American Chop Suey

A family favorite, kid friendly easy recipe for a busy night. This is a great recipe to make in a large batch and eat the leftovers for lunch during the week.

Ingredients:

16 ounce box of uncooked elbow macaroni

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion (white or yellow)

1 bell pepper

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

1.5 lb of ground beef

14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes undrained

15 ounce tomato sauce

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce*

1/2 cups beef broth*

*Note: for Worcestershire sauce and beef broth, try finding one with quality ingredients and free of sugar, sugar substitutes and soy. Usually for beef broth there is a very small amount of sugar added (~1 g or less) which is fine.

1. Bring salted water to a boil in a pot to cook the macaroni. Once boiling, cook pasta per instructions on the box. Drain pasta and set aside.

2. In a large pot over medium-high heat cook ground beef until browned and drain grease.

3. Dice onion and pepper.

4. Add onions and peppers with some olive oil to a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Cook until browned and onions are translucent.

5. Add minced garlic to onions and peppers and cook until garlic is browned. Be careful, garlic browns very quick and then burns immediately.

6. Add vegetable mixture to beef in the large pot.

7. Add seasoning and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute over medium/high heat.

8. Add tomato sauce and stir until combined.

9. Add Worcester sauce, broth, diced tomatoes, and macaroni. You may not need the whole box of macaroni. I usually use 3/4 of the cooked macaroni for the American chop suey and use the rest for another recipe during the week.

10. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add more beef broth if needed.

11. Serve warm and enjoy!