Casserole of Cheesy Hamburger
Cheeseburger Casserole is a delicious one-pot, 30-minute dish. It tastes like cheeseburgers in pasta form, being beefy, cheesy, and saucy. It’s a homemade Hamburger Helper – a tastier and healthier alternative to the popular boxed spaghetti!
This Cheesy Hamburger Casserole is as simple to make as Hamburger Helper, and you have complete control over the ingredients. It’s a great weeknight supper, and the kids adore it!
I’m not really sure where to begin with this cheeseburger casserole. Okay, one word… delicious! Yeah, I know it’s not a real word, but it’s the only term that can possibly describe how great this cheeseburger casserole is.
Okay, so this Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole dish isn’t my usual, but it’s who I am, plus it happens to be a recipe that gets a lot of emails. I uploaded a recipe called Busy Day Casserole a long time ago (and truly, look at the picture and you’ll laugh your heart out at how little I understood about food photography) and it has been one of my top recipes for years now. It never leaves the list of the most popular recipes.
When I was a little kid, my mother made this recipe for me, and it has always been a favorite of mine. It’s my go-to recipe when I’m stuck for ideas, and it’s perfect for a potluck or a casual lunch for visitors. I’ve changed it to make it my own, but my changes have only improved it. A crisp green salad and a hot crunchy bun are all you need to go with this delightful supper. “I hope you enjoy this delicious one-pot meal that is pure comfort food!”This is a filling supper that tastes great for the price and has enough leftovers for a pleasant repeat meal. My family gave this excellent dish a thumbs up and asked for it again and again!”Ingredients:
1 big sliced onion
1 tbsp canola oil, salt, and black pepper
oregano
paprika and garlic (to taste)
128-ounce whole tomato blended in the can with a hand blender or in a blender
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 macaroni box
1 cup each of shredded cheddar and mozzarella
Cook the onions in the oil with a three-finger pinch of salt. Cook the beef, breaking it up as it cooks. Along with the dry seasonings, add another three-fingered pinch of salt or two. Bring the tomatoes to a boil, then reduce to a low heat and cook for an hour.
Cook the macaroni until it is half done in boiling water. Drain it and combine it with the tomatoes. (I used the entire box since I wanted this to last two nights, but if you want your dish to be really tomatoey and beefy, use only half the macaroni). Combine it with the sauce. Feel it. Cover and season with extra salt and other seasonings as needed. When the pasta has absorbed the tomato liquids and has cooled, move it to a wide baking dish and cover with foil. It can be left out for several hours, refrigerated for up to two days, or frozen for several weeks.
Bake it at 400°F until it’s steaming hot (approximately 45 minutes if cold to room temperature). Remove the foil just before serving, top the macaroni with the cheese, and broil until the cheese is bubbling.
