American Chop Suey is a delicious and easy dinner recipe made with ground beef, tomato, onion, green pepper, macaroni, and spices. Pure comfort food made on the stovetop in just 30 minutes and makes a great weeknight dinner!
Prep time: PT10M
Cook time: PT20M
Total time: PT30M
Rating
4.97 stars (343 reviews)
Keywords
american chop suey, chop suey
Ingredients
16 ounces elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
1 large white onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 lb ground beef
1 green bell pepper (diced)
14 ounce diced tomatoes
5.5 ounces 100% tomato juice
15 ounces tomato sauce
6 ounces tomato paste
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
Categories
Dinner
Cuisine
American
Steps
Fill a large pot with water, salt the water and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. *You can either finish cooking the pasta and leave it in a colander and use the same pot for the sauce or you can start making the rest of the recipe in a separate pot while the pasta is cooking.
In a separate pot or the one from the pasta (see note above), add the butter and onion to the pot and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic to the onions and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add ground beef and cook until browned, you can cook this in a separate pan if you'd like less fat and add it to the onions after cooking.
Add green pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the diced tomatoes, sauce, juice, paste, sugar, spices, and Worcestershire Sauce. Cook until evenly heated.
Stir in the cooked pasta and stir to coat and add salt and pepper to taste.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 438 kcal
Carbohydrates: 56 g
Protein: 19 g
Fat: 15 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 47 mg
Sodium: 1393 mg
Sugar: 10 g
Reviews
wendy almy on 2026-06-01 (5 stars): I have used this recipe before.
I am ging to make it again today...yum
John Ellis on 2026-05-22 (5 stars): That's the best recipe for American chop suey.
Michael Moran on 2026-04-16 (4 stars): Reminds of what my mom in the 70's called Goulash. Her secret was a can of campbells cream of tomato soup, otherwise exactly the same that I remember. The sugar mimics the taste. Many good memories here.
Donna on 2026-04-14 (5 stars): I have made this several times and it is perfect, of course I adjust seasonings to take for my family but the first time I made it I followed the recipe to a tee and it was perfect.
Jake on 2026-03-25 (4 stars): Too much salt, use 1 tsp. Delicious recipe. Also cut the Italian seasonings in half and add more to taste. I add an extra clove of garlic and yellow onion works fine in this. I don’t really think you need that much tomato paste either. I use half of that too. Put parm cheese on top obviously when serving
Bruce on 2026-03-05 (5 stars): Wow! Talk about bringing back memories of years past. Delicious! Thank you for sharing and for bringing me back to simpler times in life. I love it.
Deb on 2026-02-13 (5 stars): My family devoured this dish! I also left out the Worcestershire sauce. I will be making this again!
Anne D on 2026-02-05 (5 stars): Very easy to make and delicious. I left the Worcestershire sauce out.
Doria on 2026-01-27 (5 stars): There's a restaurant here in town that makes American chop suey. Mine is better and I like to slip them the recipe because this is just a whole lot better than any restaurant I've been in. My family loves it as is. We make it at least twice a month if not more. And it's really good for kids lunch pack it up in the thermos and you've got their lunches for a couple of days.
Janet on 2025-12-29 (5 stars): I made this..I'm right there with you. Gonna be a chilly New Years Eve for central Florida 2026. Luv it...thx
Janet on 2025-12-29 (5 stars): Nice easy hardy meal! Thx
Jeanene on 2025-12-17 (5 stars): I grew up in New England and this was my favorite meal. I live in Florida now as soon as it gets cooler in the winter this is the first meal I make. Brings back so many memories. I love how it makes so much. It's even better the next day!
Michelle on 2025-12-15 (5 stars): Excellent. Just follow the recipe
Allison Carter on 2025-11-30 (5 stars): Family favorite!
Dave on 2025-11-07 (5 stars): Hi Dani. That's the proper, professional way to brown ground beef to add layers of flavor. Recently I've even upgraded this to use Camp Mix. It contains a blend of: black pepper, white pepper, salt, celery salt, garlic and onion. Hope this helps.
Dave on 2025-11-07 (5 stars): I'm from Maine and my mother made this recipe all the time. It's really good. The only changes I made were to scale down the amount for one person and adapt to different ingredients. I don't like green peppers, so I use red bell instead - they're much sweeter. I prefer vidalia onions for their sweetness, but sometimes I use shallots if that's all I have. I also use just one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes. Cento is the best. This is also naturally sweet. So, I eliminate the sugar from the recipe altogether. 1 tablespoon of salt if way too much. 1 teaspoon or less brings out the sweetness of the sauce without overpowering it. And finally, I freeze half of the sauce for a future batch or for a bolognese over angel hair pasta. I only cook 1/2 pound of the macaroni and mix it with the remaining half of the sauce.I've been making this for a long time and used to work in restaurants, so I hope this helps.
