Hello again from quarantine! We’ve made this recipe two times already in the past week, so I figured it was good enough to share. Cheeseburger Shells and Cheese is a fancy name for a one pot meal that is kid friendly and fun for Mom and Dad too. It is very reminiscent of my favorite boxed meal as a kid, Hamburger Helper, and so easy to make without the box!
A couple other quarantine updates:
- Today was such a beautiful Spring day! My husband has been working really hard to dig out our flower beds and get them ready for summer. We have always said we don’t have enough time to make our yard look nice so I guess this year is the test. We spent a lot of time outside today with the kids. Taking walks down the block and letting them play with their toys outside. We have a couple trees that are in bloom right now too and everything looks so beautiful.
- I am still cooking and baking a lot!
- At home learning started today. It was good. We have three kids in school. One in 1st grade, one in 2nd grade, and one in 7th grade. I can easily say the elementary kids did a much better job than our middle school child. He had himself convinced that all of the work was optional, I had to tell him about 100 times it was not. I ended up learning a lot about Mark Twain and Amphibians if that is any indication how it went. HA
Cheeseburger Shells and Cheese Recipe Tips
- This recipe is very similar to my Homemade Hamburger Helper recipe! The difference here is I switched out the milk and water for beef broth to develop a slightly different flavor.
- The ketchup and mustard sound a little odd, but trust me the flavor you get from these ingredients is not overpowering. I actually didn’t tell my kids that the recipe included these ingredients and they would have never known. Everything blends together really well.
- If you get to the end of the recipe and your sauce is thin (which has happened to me once or twice), go ahead and mix another Tablespoon of flour with cold water and add to your pot. Make sure you get all lumps out of flour before adding or you will end up with a lumpy sauce. Crank up your heat a little when you stir it in and you should end up with a thicker result.
- Additional cheese or parmesan cheese is totally acceptable!
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Cheeseburger Shells and Cheese
By Published: April 7, 2020
- Yield: 4 Servings
- Cook: 30 mins
Hello again from quarantine! We've made this recipe two times already in the past week, so I figured it was good enough to share. …
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 cups beef stock
- 3 cups medium shells
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1/4 cups heavy cream or half and half
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Season with about a teaspoon of salt while cooking. Drain grease.
- Add 2 Tablespoons flour to beef and stir until you can't see the flour anymore.
- Add all other ingredients except heavy cream. Stir ingredients well and cook over medium-high heat until mixture has come to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until pasta is tender and sauce has thickened.
- Shells can vary from brand to brand. If your sauce is thin, add a Tablespoon or two of flour to a small bowl and mix very well with cold water. Make sure your mixture has no lumps. Add additional mixture to sauce and crank up your heat to thicken to desired consistency.
- Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup heavy cream.
