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homemade beefaroni in a can with a fork.
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Homemade Beefaroni

Inspired and developed based on the original beefaroni recipe, our Homemade Beefaroni Recipe is made with straight macaroni, tomato paste, ground beef, garlic, onions, and Romano cheese. It's sure to bring you back to your childhood.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Dinner, lunch, Pasta
Cuisine: American, Italian Inspired, north american
Keyword: chef boyardee, copycat, easy pasta, pasta dinner ideas
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 476kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin, divided
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 small carrot diced
  • 1 celery stalk diced
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 can tomato paste 5.25 oz
  • 1 qt beef stock
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 lb straight-cut macaroni or ziti
  • 1 cup Romano cheese grated
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef in small pieces. Cook for 2 minutes to caramelize, then stir and break up the beef into very fine pieces. Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until browned, and most of the liquid of the liquid is evaporated. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside. Ensure to leave the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
  • Return the pot to medium-high heat and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook, stirring often, until lightly softened. Stir in the garlic, ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add the tomato paste and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often until it begins to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan.
  • Pour in the beef stock and water, stir to combine.
  • Blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth (it will be very watery).
  • Bring to a boil, then add the noodles and cooked ground beef, and immediately stir to ensure the noodles don’t stick together. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until the noodles are al dente.
  • Stir in the cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste (we usually add ½ teaspoon of each). Serve family-style, plated, or out of a can (if you’re going for the true beefaroni vibe).

Video

Notes

Scroll up for a visual walkthrough of the recipe.
If you love our homemade beefaroni recipe, check out our Big Mac Pizza (Cheeseburger Pizza)Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and CheeseHomemade Big Mac Recipe with Secret Sauce, or our Creamy Baked Gnocchi with Spicy Vodka Sauce.
Building flavor: After browning the meat, ensure to leave the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. This is called the fawn, which is extremely flavorful and enhances the flavor of the dish. The same applies to the tomato paste; allowing it to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan adds flavor, just be careful not to burn it. 
Pot: We prefer to use enameled cast iron pots for cooking sauces, especially when they have meat and vegetables. This allows them to brown and develop fawn with less risk of burning versus a stainless steel pot, which can get too hot very quickly. 
Blending: Using the immersion blender in step 4 is an optional step. We do this for a smooth sauce (like the original beefaroni), but if you don’t have an immersion blender, leaving the vegetables diced will minimally affect the flavor of the sauce. 
Reheating: When warming leftover pasta, we add a splash of water or chicken stock to loosen the sauce a bit, which keeps the consistency the same as when freshly made. 
Batch-cooking/freezing: To batch-cook our beefaroni recipe, follow steps 1 through 4 exactly as per our recipe. In step 5, stir in the noodles, beef, and Romano cheese all at the same time. Add 1 cup of cold water then immediately remove from the heat (this prevents the noodles from cooking too much and getting mushy when reheating). Once cool, divide the beefaroni into freezer-safe containers of your choice and freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, run the container under warm water to loosen it, then heat the beefaroni on the stove. 

Nutrition

Calories: 476kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 891mg | Potassium: 772mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1424IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 3mg