This beef and veggie shell pasta is creamy, cheesy, and beefy, it sneaks in a TON of veggies, and it still packs a protein punch. It’s ready in 30 minutes, so it’s perfect for busy weeknights.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Ground Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Serves: 6 servings
- Calories: 385 cal
- Protein: 31.5g
- Fat: 11.7g
- Carbs: 40g
- Why You'll Love It: This macro-friendly Ground Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta is made with lean ground beef, tender pasta shells, and a medley of sautéed vegetables. It’s a family-friendly meal that comes together in just 30 minutes and is perfect for busy weeknights.
Any time I’m trying to come up with a recipe I know will be a winner with my kids, I can pretty much always default to pasta. And this one lets me clean out the fridge too!
The best part is you can totally customize it. Use any pasta in the pantry, your favorite marinara, and all those extra veggies that need to get used up. For more easy weeknight dinners, try my creamy tomato butternut skillet lasagna, Instant Pot pork ragu, or (no noodle) easy lasagna soup.
How Do You Make Beef and Shells Creamy Without Heavy Cream?
Cottage cheese! I blend low-fat cottage cheese with jarred marinara, parmesan, and basil paste until it’s smooth. You get a creamy, cheesy tomato sauce that adds protein instead of a bunch of fat. It’s the secret ingredient here. If you’re a cottage cheese fan like me, here are more of my cottage cheese recipes.
Is Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta Healthy?
YES. The 96/4 extra lean ground beef and cottage cheese keep the protein high and the fat low, and there are over 7 cups of veggies in the pan. One serving has 385 calories, 31.5g protein, 11.7g fat, 40g carbs, and 5g fiber. Find more lean beef dinners in my healthy ground beef recipes.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- Shell pasta: the shells catch all the sauce, beef, and veggie bits in every bite. Any short pasta works, and so does whole wheat, gluten-free, or protein pasta. Use gluten-free pasta to make it gluten-free.
- 96/4 extra lean ground beef: keeps the protein high and the fat low while still giving you that savory, meaty flavor. Ground turkey or ground chicken works too.
- Low-fat cottage cheese: makes the sauce creamy and cheesy and adds protein. For dairy-free, try dairy-free ricotta or Forager plant-based sour cream.
- Rao’s marinara: my go-to for great flavor with simple ingredients and no added sugar. Any jarred or homemade marinara works.
- Basil paste: one of my favorite kitchen shortcuts! You can normally find it in the produce aisle.
- Freshly shredded parmesan: I always recommend it if possible.
- Veggies: I use a shallot, zucchini, asparagus, and arugula or spinach. Swap in any veggies you have on hand. Such a good recipe to clean out the fridge.
Before You Start Cooking
- Plan for about 30 minutes. That’s 10 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking.
- Chop all your veggies first. Dice the shallot and zucchini and cut the asparagus into bite-sized pieces. They go in the skillet fast.
- Blend the sauce early. Blend the marinara, cottage cheese, parmesan, and basil paste and set it aside, so it’s ready to pour in.
- Undercook the pasta a little. I cook it about 1 minute less than the box says, since it keeps cooking in the sauce. Save 1 cup of pasta water before you drain it. You can also rinse it with cold water so it doesn’t overcook while you finish everything else.
- Track it the easy way. One serving is 336g. Search “Lillie Eats and Tells Ground Beef and Veggie Shells” to log it, or here’s how I add a recipe to MyFitnessPal.
How to Make Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta
- Cook the pasta. Cook it al dente and leave it a little firm. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Blend the sauce. Blend the marinara, cottage cheese, parmesan, and basil paste. Set aside.
- Sauté the veggies. Heat a spritz of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the shallots and zucchini for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the asparagus and ½ tsp of the salt and cook about 3 more minutes, until crisp-tender.
- Brown the beef. Scoot the veggies to one side and add the beef, remaining salt, and seasonings. Let it sear before you break it up so it builds more flavor. Stir everything together, then add the tomato paste, garlic, and ½ cup of pasta water and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Finish it. Pour in the blended sauce and simmer for a minute. Turn off the heat and gently stir in the pasta and arugula. Top with extra red pepper flakes and parmesan if you like.
What to Serve with Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta
With all the veggies already in the pan, this is a full meal on its own. When I want something fresh on the side, I go with a house salad, an arugula salad, or my kale caesar salad. For extra veggies, parmesan smashed broccoli is a family favorite.
How to Freeze Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta
This pasta works great for meal prep, and it’s one of my macro-friendly freezer meals too. For the fridge, store it in an airtight container and reheat gently with a splash of water or broth.
- If you’re making this to freeze, cook the pasta a minute or two less than usual so it doesn’t get soft when you reheat it.
- Let it cool, then portion into containers and label with the date and grams (one serving is 336g).
- Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Reheat gently with a splash of water or broth to loosen up the sauce.
- Keeps up to 3 months.
Want more pasta dinners? Try my quick skillet ham and veggie pasta, mushroom ricotta pasta bake, mushroom and thyme pasta bake with chicken, or Italian pasta soup.
If you want a plan for the whole week, my macro-friendly meal plans send you a new menu and grocery list every Thursday, with the macros already done. They adjust to your household size, so the servings work for your family. You can try it free.
Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta Calories and Macros
One serving (336g) of this beef and veggie shell pasta has 385 calories, 31.5g protein, 11.7g fat, and 40g carbs, with 5g fiber. The full nutrition is in the recipe card below.
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Ground Beef and Veggie Shell Pasta
Ingredients
- ½ lb pasta
- 2 cups jarred marinara like Rao’s (480)
- ¾ cup low-fat cottage cheese 180g
- ½ cup parmesan cheese 40g
- 2 Tbsp basil paste 30g
- ¼ cup shallot diced (60g)
- 2 ½ cups zucchini diced (300g)
- 3 ½ cups asparagus chopped into bite-sized pieces (400g)
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 lb 96/4 extra lean ground beef 448g
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp crushed fennel
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste 45g
- 4 frozen garlic cubes or minced cloves
- 1 cup arugula or spinach chopped (30g)
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente. It’ll cook a bit more in the mixture, so make sure to leave it a little firm. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Blend the jarred marinara, low-fat cottage cheese, parmesan, and basil paste. Set aside.
- In a large hot, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat a spritz of olive oil to medium-high heat. Add the shallots and zucchini and cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant and slightly tender. Add asparagus and half a teaspoon of the salt and cook for another 3 minutes or until the asparagus is crisp-tender. Stir often.
- Scoot the veggies to one side and add your ground beef and remaining salt, along with the other seasonings. Brown the meat, breaking it up as it cooks. Stir meat and veggies together, then add tomato paste and garlic to the pan along with ½ cup of pasta water. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the blended sauce/cheese mixture into the skillet and stir well. Let it simmer for a minute, then turn off the heat and gently stir in the cooked pasta and arugula. Enjoy with some additional red pepper flakes and optional parmesan on top!
Notes
Tried this recipe?
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I made this last night and my super picky teenager liked it! She gave it 4 out of 5 stars which in our world is more like 100/5. It was super easy and I think you could easily mix up the veggies with whatever you have on hand if you wanted. I didn’t use the arugula or asparagus due to my picky eater. She didn’t notice or mind the zucchini. I’m super excited to have the leftovers today! I think the recipe was really easy and pretty fast to make. The trick is to not cook the pasta all the way so it doesn’t soften too much in the final steps. I will definitely make again!
yay!! so happy you and your 4 year old liked it! that’s high praise! ❤️
So good! Didn’t have asparagus so I used extra zucchini and still delicious.
yummy! makes a LOT of food. will make again for my fam.
Turned out so delicious! My 6, 4 and 1 yo all liked it too! I was skeptical with how much asparagus there was in it, but I trust your recipes, and just like always everything blended together so nicely and tasted amazing.
I messed up like 3 separate steps in this recipe and it still turned out awesome. I wouldn’t say it’s a simple recipe with the various steps required, but it’s definitely easy and delicious! I used bison instead of beef, high protein gf pasta, and added a little ricotta. Will definitely be adding this to the regular rotation!
We loved this recipe! My picky 6 year old gobbled it up and asked for seconds. She cheered when I served it for leftovers 2 days later. She NEVER cheers for leftovers. 😂 Thanks for a great recipe!
This dish is SO delicious!!! Used protein rotini pasta. Omitted the asparagus and used more zucchini. Loved the basil paste (had never tried that before…added great flavor. I will definitely make this again. A real keeper!!!
So delicious!!! What is considered one serving?!
Loved this so much! Didn’t have asparagus so just left it out. Used protein pasta for a little protein boost. I would give this more stars if I could.
I’d like to make this but I can’t find basil paste in Europe. Do you think pesto would be exchangeable in the same amount or does it have a totally different taste/benefit to the dish? Thanks in advance!
If I only have lean ground beef (12g fat/100g) should i decrease the serving to keep it macro friendly?
It was delicious and easy. My kids ate it up!
GREAT UPGRADE from the same ol’ spaghetti and meat sauce. Will be making this one again!
This was a huge hit! My son had seconds.
This is fantastic!
All four of my kids asked me to make this one again. The sauce is so flavorful! They licked their bowls clean. High praise!!
My teenage son loved this!!
How much is one serving? Sorry if it’s here I just didn’t see it. Thank you!
Just above says one serving is 335grams and has all macro info too