One Pot Harissa Beef Pasta - an easy all in one pan creamy pasta dish with ground beef, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and the smoky flavours of Harissa.
Harissa Pasta
We love the flavour of Harissa and so I often tend to have some leftover Harissa Paste in a jar in my fridge and wonder what to make with it. This week was no problem, as I settled on this yummy pasta dish with some ground beef I had bought to use one night for dinner.
If you love Harissa too, you definitely should check out this great air fryer recipe:
Air Fryer Honey Harissa Salmon
and if there is also a delicious recipe for Harissa Meatballs with Whipped Feta in my new cookbook Slimming Eats Made Simple
Best Pan to use for One Pot Recipes
When it comes to one pot pasta recipes. I find a deep wide circumference frying pan with a lid is the best option. You don't want a pan that is too small because if all the ingredients are too high in a small pan the heat will not penetrate the food evenly for a one pot pasta dish, meaning some of the pasta may be over cook, some undercooked and liquid that is not cooking off.
One like this Circulon Radiance Deep Hard Anodized Nonstick Frying Pan on Amazon is great and it's non stick too which is great for low calorie cooking where less oil is used. Enameled Cast Iron can be good choices also, if they are wide enough as they are great heat conductors.
Homemade Harissa Paste
Harissa pasta is pretty much available at most major grocery stores. Also check online too if you struggle to find it in store. However if you have hunted everywhere and just can't source some, it's pretty easy to make yourself.
Here is a recipe for Homemade Harissa Paste from The Mediterranean Dish. I have made this one before when I haven't had Harissa Paste on hand and it's great.
Variations on Beef
Want to try a variation on this recipe? It will work equally well with other ground meats or even some chicken pieces
Some seafood like prawns would be a great variation also, but I recommend pan frying first, setting aside and then adding back towards the end to ensure they are not over cooked.
Dairy Free Variation
Can't have dairy and want to try this recipe? Swap half of the stock for some coconut milk and it will have a delicious creamy silky finish to it. The coconut is not overpowering either, because of the flavours from the harissa paste.
Sides for One Pot Harissa Beef Pasta
I like to pair this with a simple salad with the follow items:
- Crisp lettuce (but Baby Greens are great also)
- Baby peppers, sliced (mixed colours are great for a pop of colour in the salad)
- Baby Cucumber, sliced
- Julienned Carrot
- Avocado
- Red Onion, sliced thinly
- Fresh Coriander
- you can also add in some chickpeas and feta for additions (but as the pasta dish is great filling, I like to go light with the salad ingredients)
If you don't fancy salad it's equally good with some steamed, sauteed or baked greens like tenderstem broccoli, asparagus or green beans etc.
More One Pot Recipes
Do you love one pot recipes? Here are some others to choose from:
- One Pot Taco Beef Rice Skillet
- One Pot Creamy Pork Pasta
- One Pot Beef Fajita Pasta
- One Pot Cuban Style Rice (with Chicken and Sausage)
- One Pot Creamy Ham Mushroom Orzo
- One Pot Coconut Chicken Curry Rice
- One Pot New Orleans Cajun Pasta
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes with calories and you can search by meal type, ingredients, course, diet and more..
All recipes on Slimming Eats have estimated nutritional information for your convenience.
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Recipe Card
One Pot Creamy Beef Harissa Pasta
One Pot Harissa Beef Pasta - an easy all in one pan creamy pasta dish with ground beef, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and the smoky flavours of Harissa.
Ingredients
- olive oil spray
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 455g (1lb) of extra lean ground beef (mince)
- 1 bell pepper, chopped small
- 2-3 tablespoons of harissa paste (depending on your preferred heat)
- 2 tablespoons of tomato puree (paste)
- 4 cups (960ml) of chicken stock
- 250g (9oz) of uncooked spaghettini (or use another pasta or your choice)
- 15 grape (baby plum) tomatoes, halved
- 100g (3.5oz) of light cream cheese
- 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
- salt and black pepper to season
Instructions
- Spray a large deep frying pan over a medium high heat with olive oil spray
- Add the onion and fry until softened.
- Add in the garlic, ground beef and red pepper and fry until beef is browned.
- Add in the harissa paste and tomato puree and stir until all coated.
- Pour in the 3 cups (720ml) of the stock , add the tomatoes and spaghettini and bring to a boil
- Cover with lid, reduce heat slightly (you still want it to bubble) and let cook for about 15 minutes, stir ever 5 mins to ensure even cooking. Add remaining cup of stock if needed to cook pasta until al dente.
- Once stock is absorbed and pasta is cooked, stir in the cream cheese, then add the spinach and stir just until wilted.
- Taste and season with salt and black pepper as needed.
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- WW Points: 12 or 9 if you swap ground beef for extra lean ground turkey/chicken
- Gluten Free Friendly - use gluten free pasta and stock
- Dairy Free Friendly - omit the cream cheese, and replace 400ml of the stock with coconut milk
- Calories: scroll down to nutritional info box
- SUITABLE FOR FREEZING ❄️ - if you are okay with the texture of pasta that has been frozen and reheated then this is fine to freeze.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 480Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gCholesterol 30mgSodium 679mgCarbohydrates 58gFiber 5gSugar 5gProtein 37g
Nutritional information and values etc are an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information. It is always advised that you calculate by the ingredients you use.
Alison says
Saw this recipe go on the website yesterday, so made it last night. As per all your recipes, it didn't disappoint. Absolutely delicious! We make your recipes every night for the whole family. We also have both books. I didn't think you'd be able to improve on the last one, but we've made loads and all have been amazing!!
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
ahh thank you Alison, so happy you are enjoying all the recipes 🙂
Lorraine says
This looks amazing - I am making this tonight. Just a question though - why chicken stock and not beef?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
I just prefer the flavours of chicken stock in this. I find beef can be a bit too rich and overpowering sometime against the other flavours. But totally use beef if you prefer.
Lorraine says
I've just made and eaten this - absolutely stunning. Made it exactly to the recipe and the taste was amazing. The cream cheese really makes it so silky. Real winner!
Sandra Dawson says
Absolutely amazing
Patricia Nash says
Made this recipe tonight & was delicious. My husband doesn’t like creamy sauces so I left it out but it didn’t alter the great taste. I certainly will make this again
Lisa says
I helped my 10 yr old make this for dinner tonight. Sadly we had to omit the red pepper, spinach and tomatoes but it was still sooo delicious. Would definitely make it again