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Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese

ByNicole Langdon Hours Updated on
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This big batch cheeseburger mac and cheese recipe combines two classic childhood meals into one creamy, cheesy dish you won’t be able to resist!

A dish of baked cheeseburger mac and cheese with a large spoon for serving

Cheeseburgers and mac n cheese are two things most of us love indulging in from time to time. But have you ever tried combining these kid-friendly classics into one cheesy, savory, comforting dish? Our cheeseburger mac and cheese is a budget friendly, big batch recipe that’ll instantly bring you back to childhood.

A bowl of this hearty mac and cheese will warm your insides on a cold day and comfort your soul when you’ve had a difficult week. It’s one of the most decadent, indulgent big batch meals you can make.

What This Recipe Entails

  • Ready in: 50 minutes
  • Serves: 6 people
  • Great for: Comforting weeknight dinners with leftovers
  • Flavor profile: Super cheesy Velveeta mac and cheese with savory hamburger mixed in. 
  • Why we love it: This dish is just a good ol’ classic comfort food recipe. And it makes plenty of leftovers for the two of us for easy lunches or dinners during a busy week.

Side note: Our cheeseburger mac and cheese is extra indulgent and uses more processed ingredients than we normally cook with, however everything in moderation… right? But we wanted to stay true with all the classic ingredients – ground beef, ketchup, Velveeta – so the dish gets that touch of gooey, creamy, mac and cheese we all know and love.

Ingredients

  • Pasta – Shells are our favorite choice for this recipe because they hold onto the gooey cheese sauce so well. But you can use any short or small pasta noodle.
  • Ground beef – We add red onion and minced garlic as well as some other seasonings to the ground beef while cooking for that classic hamburger taste. 
  • Velveeta – Velveeta isn’t a normal ingredient for us as we generally like to avoid highly processed foods. However we can’t deny just how creamy and decadent it is in mac and cheese. So for a dish like this, we make the exception.
  • Seasonings – Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and salt help add some creaminess and classic burger flavors.

How To Make Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese

  1. Pasta – Boil the pasta shells, then drain and stir in butter until melted.
  2. Beef – Brown the ground beef with diced onion and garlic in a frying pan over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up into small chunks.
  3. Cheese sauce – In the meantime, add Velveeta and milk to a saucepan over medium heat and stir occasionally until melted. Then lower heat and add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt, and the cooked ground beef, onions, and garlic to the cheese.
  4. Combine – Add the cheese sauce to the cooked pasta and stir to combine well, making sure the pasta shells are fully coated. Doing this in the pasta pot or a big bowl makes mixing everything together much easier.
  5. Bake – Transfer the cheeseburger mac and cheese to a lightly greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Our oven baked cheeseburger mac and cheese is wonderfully creamy, cheesy, hearty, and decadent – perfect for when you’re craving something savory and comforting. Whether you’re meal prepping for yourself for the week, cooking dinner for your family, or looking for a big batch meal to make for your next football party, this Velveeta cheeseburger mac and cheese fits the bill. Just be prepared to feel pretty full after chowing down on a bowl of this stuff, because we guarantee you won’t want to stop eating it 🙂

Try the recipe below and don’t forget to rate, comment, and share! We can’t wait to hear what you think.

A baking dish of cheeseburger mac and cheese made with ground beef, ketchup, and Velveeta

Expert Tips

  • Timing – If you start cooking the ground beef and cheese sauce while the pasta boils, you can time this recipe to have everything ready to combine at the same time. Just make sure the ground beef finishes cooking before the cheese is fully melted so that you’re not waiting around to add the beef to the cheese sauce.
  • Servings – One pound each of pasta shells, ground beef, and Velveeta is enough to make about 6 servings of cheeseburger mac and cheese – which easily fills an entire 9×13 baking dish. This is a great way to make lunches for the week, feed the whole family, or serve as a side at a summer cookout.
  • Storing and reheating – Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat single servings, microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.
  • Other Fillings – Just like cheeseburger toppings, you can add other fillings to this mac n cheese. Cooked bacon is always a winner. But you can get creative such as cooking some pickle relish in with the beef, or adding other seasonings to the cheese sauce.

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these cold weather comfort food recipes, too:

Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

A big batch of cheeseburger mac and cheese in a baking dish with a serving spoon

Cheeseburger Mac and Cheese

Nicole & Alex Langdon
This big batch cheeseburger mac and cheese recipe combines two classic childhood meals into one creamy, cheesy dish you won't be able to resist!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 684 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 pound pasta shells
  • ½ tablespoon butter
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • ½ medium red onion diced
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 16 ounces Velveeta cubed
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1½ tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta shells and cook until tender, about 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and transfer shells to the prepared baking dish, then stir in the butter until melted.
  • Next, add the ground beef, diced red onion, and minced garlic to a frying pan and cook over medium-high heat until beef is browned, about 7 to 10 minutes. Break the beef up into small chunks as it cooks.
  • In the meantime, add cubed Velveeta and milk to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until cheese is melted, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Then turn heat to low and stir in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt, and cooked ground beef with onions and garlic.
  • Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta shells in the baking dish. Stir to combine until the shells are thoroughly coated in cheese sauce. Then bake in the oven for 10 minutes to help the sauce soak into the pasta.
  • Serve hot or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Timing – If you start cooking the ground beef and cheese sauce while the pasta boils, you can time this recipe to have everything ready to combine at the same time. Just make sure the ground beef finishes cooking before the cheese is fully melted so that you’re not waiting around to add the beef to the cheese sauce.
Servings – One pound each of pasta shells, ground beef, and Velveeta is enough to make about 6 servings of cheeseburger mac and cheese – which easily fills an entire 9×13 baking dish. This is a great way to make lunches for the week, feed the whole family, or serve as a side at a summer cookout.
Storing and reheating – Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat single servings, microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Other Fillings – Just like cheeseburger toppings, you can add other fillings to this mac n cheese. Cooked bacon is always a winner. But you can get creative such as cooking some pickle relish in with the beef, or adding other seasonings to the cheese sauce.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 684kcalCarbohydrates: 70gProtein: 39gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 1542mgPotassium: 744mgFiber: 3gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 872IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 520mgIron: 3mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

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