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Rachael Ray has nothing on my mother. As far as this family is concerned, my mom invented healthful, delicious comfort food that one can cook in 30 minutes or less.
This hamburger and macaroni dish is one of my mother’s recipes that has been served in our house at least once a month for the last 45 years. We even have a special name for it—HMO (Hamburger Macaroni Onions). I’ve also heard it called “goulash” or “American chop suey” or “Hamburger Noodle Casserole.”
My father gets a song in his voice when he announces that we’re having HMO for dinner. You make brown the meat and make the sauce while the water is coming to a boil and the macaroni is cooking. So it takes less than half an hour to make. So easy!
Hamburger and Macaroni Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked macaroni (use rice pasta or gluten-free pasta for gluten-free version)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, chopped (or mixed chopped green onion greens and yellow onion)
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- Pinch chili pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- 1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
1 Start cooking the pasta: Get a large pot of salted hot water (1 tablespoon of salt for 2 quarts of water) heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.
2 Brown the beef and onions: While the water is heating and macaroni cooking, prepare the sauce. In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.
When the beef has mostly browned, add the onions to the pan and toss to combine. Cook until the onions are soft, about 4-6 minutes.
3 Add seasonings, tomatoes: Add the celery seed, a dash of crushed red pepper and seasoned salt. Pour in canned tomatoes, add the Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4 Add cooked pasta: Reserve a half cup of the pasta cooking water. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and the parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in some of the pasta water if the dish is too dry.
Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
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Rhode Island 'Chop Suey,' from The Perfect Pantry
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Hamburger and Macaroni
This turned out so good! I had to substitute shell’s for macaroni. My 5 year old loved it!
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We loved this recipe. I didn’t have celery seed but used celery salt in the seasoning. I also added chopped celery to the onion while browning the meat. We enjoyed it for dinner with a tossed salad and had enough for lunch the next day.
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I like this recipe! I’ve made it a few times already. Only one problem. I would NEVER use the recommended 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce. That would be way too overpowering! I like Worcestershire, but just a hint of it in the background is enough for me. Also, ground pork works well with this dish too.
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Falls short on flavor, really needs something else to bring the dish together.
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Hi Kim,
Thanks for your feedback, and sorry this recipe didn’t click with you. Our Skillet Chili Mac n Cheese might be more to your liking.
Do you not drain the beef? If not, do we buy the lower fat ground beef? Thanks
Hi Jason, good question! I find that the only ground beef available at our store is either lean or extra lean. So we’ve never had to drain it of excess fat. If you find yourself with ground beef that renders out a lot of fat, you can certainly drain some of that fat off. You’ll want some fat in the pan for the onions.