This cheeseburger casserole recipe is a hearty and satisfying dinner thought full of all of the cheeseburger necessities: tender seasoned beef, onion, tomatoes, and melty cheese! Every little thing will get baked collectively in a creamy sauce with garlic and spices.
Right now’s cheeseburger casserole is a family-style spin on cheeseburger pasta, baked within the oven as a substitute! Tender pasta will get tossed in a savory combination of juicy floor beef, tomato, candy onions, and burger seasonings, then baked beneath fistfuls of melted cheese. Right here’s why you want this weeknight favourite in your desk, stat:
Traditional flavors. Cheeseburger casserole is a bit like a do-it-yourself tackle boxed Hamburger Helper (just like my creamy beef pasta). This recipe ditches the field combine and recreates all these gooey, tacky, beefy flavors from scratch.
Prepared in lower than an hour. The cheeseburger-inspired filling comes collectively in minutes, adopted by a brief bake within the oven. Have the entire casserole sizzling and on the desk in lower than one hour.
Simple clean-up. The noodles change into tender within the skillet as they take in all the flavour, after which it’s a matter of filling a casserole dish for baking. Clear-up is fast, and leftovers maintain for days.
Ingredient Notes
Right here, I’ve included some notes on the important thing components and seasonings you’ll want for this simple cheeseburger casserole recipe. Scroll to the recipe card beneath the submit for a printable record.
Floor Beef – You’ll want about one pound of lean floor beef. You may as well make this casserole with floor rooster or turkey as a leaner choice.
Onion – I like to make use of yellow onion however one other selection, like Vidalia and even crimson onion, additionally works.
Seasoning – I season my floor beef with a mix of salt, pepper, chili powder, and Italian seasoning.
Garlic – You’ll want two minced garlic cloves, or to style.
Tomato Paste and Broth – Tangy tomato paste together with low-sodium beef broth or rooster inventory create the bottom for the sauce.
Pasta – You can also make this pasta bake with raw cavatappi, or one other quick pasta (see beneath).
Milk and Bitter Cream – Substitute plain Greek yogurt rather than bitter cream, or use heavy cream for a extra decadent dish.
Cheese – I prime this casserole with shredded mozzarella and grated cheddar cheese. You may substitute this straightforward mix with one other melty cheese like Colby, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, or no matter you’ve got available. I like to recommend grating the cheese recent from the block. Pre-shredded cheese comes with a waxy coating and received’t soften as easily.
What’s the Finest Pasta to Use?
Much like mac and cheese, the most effective forms of pasta for cheeseburger casseroles are hole and tubular. These shapes permit extra cheese sauce to cling to them. I make my cheeseburger casserole with cavatappi, or “corkscrew” pasta, which is a bit like an even bigger, spiralized model of elbow macaroni. Different good choices are elbow macaroni, penne, ziti, and mini conchiglie (shells).
Learn how to Make Cheeseburger Casserole
Right here’s a fast take a look at learn how to make this gooey and bubbly cheeseburger casserole. You’ll want to scroll right down to the recipe card for detailed directions.
Brown the meat and add onions and seasonings.Add tomato paste, garlic, pasta, and broth.
Brown the meat. First, saute the bottom beef in a skillet. As soon as browned, stir in diced onion alongside along with your seasonings. Cook dinner for a couple of minutes longer, till the onions are softened.
Add the pasta and prepare dinner. Subsequent, stir in tomato paste and garlic, adopted by the broth and pasta. Simmer the combination, lined, till the pasta is al dente. This could take about 10 minutes or so, however the precise occasions might fluctuate relying on the pasta you’re utilizing.
Add the milk and bitter cream.Soften within the cheese.
Add milk, bitter cream, and cheese. Whisk the milk and bitter cream collectively in a separate bowl, then stir this into the skillet. After, sprinkle over half the shredded cheese, and stir till the cheese is melted.
Fill the casserole dish.High with cheese and bake!
Bake. Unfold the combination into a big casserole dish. Add the remaining shredded cheese over prime, and bake the casserole at 375ºF for 10-Quarter-hour. The cheese must be melted and effervescent on the edges.
Serve. Let the casserole stand for a bit as soon as it’s out of the oven, this can make it simpler to scoop. Serve cheeseburger casserole garnished with inexperienced onions alongside your favourite sides.
