This Ground Beef and Mushroom Spaghetti is one of our family favorite dinners! Whole wheat spaghetti with ground beef and mushrooms in a light cream sauce gives you the perfect balance of healthy and comfort food!
Looking for more ways to use that ground beef in the freezer? Try this Ground Beef Tater Tot Casserole that is always a hit! Or one of our dinner time go-to recipes is always Beefy Tomato Soup!
Whole Wheat Pasta Recipe With Ground Beef and Mushrooms
Have you ever used whole wheat pasta? It’s really very delicious if it’s used in the right way, like in this Beef and Mushroom Spaghetti recipe. So for instance, whole wheat ziti used for baked ziti? Nope, not a fan. Baked ziti is a cheese filled comfort food recipe that needs to be left alone.
But a nutty, whole wheat pasta used in a recipe like this one? Well it’s even better than regular spaghetti if you ask me. Our kids love it, too which makes it a dinner time win.
Can You Use Regular Pasta In This Recipe?
Of course! If regular spaghetti is what you have in your kitchen, or you just aren’t down with whole wheat pasta then by all means use what you like. This pasta dish is really a pretty flexible recipe, so do use what you have on hand or prefer.
Not a fan of shrooms? Swap out pretty much any other vegetable you like. Broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, peas – you name it. Just add your vegetable of choice to the skillet where you would add the mushrooms and follow the recipe as is.
How Long Do You Need To Brown Mushrooms?
Like, a long time. Really you’re going to need about 7-8 minutes to get a nice, deep brown color like you see above. At first when you put the mushrooms in the skillet, they are going to release the water that’s inside them.
You need to cook the mushrooms long enough for that water to evaporate and then for them to sear properly. A lot of people think that they don’t like mushrooms and I’m pretty sure it’s because they don’t cook them the right way!
Can This Spaghetti Recipe Be Cooked Ahead Of Time?
Yes and no. This Ground Beef and Mushroom Spaghetti recipe is really best when served right away. The cream sauce is so light that it will pretty much be absorbed into the spaghetti when refrigerated and reheated.
NOT to say that leftovers of this pasta aren’t crazy delicious, for sure they are. Add a splash of chicken broth and or cream when reheating to loosen the sauce up again.
Tips To Making The Best Whole Wheat Pasta
Whole wheat pasta is best cooked al dente, just like the package directions will tell you to do. The pasta has a little more bite to it, just as the word al dente means, “to the tooth” so mushy pasta is not what we’re looking for here.
Along with cooking the spaghetti correctly, adding bright flavors like fresh thyme and really good quality parmesan cheese will make this pasta recipe taste its best. So don’t go grabbing the dried thyme or that parmesan cheese on the shelf for this dish, it’s not going to be living it’s best life.
Looking For More Pasta Recipes?
- Cheesy Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon
- Linguine with Clam Sauce
- Classic Beef Lasagna
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Slow Cooker Cheesy Beef Stroganoff
Ground Beef and Mushroom Spaghetti
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
This Ground Beef and Mushroom Spaghetti is the perfect balance of comfort food and a healthy recipe! Whole wheat spaghetti, lean ground beef and lots of fresh mushrooms tossed in a light cream sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti, cooked according to package directions and drained
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 10 ounces mushrooms
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- Fresh black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and 1/2 of a teaspoon of the salt and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until you get a deep brown color. Remove the mushrooms form the skillet to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Add the additional tablespoon of oil to the skillet and then add the onions and ground beef. Break up the beef as it cooks together with the onions until the beef has cooked though. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, more black pepper and the thyme. Add the garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the mushrooms back to the skillet and gently combine with the beef and onions. Sprinkle in the flour into the skillet and toss to combine with the beef and mushrooms. Carefully pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Let the wine reduce for 3-4 minutes until it’s almost evaporated.
- Add the beef broth and cream, stir and then bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes to thicken, stirring occasionally. Taste the sauce for seasonings and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Add the cooked spaghetti to the skillet along with the parmesan cheese and toss to combine the sauce with the pasta. If your skillet isn’t large enough to do this, put the spaghetti back into the pot you cooked it in and pour the sauce over and toss.
- Garnish with fresh thyme, more black pepper and parmesan cheese.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
This was so good and easy. I used some leftover prime rib instead of the ground beef, and didn’t have heavy cream so I used whole milk plus1 more tbls flour! Reminds me of a beef stroganoff my mom used to make, but better! (Sorry, mom). I will definitely make this again!
This is one of those recipes that changes your life.
Subbed the heavy cream for coconut crème. Best dinner in months.
We’re so happy you liked it!
Waaaay to much liquid. 3 3/4 cups of liquid and just 2 T flour. It made a soupy mess. What a waste of food and time!
If you didn’t take the time to properly reduce the wine then the sauce would have too much liquid. Also, if you didn’t use a large enough skillet the sauce in general won’t reduce properly. I am not going to add your 1 star rating to this recipe because we make it ALL the time and it turns out perfect every time we make it!
I love the flavors. This is really, really good in a subtle, understated way. I will definitely make it again! Thank you! It would be helpful to have a picture of the sauce, finished, in the pan and a better description of what you’re going for in consistency. I followed the recipe exactly, and I took the time to cook the mushrooms correctly, and reduce the wine until it was basically gone. It was still the consistency of water after simmering for 5 minutes. I ended up simmering for 25 minutes and thought it was perfect. But maybe you use it much less thickened. After 25 minutes, it was maybe half way between water and the kind of thick spaghetti sauce that I usually make. Regardless, very good stuff!
I’ll add process photos to this recipe, thank you for the feedback!