Community Pick
Beef, Macaroni and Tomato Casserole
"Easy homestyle meal that kids and teenagers absolutely love."
photo by limeandspoontt
- Ready In:
- 55mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
4-5
ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 5 -6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni or 8 ounces bow tie pasta
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese
directions
- Cook noodles until al dente, 8-10 minutes, and drain.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook ground beef with garlic, oregano, basil, onion, green pepper, and salt and pepper until beef is browned, cooked through, and veggies are tender.
- Drain any fat.
- Add tomatoes and tomato sauce to beef mixture, then simmer 5-10 minutes.
- Mix beef mixture with cooked macaroni and place in a 9x13-inch casserole dish or lasagna pan.
- Top casserole with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
- Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.
Questions & Replies
-
I'm cooking for one, think this would freeze well?
Reviews
-
I like mine a little more tomatoey, if that's even a word LOL, so I use a 28 oz, can of diced tomatoes instead of a 14. Living alone, I also find that this makes a ton of Mac so I usually make a full batch of sauce and freeze half of it. Then when I find myself with no idea of what to eat, all I need do is pull out a zip loc bag of sauce, defrost it in a bowl of warm water and boil up some macaroni noodles and in very short time, mix and toss in the oven. It's also good to make the sauce the night before and then just cook the macaroni noodles and toss it in the oven the next day for dinner. It's a great recipe that lends itself to whatever variations you might want to make. I like to chop the onions and pepper on the medium side so that I can see them in the mix. Don't like garlic? Leave it out. Want to make it cheesier? Add some singles slices in the middle and put more macaroni on top, finished by your favorite cheese on top - as long as your fave is Mozzarella. :) Add some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat and I like to add a bay leaf when cooking the sauce for a touch of extra flavor. And if you really want to give it the best flavor of all, add a finely chopped anchovy filet or two into the sauce. They will disintegrate but leave a great addition to the flavor that no one will be able to figure out! -
Best Mac and cheese, I have ever eaten. I serve it with garlic French bread and salad. Now I'm adding extra tomatoes & paste. Also added ripe olives, sometimes. I double the recipe for left overs. It's a big hit! My Parrot loves it, as well! :) -
LOVE this!! It’s like a combo Mac & cheese and meat pizza!!! YUM! I loved the original recipe and read other’s recs so added an 8oz. can of PIZZA sauce (instead of tomato sauce) and rounded the basil and oregano teaspoons. Also added a shake of chili pepper and cayenne pepper for a little extra zing! Liked the idea of cranking it up to broiler heat like someone suggested to brown the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses so did that after cooking it for 350 F for 10 mins. I watched it closely under the broiler for about 6 more minutes. Then let it rest for about 10 mins. before slicing into it. Came out beautifully!! -
Great recipe! Hubby, who is not a big macaroni hamburger casserole fan, said it was the best he's ever had and that's saying something since I think I've tried them all. This is definitely a keeper and on my regular rotation. Only thing I did differently was use a bit more then a lb of hamburger Xlean and so I used a 14 oz can of tomato sauce as well. Thanks for posting this!
-
Delicious! I added some chili powder and Rotini noodles. I would defintely make this again. Thanks for the recipe.
see 47 more reviews
Tweaks
-
I have a family of nine, so I doubled the recipe. I thought the sauce was a little bland, so I added a small jar of pizza sauce and two cans of mushrooms. I also added a little extra salt and garlic. The recipe turned out very good, but I think if I had some pepperoni, or even Italian sausage to add in it, it would have went from pretty good to awesome. -
Hearty casserole and easy to make. I followed advice from some of the other reviewers and added an extra small can of tomato sauce, a little more of the macaroni, basil, and oregano - and used sharp cheddar cheese instead of mozzeralla and parmesan. Yummy! My husband loved it!
-
I made this recipe on 9/18/09 for mine and SO's dinner.I followed the recipe as it was written. But I did assemble it a bit different, instead of using a 9 x 13 inch pan a 8x 12 inch pan was used and half of the mixture was added and covered it with some sliced provolone the added the rest of pasta mixture and covered it with mozzarella and parmesan to the top.Since we like our cheese a bit on the golden side, it was baked for about 30 minutes.I do think however if this is made again, I'm going to add a bit more tomato sauce it didn't seem to be " saucy " enough. Thanks for posting and, " Keep Smiling :) " -
This is very close to what my mother used to make when I was growing up. It was quick and quite easy to make. DH requested that next time I omit the green pepper and add mushrooms and I would substitute Italian sausage for the ground beef. Thank you for posting. -
Unfortunately, I'll have to disagree with the majority. This dish was OK, but it wasn't the best. It was lacking in flavor to me... it reminded me of a baked ziti of sorts, but instead of a nice spaghetti sauce it was just tomato sauce and some diced tomatoes- hence the tomato in the title ... but I think using just canned tomato sauce made it on the bland side for me. I probably would have liked some mozzarella cheese layered in the middle or mixed in, too... rather than just alll over the top. I don't think I'd make it again - but thank you!! I always enjoy trying new things! :)
see 1 more tweaks
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
PalatablePastime
Cincinnati
I am a longtime member since 2002.
While I have many recipes here, most of my current recipes are on my food blog at palatablepastime.com
I may occasionally post something extra I have here.
If you have questions, you can always contact me at contact@palatablepastime.com
