| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds hollow cavatappi pasta
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon EVOO
- 12 ounces smoky bacon (12 slices), chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef sirloin
- Coarse black pepper
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups milk
- 4 cups shredded yellow Cheddar
- 1/3 cup organic ketchup, plus some for garnish
- 1/3 cup yellow mustard, plus some for garnish
- 2 tablespoons pickle relish, plus some for garnish
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- Chopped iceberg lettuce
- Diced tomatoes
- Chopped raw white or red onions
- Bread and butter pickle chips
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt the water and cook the pasta shy of al dente, 5 to 6 minutes.
- While the water comes to a boil, heat the EVOO in a Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and remove some of the drippings, leaving a thin layer. Add the beef, brown and crumble, but leave a few larger pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Once the beef has caramelized, add the onions and cook to tender. Add the stock and Worcestershire, then reduce the heat to low.
- In a saucepot over medium to medium-high heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour, cook 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and season with salt and pepper. Thicken to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the cheese. When the cheese has melted into the sauce, stir in the mustard, ketchup, relish and hot sauce. Combine the pasta with the sauce and fold in the meat. Place in a large casserole dish. Cool and store for a make-ahead meal.
- To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bring the casserole to room temp then bake until brown and bubbly on top and golden at edges, 45 to 50 minutes.
Reviews
Omg sooo cravable!! I reduced the amounts a bit of everything to accommodate 1lb of ground beef and 3/4 lb of cavatappi but followed the recipe exactly. Hubby was eating it out of the pan before and after dinner. Miss your recipes Rach! This one is an instant family fav!
So much fun to put together. Sized down the recipe and it smells and tastes so good. Will make it again
This is my families favorite recipe. I of course make some changes, I only use 1lb if pasta. I drain my grease. And I double the ketchup and omit the mustard and hot sauce. Just cuz my family doesn’t eat those ingredients. It is soo flavorful and there is always leftovers which heat up soo well.
I was really surprised by the sauce…it was really good! Yes it definitely tastes like a cheeseburger. My family liked it a lot and I will make it again. It’s a keeper for our household. I did drain the grease off the ground beef after cooking with the bacon grease. It will still retain the flavor and was not be too greasy. Good recipe!
The best! Includes everything you have at home and makes a large scrumptious casserole. I did substitute Taco sauce for hot sauce – great flavors AND I used boxed Mac and Cheese!!
Excellent recipe! Will definitely make again. Only thing different I did was real bacon bits instead of whole bacon. Crisped them up in a small saute pan for just a few minutes, set aside, then used as a topping as suggested. It really tasted like a bacon cheeseburger!
FAVORITE. Mack and cheese ever. It is just like eating a cheeseburger with all your favorite toppings. I did make a few changes, used elbow macaroni and increased The amount of pickle relish, and finally I baked my bacon and used as a topping.
It is a combination of a bacon cheeseburger and pasta.
This was crazy good! My kids couldn’t wait to eat it. I thought I would taste the ketchup, mustard and relish in the sauce more but it kind of disappeared when it was baked. I thought the pasta amount was correct for the amount of sauce, but it sure does make an enormous casserole!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was very good. My 13 yr old son and his friend loved it. It really did taste like a bacon cheeseburger. The only change I will make next time is draining off all of the bacon fat before adding the meat, it ended up just a little too greasy for my taste, but other than that, perfect recipe as is.