Easy Cheeseburger Casserole

Whenever I grow tired of our usual go-to meals, I browse my Pinterest boards. Usually, I try to stick with healthy options; however, every now and then I indulge in cheesy deliciousness. While this is certainly not a healthy meal, it's not the worst thing for you either.

This meal has the added bonus of being a one-pot recipe. I personally think that is the best part. Less mess means faster clean up, which makes for one happy momma.

As always, nutrition info is included. I adapted it from this recipe here.

Ingredients

You will need the following:

• 3/4lb ground beef (90/10)
• 3 cups of pasta shells
• 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 cup chicken broth (I used one chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup water)
• 1/4 of a large onion
• 2 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 and 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of water

Instructions

1. Dice your onion. Brown your ground beef and add the diced onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
2. Add your diced tomatoes, chicken broth, ketchup, mustard, pasta shells, and water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the noodles are cooked (around 15 minutes).
3. Add your cheese and allow it to melt, then stir thoroughly.

You should now be the proud owner of something that looks like this: 

Nutrition Information

This recipe makes approximately 5.25 cups, which makes 3.5 servings at 1.5 cups per serving.

	Calories	Fat	Sat. Fat	Sodium	Carbs	Fiber	Sugar	Protein
Ground beef	600	38	13.5	225	0	0	0	69
Pasta shells	800	4	0	00	164	8	8	28
Petite diced tomatoes	88	0	0	630	14	3.5	10.5	3.5
Chicken broth	5	0	0	840	1	0	0	0
Onion	11	0	0	1	2.6	0.5	1.2	0.3
Ketchup	40	0	0	320	10	0	8	0
Mustard	0	0	0	60	0	0	0	0
Shredded cheddar	412	33.8	18.8	675	3.8	0	0	26.2
Total	1956	75.8	32.3	2751	195.4	12	27.7	127
Total per serving	558.9	21.7	9.2	786	55.8	3.4	7.9	36.3

Like I said before, not the healthiest meal in the world. However, if you compare it to a Whopper, this still comes out on top. A Whopper comes in at 600 calories, 37g of fat, 11g of saturated fat, 910mg of sodium, 50g of carbs, 2g of fiber, 12g of sugar, and only 22g of protein.

So overall, this meal has fewer calories, way less fat, less sodium, and way more protein. If you're craving a burger, this is a pretty solid alternative. Plus, it only takes about 30 minutes—less if your ground beef isn't frozen.