Cheeseburger pasta doesn’t get enough love, in my opinion. It’s like a mash up of a cheeseburger with burger sauce and macaroni ‘n’ cheese. What’s not to love about that?
Even better, my version of cheeseburger pasta with ground chicken and protein pasta has 25 grams of protein and only 19 grams of carbs and 275 calories per serving. You can make it all in one pan in about 25 minutes, too. If you’re reluctant to hop on the cheeseburger pasta hype train after reading all that, I don’t know what to tell you!
You’ll find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post. But first, I’ve included a quick visual recipe walkthrough with a few extra ingredient notes and cooking tips. If you have any questions I missed, drop a comment below the recipe card.
How to Make One-Pan Cheeseburger Pasta
Ground Chicken and Pasta
The recipe calls for ground chicken and Banza chickpea pasta shells. You’re welcome to use ground beef or turkey in place of ground chicken, just aim for a leaner cut.
For the pasta shells, other pasta options should work fine. Though you may need to adjust the amount of chicken broth or water used and extend the cook time for something like classic wheat pasta. You want the pasta nearly cooked or al dente before adding in the burger sauce and cheese.
Check out my creamy turkey and broccoli pasta and creamy chicken pasta soup recipes for examples of other one pot pastas.
Burger Sauce
The burger sauce is a rendition of the sauce I used for my low carb cheeseburger skillet. It’s a blend of light mayo, sugar free ketchup, mustard, and relish.
You can get creative here and mix things up. Don’t like relish? Leave it out or swap it for chopped pickles or peppers. Only have yellow mustard on hand and not stone ground? Just use yellow mustard. It’s all good!
Cheese
For the cheese, I typically aim for freshly grated cheese in pasta dishes, but I’ve found Tillamook shredded cheese melts really well. So if you’re looking for a quick route to cheeseburger pasta, that’s the move.
You do have the option in the recipe to either mix all the cheese straight in or to save some for broiling on top. I think the latter is the best way to make your cheeseburger pasta a little more aesthetic, and it adds some nice texture as well. You could add some chopped pickles or peppers to the top before broiling as well.
Serving Your Cheeseburger Pasta
For pasta main dishes like this, I always reference this guide on the best side dishes to serve with mac and cheese. Your best bet will be side salads and colorful veggie sides like green beans and broccoli. If you have an air fryer, you could prep some of my air fryer brussels sprouts or air fryer balsamic carrots while your pasta is under the broiler.
Be sure to let me know what you come up with for rounding out your meal. And if you love this ground chicken cheeseburger pasta, I’d greatly appreciate you leaving a recipe review!
Ground Chicken Cheeseburger Pasta
One-pan cheesy ground chicken pasta with burger sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp (16g) Olive Oil
- 1 lb Ground Chicken (97/3)
- 8 oz Banza Pasta Shells
- 2 1/2 C Chicken Broth
- 2 Tbsp Pickle Juice
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
For the Sauce & Cheese
- 1/4 C Sugar Free Ketchup
- 2 Tbsp Stone Ground Mustard
- 1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 2 Tbsp Light Mayo
- 2 Tbsp Relish
- 6 oz Shredded Cheddar Fresh Parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat before browning both sides of the chicken and fully cooking.
- Add the onion powder and black pepper to the cooked ground chicken, followed by the pickle juice, Worcestershire, broth, and pasta. Stir to fully combine and submerge the pasta.
- Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes until the pasta is almost fully cooked before removing from the heat and uncovering.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients except the cheese together while the pasta cooks. Fold the sauce into the pasta before doing the same with the cheese. You can either add all 6 oz of cheese or fold in 4 and save 2 oz for adding on top and broiling for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and enjoy!
Notes
Each serving of cheeseburger pasta has 7 WW SmartPoints (blue).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 6 ozAmount Per Serving: Calories: 275Total Fat: 13gCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 25g
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Erin
Sunday 27th of August 2023
I added onion and fresh garlic which was very yummy. I tried subbing apple cider vinegar for the pickle juice but it was too acidic for my family. I will just omit that ingredient next time (Worcestershire and ketchup have vinegar already). I also subbed light sour cream for mayo due to an egg allergy. I did not have cheddar so I added whatever random leftover cheese I had in the fridge that was still good. I was able to make this dish with things I already had which was a huge bonus. The whole family loved it! Next time, I might add a few crumbled up pieces of bacon for extra flavor and to feed growing boys. Thank you for the recipe! It's a keeper!
Penelope
Wednesday 2nd of August 2023
I tried this the other night, but without your recipe right in front of me. It came out very well from memory, but now that I'm reading the recipe again, I'm looking forward to actually following it next time. I forgot so many things!! We were rushed to get dinner on the table for my son's moving to NYC party, and I couldn't open up my laptop to look at the recipe. Oy! Still a comforting dish. ; D
Amanda
Monday 26th of June 2023
This is the BEST. I ended up adding half an onion and two bell peppers for some added veggies. I send this to everyone - it's so easy, but so flavorful and good.
Shae
Tuesday 24th of January 2023
I think I used too much ground mustard. It was not good and I ended up throwing the whole pot away. Next time, if there is one, I will not use the stone ground mustard.
Good news is my nostrils opened right up.
LDR
Wednesday 24th of May 2023
@Shae, did you use dry ground mustard powder? This recipe calls for prepared stone ground mustard condiment (yes, it calls for two kinds of prepared mustard). If you used powder, wow I bet it did open up your sinuses! :)
Sarah T
Wednesday 19th of October 2022
I made this for the first time tonight and I am obsessed!! I am someone who doesn’t find a whole lot of joy in cooking and tries to avoid complex, lengthy recipes, so this one really worked for me. Plus, it tastes DELICIOUS!! Thank you for this recipe!