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This quick & creamy 15-minute Beefaroni Skillet recipe is the ultimate comfort food! Easy, cheesy, and better than store-bought. It’s the perfect meal for busy nights!
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Skip The Store Bought Stuff, This Is Way Better!
Honestly in (almost) the same amount of time you can open a can of Beefaroni and heat it on the stove, you can make this homemade version… but this is *so* much better! Our mom made this all. the. time. when we were growing up. It was an actual “rotation” meal in our home. It has that classic comfort food cheesiness and creaminess that brings back all the memories for me! In our family we call it “congooliami” but I have no idea where that name came from. My kids call it “beefaroni” and that definitely makes more sense. It was actually one of the first meals I prepared totally on my own as a kid, when I was 9 or 10 years old, that’s how easy this is. To this day my kids beg for this for dinner. It can literally be on the table in 15 minutes. It’s the perfect dinner for busy weeknights, big families, and hungry kids (and teens). I’m so excited for you to try this and get a taste of my 90s childhood!
🩷Erica
Ingredients for Homemade Beefaroni
- Macaroni noodles – I have made this a bajillion times and regular ol’ macaroni noodles just work best. Thicker, shaped noodles will still work great but I have found that they absorb too much of the sauce and can dry out faster.
- Ground beef – You can also use ground turkey, pork, or chicken.
- Onion – Use a yellow or white onion and chop it nice and fine. My kids don’t love big pieces of onion so I pretty much mince it when I make it for them.
- Condensed tomato soup – If you don’t want to use condensed soup, you can use spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, tomato sauce, or just a can of diced tomatoes. The tomato soup gives it a nice creamy consistency so if you use something different you can add some cream cheese to thicken it up and make it more creamy.
- Cream of mushroom soup – You can also use our Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe if you want to make it even more homemade. If you can convince your kids to eat mushrooms, I love sautéing up a whole pack of mushrooms (check out my post on how to sauté mushrooms) and adding it in addition to the mushroom soup. Seriously so good!
- Cheddar cheese – Get it pre-shredded or get a block and shred it yourself. I have found it comes out creamier when I shred it myself but use whatever you have on hand. You can also use shredded mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Mexican blend, or Pepper jack cheese, or a combination of several! I also love adding a handful of shredded parmesan cheese if I have it on hand.
- Salt and pepper – All you need is a little salt and pepper to season this Beefaroni. If you want something extra you can add garlic powder, oregano, or a little basil.
How to Make Beefaroni
- Cook the macaroni according to package directions to al dente. Drain (don’t rinse).
- While macaroni is cooking, brown the beef with the onions until completely cooked through and onions become soft and clear.
- Add the tomato and cream of mushroom soups and stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the cooked macaroni to the meat sauce and stir until well combined.
- Stir in the cheese until melted.
- Sprinkle a little extra cheese over the top (optional) and serve hot.
Pro Tips for Making Beefaroni
- Don’t overcook the pasta: It will cook a little more in the sauce so cooking the macaroni to al dente is usually just right.
- Try different pasta shapes: As I mentioned above, I like to keep it simple with macaroni noodles, but rotini, penne, bowtie, shells, or egg noodles all work great too!
- Boost the creaminess: Stir in 4-8 oz of cream cheese when adding the shredded cheese. A little extra creaminess never hurt anyone. You can also add a splash of heavy cream.
- Thin the sauce if needed: Add a splash of beef broth or milk to thin the sauce if it’s getting too thick.
- Sneak in veggies: Stir in peas, corn, green beans, diced tomatoes. I love adding shredded carrots and zucchini while I am browning the beef. It cooks down with the beef and my kids don’t even know it’s there!
What to Serve with Beefaroni
This dish is hearty enough to stand on its own, but you can never go wrong serving this with a simple green salad and some garlic bread (garlic bread is *so* good dipped in that creamy sauce FYI). You can also serve roasted or steamed veggies like broccoli, green beans, peas, or corn on the side or you can stir them right in. I really love making some sautéed mushrooms and putting them right over the top.
Storing the Leftovers
Store the leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a skillet with a splash of milk or cream or heat in 30-second increments in the microwave, adding milk or cream as needed. You can also make this ahead of time and freeze it! I like to portion it out in individual portions for freezing because it thaws easier. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Pasta absorbs sauce as it sits. If your Beefaroni seems dry, stir in a splash of milk, cream, beef broth, tomato sauce, or water while reheating to bring it back to the right consistency.
You sure can! It might not be as creamy but it will give it a nice Italian-style flavor you might like!
Elbow macaroni is my favorite (and the traditional) choice, but small shells, ditalini, rotini, or medium pasta shapes work great too. Just choose a pasta that holds onto the sauce well.
More Easy Dinner Skillet Recipes
This 15-minute Beefaroni skillet recipe is one of those recipes you’ll want to keep on repeat. It’s quick, easy, and totally gives those 90s comfort food vibes. Give it a try tonight, and let me know what you think! And don’t forget to take a pic and tag us on Instagram at @favoritefamilyrecipes 📸🧀
Homemade Beefaroni Skillet
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound macaroni noodles
- 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 to al dente, drain well.
- While noodles are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and onion together and cook until beef is browned and onions are soft and clear.
- Add condensed soups and salt and pepper.
- Add noodles to skillet and combine with sauce.
- Gently stir in cheese and serve!
- Optional: Sprinkle some extra cheese over the top and allow it to melt if you want it extra cheesy!
Notes
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- If you don’t prefer canned condensed cream of mushroom soup, try our delicious (and easy!) homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe!
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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We want to hear from you! Please leave a review.
Love this recipe? Try these other comforting classics:
Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
Instant Pot Goulash
Easy Meatball Stroganoff
Steak Stir Fry
Authentic Italian Spaghetti
Enchilada Casserole
Delicious and comfy/cozy in the evening. Simple and filling. Easy to make. I substituted fire roasted stewed tomatoes for the tomato soup.
Thanks for your kind review.
Love and so easy
Thank you, so glad you liked it!
2 cups of cheese shredded vs 2 cups shredded cheese? There is a major volume difference between the two. Can you tell me how much shredded cheese in weight by ounces?
It is 2 cups of shredded cheese. Hope this helps!
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.