As a kid, I couldn’t get enough of Chef Boyardee‘s beefaroni!
With his tall hat and white apron, Chef Boyardee is actually Ettor “Hector” Boiardi, an Italian immigrant who moved to the US. He worked his way up to head chef at the Plaza Hotel in NYC. President Woodrow Wilson loved his food, and asked Boiardi to cater his wedding reception as well as a welcome reception in the White House for returning World War I soldiers. Boiardi later started his own restaurant on Cleveland, OH, where the food was so good that customers couldn’t get enough! He started filling empty milk bottles with his special sauce so that they could enjoy hearty Italian meals in the comfort of their own home.
Before Boiardi knew it, he was importing Parmesan cheese from Italy, selling cases of tasty sauce in jars, and a company was born. The US Army commissioned him to serve rations during World War II, and he was awarded a gold star of excellence from the United States War Department for his war efforts.
Our homemade beefaroni is a homage to Chef Boyardee!
Homemade Chef Boyardee Beefaroni Notes:
-Feel free to substitute ground turkey for ground beef.
-This recipe freezes well so feel free to make a big batch.
- 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
- 1 cup elbow noodles
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 can (14½ oz) diced tomatoes
- pepper to taste
- 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- seasoning salt to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a skillet, brown the beef over medium heat. Add the onion to the skillet a few minutes later, followed by the garlic. Drain the beef after it has finished cooking.
- Cook the pasta in a separate pot.
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper and add the basil, tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Add the pasta, the cooked beef mixture, and ¾ cup of shredded cheese to the baking dish and stir to combine all of the ingredients together. Top with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese and bake until golden brown, approx 30 minutes.
How cute are you??? Love this kiddie comfort made healthy! YUM!
Thank you! 🙂
This is the kind of dish that my kiddies won’t say no to! Looks delish!
I think kids will really love this! 🙂
This would SO be a hit in my house!
Thanks Chrisy! You guys will love it!
I used to eat a lot of Beef-a-Roni, too…but I haven’t even thought about it in ages. You totally have me craving it now – this sound delicious!
Thanks, it’s nostalgic comfort food 🙂
My brother was (and in fact still is) obsessed with Chef Boyardee. And as someone who “hates” healthy food, I’m going to have to make this for me and see if I can get him to see that making things from scratch is ALWAYS better than the canned stuff 🙂
Awesome, let me know how it turns out! Food made from scratch is the best 🙂
Yum! Made this for dinner tonight with a few little changes, and it was a hit. I added diced yellow pepper, omitted the diced tomatoes (hubby hates them), and used Hunt’s garlic and herb pasta sauce instead of regular tomato sauce since that’s all I had on hand. Oh and for extra health I used ground turkey! Great recipe!
Is the pasta cooked first?
Never mind! Just noticed step 2!! Making it now!
I just stumbled upon this recipe and am so glad I did! The dish looks delicious, but I truly appreciate the background information on Ettor Boiardi!! Fascinating! What a wonderful example of the American spirit!
Hi, i’m making this for the first time – bake covered or uncovered?
what size baking dish does it call for?
Hi Klaus, we used a 9×13 baking dish. I wouldn’t recommend using a smaller dish because it might overflow when it’s baking, but a slightly larger baking dish should work well too.