Recipe Ideas and Variations
Use room temperature components. Take components like milk, bitter cream, and cheese out of the fridge 20-Half-hour forward of getting ready your casserole. Room-temperature components are simpler to mix and yield the creamiest texture.
Strive to not overcook the pasta. Because you’ll be baking the pasta after it’s cooked within the pan, make sure that to solely prepare dinner the pasta within the sauce till it’s simply al dente (cooked however nonetheless agency within the middle).
Add bacon. Stir in cooked, crumbled bacon for a bacon cheeseburger casserole.
Extra cheeseburger toppings. Add burger-inspired toppings like diced tomatoes, caramelized onions, and dill pickles for much more taste.
Mexican-style. Swap the Italian seasoning within the recipe for taco seasoning for a Tex-Mex spin on cheeseburger casserole. You may also like this taco pasta.
Make it vegetarian. Substitute floor meat with canned beans, lentils, or your most popular meatless mince, and use vegetable broth rather than beef or rooster broth. When you’re in search of a hearty vegetarian pasta recipe, do this baked Boursin cheese pasta or this Midwest five-cheese bake.
Serving Strategies
Cheeseburger casserole is a meal-in-one, however I’ll usually spherical out dinner with a aspect of fluffy dinner rolls or do-it-yourself crescent rolls. This casserole additionally goes nice with a aspect of inexperienced salad or veggies, like air fryer asparagus. For dessert, tuck right into a slice of creamy cherry cheesecake!
Can I Make This Casserole Forward?
Sure. Cheeseburger casserole might be made forward after which refrigerated or frozen till you’re able to bake it. Right here’s how:
Comply with the recipe as directed proper up till you switch the casserole filling to an oven-proof baking dish and canopy it with cheese.
Wrap the unbaked casserole tightly in plastic wrap to refrigerate for as much as 2 days, or freeze for as much as 3 months. Thaw the casserole utterly earlier than baking as directed.
When getting ready this casserole prematurely, take into account including a bit of additional broth. This helps to maintain the filling from drying out as soon as it’s within the oven. Every time doable, let your casserole come again to room temperature earlier than baking. It’s necessary to concentrate to the temperature necessities of your casserole dish to keep away from a chilly dish cracking within the sizzling oven. See the following part for instructions on learn how to retailer and reheat cheeseburger casserole as soon as it’s baked.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Fridge. Retailer any leftover cheeseburger casserole hermetic and refrigerate it for as much as 3-4 days. Reheat servings within the microwave or within the oven at 350ºF till warmed by means of.
Freezer. Baked cheeseburger casserole can also be nice to freeze. Cowl the casserole or wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, plus a layer of foil. You may as well retailer smaller parts in an hermetic, freezer-safe container. Retailer leftovers frozen for as much as 3 months, and defrost them within the fridge earlier than reheating.
This cheeseburger casserole is a straightforward weeknight pasta bake stuffed with all of the cheeseburger necessities: seasoned beef, onion, tomato, and plenty of melty cheese!
1 pound lean floor beef
1 yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon floor black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups beef broth, or rooster inventory
12 oz cavatappi pasta, raw (rotini additionally works nicely)
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup bitter cream
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Inexperienced onions for garnish
Preheat your oven to 375°F.
In a big skillet over medium-high warmth, brown the bottom beef, till nearly utterly cooked.
Add the diced onion, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and Italian seasoning to the skillet with the bottom beef. Stir and prepare dinner till the onions are softened for about 5 minutes.
Stir within the tomato paste and minced garlic till nicely mixed.
Add the meat broth and raw cavatappi pasta to the skillet and convey the combination to a simmer. Cowl with a lid and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, or till the pasta is al dente (cooked however nonetheless agency).
In a separate bowl, whisk collectively the milk and bitter cream. Pour this combination into the skillet, stirring it into the pasta and meat combination.
Add half of the shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese to the skillet and blend till melted and nicely mixed.
Switch the combination to a 13×9-inch casserole dish and unfold it evenly. Sprinkle the remaining shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese excessive of the casserole.
Bake the casserole within the preheated oven for about 10-Quarter-hour, or till the cheese is melted and bubbly.
As soon as cooked, take away the casserole from the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Garnish with chopped inexperienced onions.
