This is stroganoff turned into a pasta bake, and the whole thing happens in one pan. You brown the mince with the onion, cook down a lot of mushrooms, stir in the stock powder and paprika and Worcestershire and tomato paste, and then the dry pasta goes straight in with enough boiling water to cover it.
That’s the part that saves you. The pasta cooks in the pan, in the sauce, so there’s no second pot of water on the stove and nothing to drain. Once it’s tender, cream goes in, cheese goes on top, and it finishes in the oven until it’s golden.
It makes eight serves out of 500 g of mince and 500 g of pasta, so it’s a cheap way to feed a lot of people, and it’s the kind of dinner that gets eaten without anyone asking what’s in it.
Why You’ll Love It
One pan means one thing to wash, which on a weeknight is most of the argument. It’s built on mince, dried pasta, a tin’s worth of pantry seasonings and a cup of cream, so it’s cheap for what you get out of it, and 500 g of mince stretching to eight serves is the reason it’s on this list. It’s also the sort of thing that suits a bigger crowd without any extra work, since making more just means a bigger pan. The mushrooms do a lot of the flavour work, and there are 400 g of them in here, so it tastes richer than the ingredient list suggests.
The Shortcut That Makes It Work
Cooking the pasta in the pan is the whole trick. Normally a pasta bake means boiling pasta separately, draining it, making a sauce, then combining the two in a dish, which is three jobs and two lots of washing up. Here the dry pasta goes into the mince and mushroom mixture, you pour in enough boiling water to cover it, and it cooks in that liquid while soaking up the stock and paprika. By the time it’s tender the sauce has thickened around it on its own, so there’s no separate sauce to make and nothing to drain.
Handy Tips
Use the biggest pan you’ve got, because 500 g of pasta takes up more room than you think once the water goes in, and if it’s crowded the top layer won’t cook evenly. Brown the mince properly before the mushrooms go in and don’t rush that bit, since it’s where most of the savoury flavour comes from. When you pour the boiling water in, use just enough to cover the pasta and no more, because any extra has to cook off before the sauce will thicken. If it does look loose when the pasta’s ready, leave the lid off for a few minutes. Make sure the pan you’re using can go in the oven, since the last step is under the grill heat with the cheese on top.
What To Serve With It
It’s rich and filling on its own, so something green and sharp works best next to it. A plain salad with a bit of vinegar through it, or steamed greens, or beans. Garlic bread if you’re feeding teenagers and want it to go further.
Leftovers / How to Store It
It keeps in the fridge for up to three days in a container with a lid, and it’s one of those bakes that’s even better on day two once the flavours have settled. The pasta keeps drinking the sauce as it sits, so it firms up in the fridge. Add a splash of milk or water when you reheat it and stir it through, and it comes back to something close to how it started.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
Beef Stroganoff Pasta Bake
Prep Time 20 minutes 
Cook Time
40 minutes 
Total Time 1 hour 
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a hot pan with some oil, brown your beef with your onion.
- Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.
- Add stock powder, paprika, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste.
- Stir for a few minutes and add pasta.
- Pour enough boiling water into your pan to cover the pasta.
- Bring back up to boiling, pop a lid on your pan, reduce the heat to medium and leave for 5 minutes. Take the lid off and cook for another 5 minutes. Pour in cream and stir through. Top with grated cheese and pop in your oven on 180°C until golden. About 15 minutes.
Nutrition
Video
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FAQs
Can I use chicken instead of beef mince?
Yes. Chicken mince works, and so does pork. Swap the beef stock powder for chicken stock powder if you’re using chicken, since the beef stock is doing a lot of the flavour and it’ll taste a bit odd underneath chicken.
What if I haven’t got Worcestershire sauce?
Soy sauce is the closest thing most people have in the cupboard and it does a similar job. You’ll lose a bit of the tang, so if you’ve got balsamic vinegar, half a tablespoon of that alongside the soy gets you closer.
What pasta should I use?
Anything small. Small shells, macaroni, spirals, or whatever small pasta you can find. Avoid long pasta like spaghetti, because it needs more water than the pan holds and it won’t cook evenly sitting in a shallow layer.
Can I get any of it done ahead?
Yes. Brown the mince with the onion and mushrooms and get the seasonings in, then keep that in the fridge and finish it on the night. I’d leave the pasta out of it until you’re cooking, though, because pasta sitting in sauce overnight goes soft and it won’t come back.
Can I add more vegetables?
Easily. Grated carrot or zucchini disappear into it completely, and a couple of handfuls of spinach stirred in just before the cream goes in wilts down to nothing. Frozen peas work too and the kids tend not to argue about those.
This is absolutely delicious, so so tasty and easy to make so full of flavour, I didn’t have any cream so I used Greek yogurt and it still tastes fantastic, it will be a regular on our meals
This is absolutely delicious, so so tasty and easy to make so full of flavour, I didn’t have any cream so I used Greek yogurt and it still tastes fantastic, it will be a regular on our meals
Delicious, easy recipe. I doubled all the ingredients but kept the pasta quantity the same, perfect balance for us. Also used a mix of sour cream and cream cheese instead of cream.
This recipe was so quick and easy and really delicious! I love that ots all in one pot!!
We love it! Only two of us so we get a few meals!
I was amazed as to how easy and yummy it was. It was the first time I’ve thrown in pasta and not cooked it prior drained it then rinsed it before putting it in the recipe. It turned out great. This is fabulous for the teenagers also and to grab on the go to footy etc.
Great recipe. Easy to make and very tasty
I’m planning to make a bunch of freezer meals for my friends, would it work for me to do all prep upto putting in the oven, freezing and then my friends popping in the oven to finish the process please?
Hi Megan, yes, that will work. Just a couple of tips, which you’re probably aware of. Let it cool down a bit first then pop it in the fridge for an hour or so to finish cooling down and then into the freezer. Cream sauces can go a bit grainy after freezing, so don’t stress if it’s not quite as silky as freshly done. It still tastes great. And since the pasta’s already cooked, I’d pull it out a minute or two early so it doesn’t turn to mush when your friends reheat it. They are going to love you for this.
Instead of using beef stock powder and boiling water, I’m thinking just use liquid beef stock. Would that work?
Yes, that will work, Diane. Just have it boiling hot when it goes in, or the pasta won’t cook through.