Hamburger and Macaroni This easy hamburger and macaroni recipe is tops for weeknights! Some call it goulash or American chop suey, but it’s nothing more than ground beef cooked with onions, tomato sauce, and macaroni. Elise founded Slumgullion recipe Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019.
She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University. Simply Recipes: Make This Classic Hamburger and Macaroni for Dinner Tonight! This easy hamburger and macaroni recipe is tops for weeknights! This hamburger and macaroni dish is one of my mother’s recipes that has been served in our house at least once a month for the last 45 years. I’ve also heard it called “goulash” or “American chop suey” or “Hamburger Noodle Casserole. My father gets a song in his voice when he announces that we’re having HMO for dinner.
You brown the meat and make the sauce while the water is coming to a boil and the macaroni is cooking. So it takes less than half an hour to make. Many culinary traditions have a version of hamburger and macaroni. It’s similar to the Central European dish goulash, but this hamburger and mac doesn’t have the paprika that’s standard in goulash. It’s also often called American chop suey, although it doesn’t much resemble the traditional Chinese or Chinese-American chop suey. Some of our readers know it as hamburger hotdish, mulligan, or Johnny Marzetti. Whatever it’s called, it’s comforting and so simple you’ll never think about buying a pre-mixed box of pasta and spices to “help” you make hamburger and macaroni again.
Up the veggie factor by adding finely chopped vegetables like carrots, celery, zucchini, or mushrooms. Add a can of diced green chiles. Add a clove or two of minced garlic when sautéing the onion. Substitute ground turkey or ground chicken for the beef. Top with shredded cheese like cheddar or mozzarella.
Refrigerate: Refrigerate leftovers, tightly covered, for 3 to 5 days. Freezer: Freeze leftovers in a freezer safe zipper bag or container for up to 3 months. While the water is heating and macaroni cooking, prepare the sauce. In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat.
Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown. When the beef has mostly browned, add the onions to the pan and toss to combine. Cook until the onions are soft, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the celery seed, a dash of crushed red pepper and seasoned salt. Pour in canned tomatoes, add the Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Drain the pasta, reserving a half cup of the pasta cooking water.
Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and the parsley. Add in some of the pasta water if the dish is too dry. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.