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Home » Recipes » Main Dish Recipes » beef main dishes » Skillet Macaroni and Beef Recipe

Skillet Macaroni and Beef Recipe

By Lynette on March 28, 2018 · 4 Comments

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cast iron skillet with macaroni and beef on table

This skillet macaroni and beef recipe is packed with flavor!  An easy weeknight meal, it is made with tomato sauce, ground beef, green pepper and onion.  

cast iron skillet with macaroni and beef on table

When searching through our family recipes I stumbled onto this macaroni and beef recipe that brought back memories of my mom cooking on her electric skillet.  Like macaroni casserole, The flavors were immediately in my brain and I knew I had to make it right away for my family.  My boys love anything with tomato sauce – seriously.  Anything.

recipe card of macaroni and beef

And while I don’t own an electric skillet, our cast iron did just the trick – as well as our regular ol’ cooking pan.  Nothing fancy in the kitchen utensils department is needed to make this simple and hearty weeknight meal.

How To Make Macaroni and Beef

This recipe is full of simple ingredients that you most likely already have on hand. To make this recipe you will need:

  • ground beef
  • onion
  • green pepper
  • elbow macaroni
  • tomato sauce
  • water
  • Worcestershire sauce (the key ingredient!)
  • pepper

ground beef onion and green pepper in skillet to cook

How To Cook Macaroni and Beef

Step 1 – Fully Cook the Ground Beef, Onion and Green Pepper

Brown the ground beef, onion and green pepper together in a large skillet.   Anything that starts out with onion in the pan always turns out amazing.  Am I right?

The best part about making this recipe is that the elbow macaroni cooks in the recipe soaking up all those flavors as it bubbles away.  I think it’s one of the reasons I love this recipe so much and why it packs so much deliciousness.

all ingredients in skillet to cook

Step 2 – Add all the remaining ingredients into the skillet and simmer.

Mix it well and cover to simmer for approximately 25 minutes or until the macaroni is tender.  Don’t be afraid to take a bit to test – yum!  You will want to stir it occasionally and make sure your skillet is simmering gently and not too hot, so as to avoid burning.

macaroni and beef in skillet fully cookedWhat results is a hearty meal of goodness that, as anticipated, was a huge hit with my boys!  I hope you enjoy this timeless macaroni and beef recipe with tomato sauce as much as we did!

Other Easy Weeknight Meal Recipes

  • Basic Chili Recipe
  • Baked Chicken Parmesan
  • Easy Taco Soup Recipe
  • Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup

Recipe For Macaroni and Beef

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cast iron skillet with macaroni and beef on table

Skillet Macaroni and Beef Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Lynette
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 25 min
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

This skillet macaroni and beef recipe made with tomato sauce is an easy weeknight meal that is done in less than 30 minutes!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 2 Cups elbow macaroni
  • 2 Cups tomato sauce
  • 1 ½ Cups water
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

  1. Brown beef with onion and green pepper.  Drain fat once fully cooked.
  2. Add uncooked macaroni and remaining ingredients to the ground beef mixture.  Mix well.
  3. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until the macaroni is tender.  Stir occasionally.
  4. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Notes

As the macaroni and beef simmers, you may need to add a little water towards the end if you need more cooking time.  I didn’t find that I needed to, but keep it in mind if you find that your sauce is too thick to allow the macaroni to fully cook.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: ¾ Cup
  • Calories: 277
  • Sugar: 4.5
  • Sodium: 78.9
  • Fat: 8.9
  • Carbohydrates: 29.6
  • Protein: 19.3
  • Cholesterol: 47.6

Keywords: Skillet Macaroni and Beef

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Tag @cleverlysimple on Instagram and hashtag it #cleverlysimple

 

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About Lynette

Lynette is the home cook, recipe tester and photographer for Cleverly Simple which she created in 2010.  Most of her recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from her great-grandma, grandmother, and mother.

Lynette’s recipes and projects have been featured in Country Living, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and others.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol

    October 09, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    I love the simplicity and versatility of this recipe. My whole family loves it. I’ve made it several times. Sometimes I make it exactly as stated in the recipe and other times I improvise due to what I have on hand. Tonight I made it with eggplant and no bell pepper. I only had one small can of tomato sauce so I added fresh tomatoes and some tomato paste. Added a little extra macaroni because I didn’t want it to go unused. Came out great. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lynette

      October 14, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!

      Reply
  2. Susan

    May 26, 2020 at 11:40 am

    My mom use to make this recipe for us when we were little, I’m assuming she got this recipe from her mom. It’s easy to make and taste great!! I haven’t made this in a very long time so tonight it’s whats for dinner. Thanks for sharing this recipe, its one of the recipes I didn’t have in my folder but now I do and it will be a regular meal to go too.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lynette

      May 31, 2020 at 3:15 pm

      Awesome! I always love it when you can reconnect with great recipes from the past. 🙂

      Reply

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Lynette Rice head shotHi, I’m Lynette. My desire is to help women who feel uninspired weave time honored recipes into their routines to create a sense of simplicity. Most of my recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from my great-grandma, grandmother and mother. And I want to share them with you.  Learn more.

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