30 Minute One Pan Beef Penne

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!

overhead photo of 30-minute one pan beef penne

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?

close-up photo of one-pan beef penne

More Easy Pasta Recipes

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30 Minute One Pan Beef Penne

30 Minute One Pan Beef Penne | girlgonegourmet.com

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5 from 4 reviews

This is a hearty beef and pasta dinner that is ready in about 30 minutes and uses just one pan for easy clean-up!

  • Author: April Anderson
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Simmer
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 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

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Cook the beef, breaking it up with a spatula, until browned and cooked through.
  2. Add the Worcestershire sauce, diced tomatoes, marinara sauce, and parsley and stir to combine. Add the penne and the vegetable stock. Increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the penne is tender, stirring frequently. While the pasta is cooking, preheat the oven to broil.
  3. Uncover the pan and sprinkle the parmesan over the top. Place the mozzarella slices on top. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil until the cheese is melted.

Notes

  • I haven’t tested this recipe with regular penne, but a few readers have and shared in the comments that it works well, too. Check out the comments section in the post to read their comments!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
  • Calories: 491
  • Sugar: 5.5g
  • Sodium: 771.3mg
  • Fat: 15.2g
  • Saturated Fat: 6.2g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 7.1g
  • Trans Fat: 0.2g
  • Carbohydrates: 50.5g
  • Fiber: 3.5g
  • Protein: 36.1g
  • Cholesterol: 86.7mg

Do you love this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a comment and your recipe star rating!

35 Comments

  1. Better known as Hamburger Helper.
    My mom made this as a staple on school nights growing up. It kept three kids well fed.
    Thanks for the new version.
    Can’t wait to give it a try.

  2. This recipe is so easy and tastes good! I made it because my son is a picky eater and he likes Hamburger Helper so I wanted a similar recipe (but without the grossness of HH.) And this recipe delivers! I used ground turkey and just regular penne and after 15 minutes, it was perfectly al dente (I didn’t drain the canned tomatoes and added a fresh cut up tomato.) I did add salt and pepper at the end and sprinkled with parm cheese (the mozzarella has mysteriously disappeared.) My son gave me a ‘thumbs up’ after the first bite and the adults liked it too! This recipe is a keeper 🙂






  3. Thank you for sharing this recipe with me. I did not boil my noodles, and I did not have no boil noodles. All I did was brown the hamburger as you described in your recipe and did everything except for boiled The Panini noodles. Then I put it in a oven safe dish, covered it with aluminum foil, and cooked it for 45 minutes on 400°. Uncover, sprinkle a little bit of cheese on top and wait until it’s melted.

    Yum.






  4. Made it on a snowy/rainy spring night and it was perfect-the worcestershire sauce is the secret weapon!






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