomato soup makes it a tad sweet, and you can’t really taste the mushroom soup. I used granulated garlic and onion, paprika, salt, pepper, 2 cups sharp white cheddar and 2 cups medium orange cheddar. My picky autistic son liked it though, so I’ll probably make it again for him. He gives it a 7.5 out of 10.
where are the directions for this recipe
In the recipe card at the bottom of the page!
Si need to try this and use it in my cooking class.
My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this recipe! I added some fresh shredded yellow squash (which I had on hand and wanted to use up) to the ground beef mixture. Plus I added red pepper flakes, oregano, and a bit of garlic powder to add some flavor and it turned out great! Thank you for this recipe!
This was delicious!! My husband is quite a picky eater so I hade to switch up the cream of mushroom with cream of potato. It did seem a bit dry for our taste so I threw in a can of diced tomatoes.
I made this last night. My husband and I loved it. My 8-yr. old. granddaughter didn’t finish it because it had the “brown stuff” in it. She doesn’t like ground hamburger. She did like the rest of the dish, however. She actually picked around the “brown stuff” and ate the other. Kids… I did omit the tomato soup because I didn’t have any AND granddaughter will not eat red sauce. Again…kids… It still turned out well. I will serve it up again! I do want to try it with all the ingredients though. I added mushrooms because we simply love mushrooms.
Very tasty
All I have is cream of celery. I don’t have cream of mushroom. Will that work?
It will definitely change the flavor profile, but it should work consistency-wise.
Could I cook it without the tomato sauce and just use cream of mushroom??
I haven’t tried it that way before so I can’t say, but let us know how it turns out if you do try it!
Quick, easy and delicious!
SO GUD!
Thank you so much for this easy yet oh so yummy recipe! My whole family enjoyed it. The only thing I did was added minced garlic and seasoned the ground beef!. This recipe is a win.
Hi Jacki! So glad you like this dish! Thanks so much for the 5 stars!
Can I use cream of chicken or cream of celery? I’m out of cream of mushroom:(
You can probably use cream of chicken and it will be fine. Hope this helps!
Kids loved it! Super fast to make. I added minced garlic to the ground beef. Thank you for sharing!
Made this last night and it tasted really good! My husband liked it a lot too. I used Monterey Jack cheese.