Before I got into healthy eating, one of my very favorite processed foods was Chef Boyardee beefaroni.Â
No kidding.
And don’t even get me started on Stouffer’s Macaroni and Beef frozen dinner. I just loved that stuff.
Canned or frozen dinners were quick and easy after a long, hard day at work when I was exhausted and way too whipped to even think about cooking a healthy dinner for my single self. What’s really sad is I actually once thought that these dinners were healthy simply because I cooked them myself at home in the microwave!
My oh my, how far we have come, haven’t we?
I haven’t had either of these processed foods for well over 20 years, but I still love that beefaroni recipe mix of pasta and ground beef with tomato sauce. That much hasn’t changed.
As you begin your transition to Real Food, it is very important to be able to create healthy versions of the garbage foods that were once your favorites. This makes your transition much more likely to succeed and stick for the long haul.
Homemade Beefaroni
That’s exactly what I did with my beefaroni habit so that I could satisfy that desire for a mix of flavors I enjoyed but improve the quality of the ingredients, eliminate the additives, anti-nutrients, and very importantly, lose that microwave and induction stove!
While I don’t advocate pasta as a healthfood by any means, an occasional bowl of rice pasta is not a problem if one is healthy and not on the SCD, GAPS or AIP diet. We eat rice or sprouted pasta once or twice a month in our home, generally as rice mac and cheese or this beefaroni recipe dish I share below.
Do your kids like Chef Boyardee canned ravioli or frozen mac and beef? Try this Real Food beefaroni recipe alternative instead and see how they come back for more!
Homemade Beefaroni Recipe
Healthy beefaroni recipe made with sprouted pasta and easy no cook tomato sauce that will get your kids off Chef Boyardee for good. With grain free options!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sprouted pasta
- 1 pound grassfed ground beef
- 1/2 - 1 cup ketchup preferably organic
- onion powder preferably organic
- 2 cloves garlic minced, preferably organic
- 1 cup tomato sauce
Instructions
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Prepare sprouted pasta as directed.
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Drain cooked pasta and stir in 1 cup of homemade tomato sauce. Set aside.
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Cook grassfed ground beef in a large frypan. While cooking sprinkle in a generous amount of onion powder and the 2 minced cloves of garlic.
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When grassfed ground beef is thoroughly browned, remove from heat (do not drain the beef fat, it's good for you!). Stir in the organic ketchup. Mix ground beef/ketchup mixture with the pasta and tomato sauce and serve.
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Be sure to refrigerate any leftovers. Great reheated for quick lunches or a thermos in the lunchbox.
Recipe Notes
Grain Free Option
If you wish to make this dish grain free, I recommend red lentil pasta. I've tried all the various types of grain free pasta, and I feel that this brand of red lentil pasta tastes best and has excellent ingredients with no hidden additives.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Doesn’t you pasta get mushy after soaking? I find that my brown rice pasta does not hold up nearly as well as wheat pasta. I just falls apart when mixed with sauce (like cheese sauce).
My brown rice pasta does not get mushy after soaking. It does cook much more quickly though so you have to be sure not to overcook it as this will definitely make it mushy.
Sarah,
I’m a new reader of “The Healthy Home Economist”.
I keep reading about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. In Italy, they have small portions of pasta with nearly every meal. Can you help me understand this apparant contradiction?
Thanks,
The Mediterranean diet is code for low-fat, lean meat, whole grains, lots of veg–not necessarily a real food or WAPF way of eating. Also, although traditional, ancient Italian culinary styles of course made use of real food techniques, Italians today are influenced by processed ingredients and a post-industrial economy that leads to an over-dependence on grains, although perhaps not to the extent many non-European Western countries are.
@ CatherineHockschild: Here’s a great article about the REAL Mediterranean way of eating: http://www.tendergrassfedmeat.com/2010/10/05/call-it-medical-not-mediterranean/
Stanley is very much into the WAPF, as you will see if you look around at his site from the above article. The real Mediterranean way of eating is not low-fat, that’s the modern gubment version, not the way those people truly ate.
Isn’t that what I said?
Oh, I see. You thought I was saying modern Italians have adopted the modern “Med” diet. Nope–I just meant that the term “Med” diet is misleading, that real “Med” peoples once ate better than that, but that, sadly, the modern Italian diet isn’t top-notch either (based on my 3+ months’ observation travelling there.)
It was a very long time ago. I’m sure the ingredients list is even worse now and contains GMO ingredients that weren’t there when I ate it.
I seriously did not know anyone who actually ate that stuff! I thought it was after school snacks for grade schoolers or something! However, ranch flavored potato chips and I had a long clandestine relationship…..
Grassfed Beefaroni: Real Food Answer to Chef Boyardee – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/dqva6yF
Hi Sarah
I made a similar meal last night—-took grassfed ground beef, slow cooked onions, peppers, and green beans, used bacon grease and butter in the skillet to saute. We loved it! I have not eaten pasta since I fell in love with Nourishing Traditions but I did get white rice after your article.
Jean
Sarah,
We’ve only been doing this a little over a year and we still have pasta at least once a week. We did switch to brown rice pasta but never thought of soaking! duh I can’t convince my husband and family that they don’t need a starch with every evening meal. Do you have suggestions on how to deal with this problem?
Kelly
Starch is very heavy on the stomach and folks that are used to having it with every meal feel so light after a meal without it that they feel like they are missing something. Just back off it gradually and over time they won’t notice that they are missing it anymore.
Hello Sarah, I’ve always cringed when I serve my family pasta, b/c I thought I could not soak it, and therefore, would cause my little one some digestion problems (constipation), but here you indicate soaking the pasta noodles. Can you provide some more info on what this will do? Is it the same thing that happens when we soak whole grains? Reduces the phytic acid?
Thanks so much for providing further details!
Ashley
Yes, soaking helps to eliminate anti-nutrients and improves absorbability.
I’m surprised too about soaking pasta. I thought it would be a mushy mess after soaking and you wouldn’t be able to cook it. Very interesting! I’m still learning from you. Thanks, Sarah.
DH just said all that water after soaking would be good for your plants so don’t throw it out.
Ooooh, canned beefaroni WAS one of my favorite lazy meals… growing up in Florida we always had a stockpile of beefaroni for hurricane season. I would even eat it straight from the can when the power was out! I still have 2 cans in the pantry and just YeSTERDAY was thinking “Hmmm I really want beefaroni” but read the ingredients again and just couldn’t eat it…. This will be a great substitute.
Does it taste similar to Chef Boyardee? (well as similar as something so much better for you CAN taste!) Will definitely have to try it.
Hi Lilly, I haven’t tasted Chef Boyardee in so many years I would have no idea what it would even taste like anymore. This grassfed beefaroni is very yummy though.
Yum, sounds great. I never thought you’d have to soak brown rice pasta. Do you taste the ACV?
Hi Suzanne, no there is no taste of the vinegar at all after soaking, rinsing and cooking.