Homemade Beefaroni, Easy and Cheesy on the Stovetop

Homemade beefaroni is ground beef, onion and garlic simmered in a seasoned tomato sauce, tossed with short pasta and finished under a blanket of melted cheddar and mozzarella, all in one pot on the stovetop in about 45 minutes. It is the canned classic made with real ingredients, and it tastes the way you remember the can tasting, only it actually does.

The sauce is the whole point. A can of beefaroni is sweet, soft and one-note, and a from-scratch version fixes that with browned beef, a splash of beef broth, Worcestershire and a pinch of sugar to round out the tomato. The pasta cooks separately so it stays firm, and the cheese goes on top with the lid on for the last few minutes so it melts into a stretchy layer instead of disappearing into the sauce.

Pictured: made with cavatappi, the corkscrew pasta, in an oval cast-iron pot. Elbow macaroni is the classic shape and works exactly the same way; both are in the recipe card.

What Makes Homemade Beefaroni Better Than the Can

The canned version is pasta and ground beef in a thin, sweet tomato sauce, cooked soft enough to survive on a shelf. Homemade beefaroni keeps the same idea and fixes the three things the can gets wrong. The beef is browned properly, so it has some crust and flavor rather than steaming gray in the sauce. Onion, garlic, beef broth and Worcestershire give the sauce depth, and just a teaspoon of sugar takes the sharp edge off the tomato. Finally, the pasta is cooked to just under al dente and stirred in at the end.

Then there is the cheese, which the can does not have at all. Sharp cheddar for flavor and mozzarella for the stretch, scattered over the top and melted under the lid so every scoop pulls up a layer of it. It turns a pantry supper into something worth photographing.

Nothing about it is difficult. If you can brown beef and boil pasta, you can make this, and the whole thing fits in a 45-minute window on a weeknight.

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Ingredient Notes

• Short pasta. Twelve ounces of cavatappi, as pictured, or elbow macaroni. Both are made from durum wheat, which the Wheat Foods Council calls the hardest wheat and the best for pasta, and that is why they hold their shape in a thick sauce.
• Ground beef. One pound of 85 percent lean. Leaner beef goes dry and grainy in the sauce; fattier beef needs draining and can make it greasy.
• Yellow onion and garlic. One onion, finely chopped, and three cloves of garlic. They are the base of the sauce, so do not skip the few minutes it takes to soften them.
• Tomato sauce. Twenty-four ounces of plain canned tomato sauce, not marinara and not pasta sauce, which are already seasoned.
• Beef broth. One cup. It loosens the sauce enough to coat the pasta and adds a savory depth that water cannot.
• Worcestershire sauce. A tablespoon. It is the ingredient that makes the sauce taste like it simmered for longer than it did.
• Italian seasoning and paprika. A teaspoon and a half teaspoon. The paprika is optional and adds color and a faint sweetness.
• Sugar. One teaspoon, to balance the acidity of the tomato sauce. It should not taste sweet, only rounded.
• Sharp cheddar. A cup and a half, grated from a block. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in starch and melts into a grainy film.
• Mozzarella. One cup, low-moisture, for the stretch on top.
• Parsley. A couple of tablespoons, chopped, to cut the richness and make it look like dinner.

Beefaroni vs Goulash vs Hamburger Helper

These three get mixed up constantly, and they are different dishes. Beefaroni is ground beef and short pasta in a smooth tomato sauce, usually with cheese. American goulash is closer to a stew: diced tomatoes, bell pepper, often a bay leaf, and the macaroni cooked right in the pot so it drinks up the liquid. It is chunkier and more savory, and it rarely has cheese on top.

Hamburger Helper is the boxed mix, with a powdered cheese sauce and pasta that cooks in milk and water in the same skillet. A homemade version of that is creamier and paler than homemade beefaroni, and it leans on the dairy rather than the tomato.

If you want the pasta cooked in the pot rather than separately, this recipe can do it: add an extra cup and a half of broth with the tomato sauce, stir in the dry pasta, and simmer covered for twelve to fourteen minutes, stirring often. The texture is softer and the sauce thicker, which some people prefer.

How To Make Homemade Beefaroni

First, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the pasta for two minutes less than the package says. It will finish cooking in the sauce. Drain it and set it aside.

Next, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and cook the onion for three to four minutes, until soft and just turning gold at the edges. Stir in the garlic for thirty seconds. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, for six to eight minutes, until browned all over with no pink left. Spoon off the fat if there is more than a tablespoon or two.

Then pour in the tomato sauce and broth and add the Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, paprika, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring it to a simmer, lower the heat, and let it bubble gently for ten minutes so the sauce thickens and the flavors settle. Taste it and adjust the salt before the pasta goes in, because the pasta will dilute it.

