October 29, 2018

30 Minute One Pan Beef Penne

Name: 30 Minute One Pan Beef Penne
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 pound lean ground beef; ½ tablespoon garlic powder; ½ tablespoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes, drained; 1 cup jarred marinara sauce; ½ tablespoon chopped parsley; 12 ounces no-boil penne (see note); 2 cups vegetable stock; 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese; 4 ounces thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

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This beef penne uses just one pan and goes from stove to table in 30 minutes. The pasta cooks right in the savory tomato beef sauce and is topped with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. It’s a favorite weeknight comfort food dish!

This post and recipe were originally published in Oct 2016.

One Pan Beef Penne

Because it’s Monday and maybe we’re all feeling a little busy with life these days – Halloween, which is just a few short days away, is the kick-off to the holiday season – it’s good timing to share a dinner idea that is easy, fast, hearty, and comforting. Plus, you only need one pan (!) and 30-minutes during which there is exactly just one thing that needs chopping and, you know what? You could probably skip the fresh parsley. I won’t tell.

This hearty beef penne is a weeknight dump-and-stir dinner dream thanks to fast cooking pasta – have you seen it in the stores? I’ve been checking out the no-boil no-drain penne for who knows how long without buying it because I’m old school when it comes to boiling pasta (big pot? check. Lots of water? check) and I was slow-to-warm-up to these new-fangled kinds of pasta.

photo showing the pasta added to the beef mixture

And now I know I am a fool. You see, this penne is like magic and you really can just dump it in a pot to cook right along whatever you’re making rendering your big old stock pot useless. There is a little bit of science to it, of course, and attention must be paid to the amount of pasta versus the amount of liquid.

I’ve done a few one-pot wonders using regular pasta and it works, but this special stuff cooks in about half the time. This meaty, tomato-y penne took about 12 minutes after the pasta was added to the pot making it entirely possible to get dinner on the table in about 30 minutes without having to wait for a giant pot of water to boil. Yay.

Some Ingredients You’ll Need

It starts with the meat sauce. I used ground beef, but feel free to substitute ground turkey or chicken or even Italian sausage would work well.
Sometimes we need a break from chopping so some onion powder, garlic powder, and dried Italian seasoning add all sorts of flavor.
But, in case you want to chop something, there’s some parsley stirred into the sauce to add a pop of freshness.
The no-boil no-drain penne cooks in a sauce of diced canned tomatoes and jarred marinara sauce. Since first sharing this recipe in 2016 a few readers have commented that they use regular penne and it works just as well. Check out the comments section on this post to read their comments plus others from folks who have tried this recipe!
A sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese and thin slices of fresh mozzarella finish it off. I used fresh mozzarella, but you could also use regular shredded mozzarella instead.

And as excited as I am about this low maintenance pasta I’m pretty sure I won’t be breaking up with my traditional pasta anytime soon. I’m loyal like that but it’s nice to have options, right?

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