Description
One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni is an easy 30-minute dinner that combines seasoned ground beef, tender pasta, and melted cheddar cheese all in one skillet. This family-friendly comfort food has all the flavors of a classic cheeseburger with minimal cleanup!
Ingredients
For the Base:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
Seasonings & Flavor Boosters:
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (or yellow mustard for milder flavor)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular paprika)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Liquids & Pasta:
- 2 cups beef broth (or chicken/vegetable broth)
- 1 cup milk (whole or 2% – don’t go skim on me!)
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (or shells, penne, fusilli)
The Cheese (The Best Part!):
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (freshly shredded preferred)
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or use 3 cups cheddar total)
For Serving:
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional but pretty!)
Instructions
Toss your ground beef and diced onion into the skillet over medium-high heat. Break up the beef as it cooks – I use the edge of my wooden spoon to really crumble it up. This takes 6 to 8 minutes. You want the beef brown all over and the onion soft and see-through.
When it’s done, drain the fat. I just tilt the pan over the sink and hold the meat back with my spoon. Gets rid of the grease so your pasta isn’t swimming in oil later.
Toss in your garlic, mustard, Worcestershire, paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir this around for a minute or two until your kitchen smells incredible. The garlic should smell toasty but not burned.
This is where all the flavor happens, so don’t rush it. Let those seasonings wake up in the hot pan.
Pour in your beef broth and milk. Stir everything together and scrape any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pan. Those brown bits are pure flavor – you want them in your sauce, not stuck to the pan.
Dump in your uncooked macaroni and stir it around. Make sure all the noodles are under the liquid. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and put the lid on.
Let it simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. Every 3 or 4 minutes, take the lid off and stir so nothing sticks. You’ll know it’s ready when the pasta’s tender and most of the liquid is gone. It should look creamy, not soupy.
Don’t wander off during this part. Pasta in a skillet needs more babysitting than pasta in a big pot of water.
Take the skillet off the heat. This is important – if you add cheese while it’s still on the burner, it can get grainy and weird. Off the heat, stir in all your cheddar and Monterey Jack.
Keep stirring until every bit of cheese is melted and coating the pasta. The leftover heat from the pan will melt it perfectly.
Sprinkle some parsley on top if you want it to look fancy. Then grab bowls and serve this up hot.
Notes
Don’t have beef broth? Chicken or vegetable broth works perfectly! I’ve even used water in a pinch (just add a little extra salt and Worcestershire sauce for flavor).
Pasta variety matters – Elbow macaroni is classic, but shells are AMAZING because they trap all that cheese inside. Penne and fusilli work great too. Just avoid long pasta like spaghetti – it doesn’t work as well in this one-pot method.
The sauce looks too thick? Add a splash more milk or broth! The sauce thickens as it sits, so if you’re making this ahead, you’ll definitely want to loosen it up when reheating.
Make it stretch – Need to feed more people? Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in the last 5 minutes of cooking. It bulks up the dish and sneaks in some nutrition!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: American