Finishing with the Cheese

After that, tip the drained pasta into the sauce and stir until every piece is coated. Finally, scatter the cheddar and mozzarella evenly over the top, put the lid on, and leave it over low heat for three to four minutes, until the cheese has melted into a soft layer. Do not stir it in. Scatter the parsley over the top and serve straight from the pot.

If you would rather have a browned, bubbling top, the pot can go under the broiler for two to three minutes instead of under the lid, as long as the handles are oven-safe.

How To Tell When Homemade Beefaroni Is Done

The beef is done when there is no pink left and the crumbles have browned edges, which takes six to eight minutes over medium heat. Ground beef needs to reach 160°F, and by the time it is browned and then simmered for ten minutes in sauce it is well past that, so a thermometer is not necessary here.

The sauce is ready when it has thickened enough that a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pot leaves a trail for a second before it closes. Too thin and it will pool in the bottom of the bowl; if that happens, simmer it uncovered for five more minutes before adding the pasta.

The cheese is the last check. Homemade beefaroni is ready to serve when the mozzarella has gone from white and matte to glossy and soft, and a spoon pushed in pulls up a stretch of it. That is three to four minutes under the lid over low heat. Longer than that and the pasta underneath keeps cooking.

Make It Ahead

The sauce can be made up to three days ahead and kept in the fridge, or frozen for three months. Reheat it in the pot with a splash of broth, cook the pasta fresh, and finish with the cheese as written. This is the version that makes homemade beefaroni a fifteen-minute dinner on the night.

The whole dish can also be assembled ahead, without the cheese. Combine the sauce and the slightly undercooked pasta, cool it, and refrigerate it in the pot or a baking dish for up to two days. Reheat it covered over low heat or in a 350°F oven with a splash of broth until hot through, then add the cheese and melt it.

Storing Homemade Beefaroni

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. The pasta soaks up sauce as it sits, so reheat it with a spoonful of water or broth, either in a covered pan over low heat or in the microwave in one-minute bursts with a stir in between. It reheats better than most pasta dishes, because the sauce is loose enough to begin with.

Homemade beefaroni freezes well for up to two months. Portion it into freezer containers, leave the parsley off, and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. The cheese on top loses a little of its stretch after freezing but the flavor is unchanged. If you know a batch is headed for the freezer, undercook the pasta by an extra minute so it has room to soften on the reheat.

Variations and Substitutions

Which Pasta Shape to Use (Cavatappi Pictured)

Cavatappi is the corkscrew pasta in the photographs, and it is a very good choice here, because the ridges and the hollow twist hold both the sauce and the melted cheese. Elbow macaroni is the shape the canned version uses and the one most people picture when they hear the word, and it works identically; use the same twelve ounces and the same cooking time minus two minutes. Shells, rotini and small penne all work too. Avoid long pasta and anything so small it turns to mush, like orzo or ditalini.

Other Ways to Change It

Ground turkey or chicken. A straight swap for the beef. Add an extra tablespoon of oil for browning and a little more Worcestershire, because the meat is milder.

Extra vegetables. Diced bell pepper or zucchini in with the onion, or a couple of handfuls of spinach stirred in with the pasta. Mushrooms are good browned with the beef.

Creamy. Stir a half cup of heavy cream or a few spoonfuls of cream cheese into the sauce before the pasta goes in. It brings the dish closer to a stroganoff in richness.

Spicy. A half teaspoon of red pepper flakes with the garlic, or swap the paprika for hot paprika. Pepper jack in place of the mozzarella carries it further.

Different cheeses. Monterey Jack, Colby, Gouda or a spoonful of Velveeta all melt well. Parmesan on top is a good addition but does not melt into a layer on its own.

Gluten-free. Use a gluten-free short pasta and check the label on the Worcestershire, which sometimes contains malt vinegar.

What to Serve with Homemade Beefaroni

This is a rich, cheesy bowl, so the side should be something crisp and cool. A simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette, a plate of raw cucumber and carrot sticks, or steamed green beans with lemon all do the job. Garlic bread is the obvious extra if the table is hungry.

If you are building a rotation of easy pasta dinners, million-dollar spaghetti casserole is the baked cousin of this dish, and Outback mac and cheese covers the nights when you want the cheese without the tomato.

Homemade Beefaroni FAQ

More Questions About Beefaroni

Make the sauce on Sunday and homemade beefaroni becomes a Tuesday dinner that takes fifteen minutes. When the same crowd wants something a little chunkier next week, American goulash is the natural next pot.