Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Skillet Dinner

I grew up in the midwest, Northern Minnesota to be exact.  We were pretty poor and my mom was a MASTER at making a pound of hamburger stretch 2 or 3 nights.  One of our favorite meals was goulash.  We made it simply with hamburger, home canned tomatoes, and elbow macaroni – lots of salt and pepper.  It takes about 1/2 hr to 45 minutes to put together, that includes some time in the oven.

italian skillet macaroni lookslikehomemade.com

I ran across this quick and easy version in the October/November 2011 issue of Rachel Ray magazine – tore it out and kept it kicking around until this week.  I really liked the way this came together because it’s truly a one pot meal.  Their notes say you could skip the ground beef and make this a meatless meal.  Keep in mind the lipton onion soup mix has some sort of beef base or bouillon in it, so it wouldn’t technically be vegetarian.

Here’s the recipe in a nutshell:

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Stovetop Italian Macaroni

Stovetop Italian Macaroni

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Ground Beef
  • 1 28 oz can Diced Tomatoes (I used 2 14oz cans of petite diced)
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix
  • 1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
  • 1/4 Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, optional
  • 2 C. Uncooked Elbow Macaroni
  • 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1 Cup Shredded Part Skim Mozzarella

Directions

  1. In a large deep skillet or dutch oven brown the ground beef until it's no longer pink
  2. Drain if you want, I use pretty lean beef so not much need for this
  3. Add the tomatoes back to the beef along with Water, Soup Mix, Italian Seasoning and the red pepper.
  4. Bring to a Boil and Stir in Macaroni
  5. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 8-9 minutes until macaroni is done
  6. Turn off heat and stir in the Parmesan Cheese
  7. Top with Mozzarella and let sit for a few minutes
  8. Serve with crusty bread and a green salad.
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