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This ground beef pasta recipe tastes like it’s been cooked low and slow, but it’s ready in about 30 minutes! It’s perfect for busy weeknights and has simple ingredients.
I think your family will also enjoy this Easy Meat Sauce for pasta or my Beef and Noodles.
Why you’ll love it
If you like my Creamy Beef and Shells or Homemade Hamburger Helper, there’s a good chance you will enjoy this easy ground beef pasta. It’s sorta like a quick Bolognese sauce. Ground beef, garlic, and a creamy tomato sauce make one comforting dinner!
When I was a kid, pasta with meat sauce was always one of my favorite comfort foods, and as an adult I’ve always kept some variation of this sauce in my freezer. It’s the perfect quick family meal! There’s more depth of flavor than you’d think for such a simple dish.
What you’ll need
- Pasta – I chose fusilli, but this recipe will work with whatever pasta shape you’ve got on hand. Penne would be great.
- Olive oil – for sautéing
- Onion and garlic – I use sweet (Vidalia) onion
- Ground beef – I like to use lean ground beef. It saves you from having to drain out the fat.
- Canned tomatoes – diced tomatoes form the base of the sauce. They’re canned at peak ripeness.
- Tomato paste – for more delicious concentrated tomato flavor
- Dijon mustard – it’s a flavor enhancer and not overpowering
- Italian seasoning – a convenient blend of dried herbs in a single jar
- Heavy cream – it gives the sauce body and incredible taste. I found this to have plenty of sauce, but if you want to add more, go up to a full cup of cream.
Pro tip
This sauce needs to be salted adequately to bring out all the flavors! There’s plenty of meat and cream, so a generous amount of salt is a must. You can also definitely adjust the seasonings to your personal taste preferences or jazz it up with red pepper flakes if that’s your thing. This sauce is very flexible.
How to make pasta with ground beef
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Boil the pasta. In a skillet, sauté the onion in the olive oil until softened. Stir in the ground beef and garlic, and cook until browned. Spoon out any excess fat if needed. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, Dijon, and Italian seasoning.
Simmer until the sauce has reduced somewhat. Stir in the heavy cream, and let it warm through for a few minutes. Generously season the sauce with salt & pepper, then toss with the drained pasta. Top with fresh parmesan if desired.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- This is the skillet I use to make the meat sauce.
- A garlic press makes it effortless to mince garlic.
- I use this cooking spoon since it doesn’t scratch cookware.
Substitutions and variations
- Fresh basil would be a great addition to this pasta sauce (add it in right at the end) if you happen to have some.
- Try stirring in 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese if you want this dish to be cheesy.
- As with any cream-based recipe (especially with an acidic tomato sauce), subbing the cream with something else can lead to curdling.
- I know some people don’t like chunks/pieces of tomatoes, so feel free to swap the diced tomatoes with tomato sauce if you wish. Or use petite diced tomatoes.
What to serve with creamy beef pasta
- A slice of fresh crusty bread with olive oil and balsamic for dipping rounds it out.
- Make a salad for a fresh pairing. I love making a big Caesar salad with my 10-Minute Homemade Caesar Dressing (no blender!) and Garlic Croutons. For something lighter, try my Super Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover ground beef pasta in the fridge for 3-4 days in a covered container. Reheat over a low heat until warmed through.
- If you plan on freezing this recipe, I definitely recommend freezing the sauce separately in individual portions and boiling up a fresh batch of pasta when you’re ready to eat. The sauce freezes well.
More tasty ground beef recipes
Will you give this creamy ground beef pasta a try? Please leave a star rating and review in the comments below if you made it! Ask me any questions. I’m also on Instagram.
Easy Creamy Ground Beef Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard see note
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese optional, to taste
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water for the pasta and cook it al dente according to package directions.
- Add the onion and olive oil to a large skillet (or small pot/Dutch oven) and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Add in the ground beef and garlic and continue cooking for another 8 minutes or so until the beef has browned (break the meat up with your spoon as you go along). Spoon out excess fat if there's a lot of it.
- Stir in the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 4-5 minutes or until the sauce has reduced somewhat.
- Stir in the cream and cook for another 3-5 minutes (it'll warm through and reduce a bit).
- Season generously with salt & pepper as needed and toss with the drained pasta. Serve with parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- The Dijon mustard isn’t totally necessary (you don’t have to buy a jar just for this recipe), but it’s great for building flavor in sauces like this one, so I always keep some in my fridge. You can always taste and add more if needed.
- Feel free to up the Italian seasoning if you want a stronger herby flavor. I personally prefer just a hint in this recipe.
- You can use a can of tomato sauce instead of the diced tomatoes if you don’t like pieces of tomatoes (or try petite diced tomatoes).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on October 24, 2020. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
I’m about to try this recipe.
We hope you enjoy it! 🙂
It’s been a long time since I made a meal this bad. I will eat anything and even this I couldn’t eat. We all decided hamburger helper would have been better. The mustard doesn’t work and we love Dijon. Other than that, flavorless.
