This easy to make, creamy beef pasta dish is a go to recipe for three reasons: it’s quick, filling and is great as a leftover, too. A creamy tomato and cheese sauce covers tender pasta shells and chunks of seasoned ground beef. A hit with the kids and family alike.
Creamy Beef Pasta
Who doesn’t love a creamy pasta comfort meal and this beefy shell pasta dish hits the mark in flavor and is filling.
You can easily add sliced vegetables into the mix, too. I like to add sliced mushrooms or teardrop tomatoes.
This is great mid-week for that quick, on the table dinner and is a fantastic leftover to take to work or serve another evening.
While the pasta is cooking, sauté the onions, garlic, mushrooms and ground beef. Season it with Italian seasoning and that cheese sauce? Heavenly. 🙂
Thicken it all up with a sprinkle of flour and add the cream, beef stock and tomato sauce. Simmer away and then add the shredded cheddar cheese to make a creamy, delicious sauce to coat the pasta shells. Loaded with seasoned, browned ground beef, this fills me up every time and puts a smile on my face. Enjoy!
Other wonderful pasta dishes you might like:
- Ham and Cheese Pasta Rosettes
Fresh pasta sheets rolled with ham and cheese cooke din a cream sauce. Amazing! - Browned Butter Pasta with Grilled Sausages
Pasta of choice al dente, grilled sausages and fresh herbs and you are set. The browned butter here makes this dish and it adds to the nuttiness the toasted pine nuts. - Beef Stroganoff
Creamy, saucy and loaded with tender beef and noodles, this will be your new, go to recipe because it’s made in one pot and under 30 minutes. - Chili Mac and Cheese Casserole
Mac and Cheese is an American classic comfort food and in this Chili Mac and Cheese Casserole it goes a step further with a Mexican influenced salsa addition to ground beef and a crunchy breadcrumb topping.

Creamy Beef Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz shell pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1 lb ground beef 90/10
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 14.5 oz beef stock
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 8 oz cheddar cheese shredded, about 2 cups
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (or red pepper flakes)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil and cook pasta for 10 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water and drain pasta. Do not rinse. Set aside and toss with some olive oil to help the shells not stick together.
- In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms and cook 2 minutes more, stirring often. Add the ground beef and Italian seasoning. Break up the beef with a spoon and cook until no longer pink. Season the beef to taste with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the flour over the beef mixture. Stir to cook for a minute and add the heavy cream, beef stock, pasta water and tomato sauce. Stir to mix thoroughly and lower heat to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, sauce will thicken. Add the cheese and stir to incorporate.
- Add the cooked pasta to the meat sauce and stir to combine. Cook another 3 minutes on low, season to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
- If reheating leftovers, add 1/4 cup milk to loosen it up and get saucy as the pasta absorbs.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
Nutrition
Kids loved it, even the leftovers 2 nights later.
I am so glad Jay! Thank you for sharing!
Love this recipe minus the mushrooms, a family member doesn’t eat mushrooms but I still plan on making it tonight. Can’t wait.
I hope it turned out great! Let me know how everyone likes it!
I followed the recipe exactly. For me and my husband it was bland. We added grated parmesan and red pepper flakes. Next time I will add my twist on the seasonings. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for the reply. Sometimes a personal twist is needed! 🙂
My 12 yo said “oh wow, this is so good!” He even helped me make it. So easy to pull together!
Delicious. But I left out the mushrooms since they are left out of the actual step by step instructions. Oh well.
Thanks for pointing that out Leigh, although thankfully I did remember to put it in the post reading itself so I’m sure many have figured it out! The recipe card itself has been updated to reflect.
Yummy! I loved the pasta.Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Excellent, so glad you enjoyed this one!
Hey Kevin! This is just the kind of dish I’ve been craving! Serious comfort food. I hope you move went smoothly and that you have gotten some of your new kitchen organized to your liking. That area sounds beautiful!
Just finished the moving and putting everything away aspect of this project Dorothy. House is looking good and I’m back in action!
This looks amazing, Kevin! Perfect savory sauce to the pasta, beef and other goodies!
Rainy day comfort food dining!
So much yum packed into one pot! Talk about comfort food, Kevin! I’d just want to eat straight outta the pan and forget the plate, lol.
I wouldn’t tell anyone Dawn. 😉