One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni

These days I am all about dinners that are fast to put together and take the least amount of dishes and pots to make. With moving all over the place and not knowing what is going on, its nice to have meals like this one.  Plus, my whole family liked it!  I used gluten free rice pasta so I could eat it too and turned out great.  Double plus!  This totally reminded me of the boxed hamburger helper stuff, but homemade without all the preservatives and junk.  Easy peasey and good!  Woohoo!

One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
From No. 2 Pencil

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• ½ of a large yellow onion, diced
• 1.5 pounds good quality, lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoon of season salt, or salt and pepper to taste
• 1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups of water
• ¼ cup of ketchup
• 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
• 1 pound of rotini pasta
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• Freshly diced tomato
• Green onions
• Pickles
• Shredded lettuce

Instructions

1. Start with a large pot.
2. Add olive oil to the pan, and sautee yellow onions until softened over medium heat.
3. Increase heat to high and add ground beef.
4. While ground beef is cooking, season with one teaspoon of season salt plus several turns of freshly ground pepper.
5. Brown ground beef, and drain any excess fat from the pot.
6. Use kitchen scissors to chop up whole tomatoes while still in the can.
7. Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, water, ketchup, mustard, pasta and additional teaspoon of season salt to the pot and bring mixture to a boil.
8. Turn heat back down, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
9. Once pasta is cooked, remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
10. Sprinkle additional cup of shredded cheese on top and re-cover pot with lid until cheese is melted.
11. Add your choice of traditional cheeseburger toppings.
12. We choose fresh, diced tomatoes and green onions. You can also try pickles or shredded lettuce.

Notes

This recipe serves a lot, probably 8-10 at least, and makes great leftovers! The ingredients are easily halved to feed a family of 4.