Sorry to hear that, Stacey! It sounds like something went wrong in your kitchen given the other great reviews.
your cooking sucks. lol
This is my first time making a pasta with cream….or even making my own meat sauce at all. I used a whole cup of cream because I added about 3 cups of spinach to wilt. I added 1 cup of sharp cheddar only because I felt that I couldn’t taste the cheese. I then added about a quarter cup of chopped basil (great recommendation). I then tossed in whole wheat pasta and topped it with a pit of parmesean. Four servings was enough for my family of 4. Overall, I thought this recipe was very hearty and filling. I do think there was a bit of flavor missing though. I found myself adding more and more salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and still was not able to find the flavor I was looking for. Will definitely try this again with a bit more garlic and onion! Thank you so much for the inspiration.
Hi! Glad you enjoyed it. Yup, you can certainly play with it in the future to tweak it more to your tastes. 🙂 Thanks for your review, Brenda.
This recipe was so easy and delicious! It was my first time using one of your recipes (also a beginner) and first time using my new Dutch oven. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Stephanie! So happy to hear it worked out!
I came across this recipe w/ a Google search ‘Ground Beef recipes’. So happy I did. I had dinner ready in 30 mins even w/ frozen meat.
I use 1/2&1/2 instead of heavy wc. Plus dry mustard. I used what I had on hand. I also add a whole onion and more garlic. It turned out really good. Thank you so much.
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it, Melissa!! 🙂 Thanks for your review!
Made this tonight, so yummy! Subbed with ground turkey. I also added cheese and mushrooms. Will add to my rotation 🙂 thanks!
Wonderful! You’re welcome, Andrea! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe. I accidentally put the whole 6oz can of tomato paste in b/c I didn’t read directions correctly! Plus I’m used to adding the whole can when I make chili. It’s hard to believe that there are over 8 tablespoons in that little can! So I’ve obviously way over shot the 2 tablespoon mark. I tried adding a dash more cream but I think that only made it thicker. It definitely tastes pasty : (
Any suggestions or thoughts?
Hi Trisha! Adding more cream would have been my first suggestion as well. Maybe a bit more beef broth could help mellow it out a bit? You could even perhaps throw in a can of diced tomatoes or some cooked carrots (I’d boil them and then chop them finely) to add more bulk and that could make the tomato paste texture and flavor a bit less prominent. Maybe a splash of wine along with that? I’m thinking along the lines of turning it into a makeshift bolognese. With all that said, I understand if you don’t want to potentially waste more ingredients, so you could always just chalk it up to a cooking oopsie and try with the 2 tbsp next time.
I think many people aren’t sure what a solid starting point for the salt and or pepper is. Many of them are flying blind, standing there with a shaker going “Hmmm, do I add more, or will that ruin it?”
My father was a cook in the Navy and a Chef at a bed and breakfast afterwards. I once was making chili from a recipe I already modified quite a bit, but I hadn’t played with the salt much. The recipe called for a teaspoon of salt. Dad tasted it and said “I would add another two teaspoons of salt… it’ll be perfect.” That sounded like a ton of salt to me, but I trust him… lo and behold, he was right.
So, maybe “to taste” might require a bit of guidance. Just a suggestion from someone with zero formal training, but plenty of background.
Great recipe. I doubled the recipe (feeding hockey players), added a tablespoon of crushed red pepper (we like a lil kick), a teaspoon of dried basil leaves, and about a teaspoon of salt during the “salt and pepper to taste” phase.
I added a lot more crushed red pepper once it was on my plate, and some fresh grated parm. Cheers.
Hi Vince!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Yup, talking about salt in recipes is definitely a bit of a conundrum. I have listed quantities before, and I do in some recipes where I just know people will under-season it (like ones with large quantities of pasta or potatoes), but also there are lots of people on lower sodium diets or who have a lower salt tolerance than others, so it’s a bit of a slippery slope. If I include a quantity, many people will think it’s too much, and others will think it’s too little. And then the people using regular table salt are more likely to over-season it (I use sea salt personally, but kosher salt is also great for cooking). I wish there was an easy solution to this, and I also wish more people knew that they’re probably adding too little salt to things.
I tried it tonight, although I realized how many ingredients weren’t available once I started it. I didn’t have the olive oil, onions, or cream available, so if it’s not a hit I won’t hold it against ya. I also grabbed a can of crushed tomatoes instead of diced, which ironically the diced tomatoes was the entire reason I chose this recipe to try. Haha. Looking very forward to my trip trip to the store so I can try to get it right. 😀
Haha oh no… I guess it’s just one of those days!! I hope you can try it with the proper ingredients soon lol.
Super delicious and so easy and quick to make! I added parmesan cheese while it was still hot in the pot and it was amazing. Thank you! I’ve already made it twice in the last 2 weeks!
Thank you!! I’m so pleased it’s a new hit in your home! 🙂