Hamburger Casserole

Need a quick, simple meal to feed your hungry family? This Hamburger Casserole has four simple ingredients you are likely to have at home. Starts with noodles and after adding tomato soup and hamburger, and of course delicious mozzarella cheese, the perfect easy casserole is born! Great for getting supper on the table fast!

Every meal needs to have some meat in it in this house. Good thing this easy Hamburger Casserole recipe fits the bill.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, my hubby is rather picky about the food that is on his plate. Vegetables are forbidden, save potatoes and green beans (canned from a garden is preferred).  

Let's not even talk about carrots.

Finding a favorite meal is easy if I make a meat and potatoes dish (like this Easy Beef Stew).  Unfortunately, hamburger is costing the same as a small diamond around our area.  

Therefore, we aren't wanting to use a lot of red meat in our cooking to save a few dollars.

I think you are starting to see my dilemma.  Meatless meals are not encouraged and we need to take out a loan to eat a roast.

(Disclaimer: that was an exaggeration. But you get the point.)

What is hamburger casserole?

It is a casserole with only a few ingredients. It also has a unique ingredient, tomato soup.

It also makes quite a bit in a 9x13 pan so it feeds a large family. It can feed my family of six with enough for lunches the next day.

I should point out my children ages: 20, 16, 13 and 10. Three boys and a girl so trust me, they eat a lot! Any recipe with leftovers to feed them the next day is a winner to me.

Ingredients

This casserole recipe has only a handful of simple ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen.

• Noodles
• Cheddar cheese
• Hamburger
• Tomato soup.

Yes, tomato soup. Let's be real here, either you like tomato soup or you don't. I, for one, do not. However, I do like it in this recipe.

The tomato soup in this hamburger casserole is what makes the recipe unique. The soup adds a lot of depth and base to this casserole.

I think the way it is baked in, and has layers of cheese makes the flavors blend well together.

Are the noodles pre-cooked?

Yes, they are. While you are cooking the hamburger, you can cook the 1 pound of noodles as well (in another pot) so the process only takes 10 minutes or so. Don't worry about the type of noodles to use in this easy supper recipe.

We use rotini or elbow macaroni the most, but shells work well too. I wouldn't use egg noodles or frozen noodles for this.

Then the meal comes together in a casserole pan and bakes for 20 minutes.

To make this easy and kid friendly recipe, cook up the hamburger, boil the noodles until Al Dente (a bit of a bite to them about 7 minutes), stir in the tomato soup and sprinkle with cheese. You can read how to make cook perfect Al Dente Pasta.

This has four ingredients in it. I personally count the mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese as one ingredient because you could simply use your favorite kind of cheese.

If you would rather, it has 5 ingredients. You can decide.

Bake

You will add all ingredients to a 9x13 casserole dish which has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. It will be baked, covered with foil, at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Then you will want to uncover the casserole and bake for 5-10 minutes longer so the cheese has time to slightly and lightly brown. Oh yum.

Freezing hamburger

To make this casserole supper recipe even more easy, you can have hamburger already cooked and frozen in the refrigerator.

Sometimes, when I know I am going to have a busy week, when I get home from the store I cook the hamburger I bought immediately. As I am putting away the other groceries, the ground beef cooks on the stove and I am tackling two activities at once.

Got to love multitasking.

Then, after the ground beef is done cooking, I drain the grease and put it in a freezer container without putting the lid on and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Then, I cover it and put it in the freezer.

When I am ready to make this hamburger casserole, I pull the hamburger out of the freezer and add it to the recipe. So quick and easy!

FAQ

Serve this up with great sides like Poppy Seed Fruit Salad or 3 Ingredient Grape Jello Salad. So simple to make and such a family favorite. My hubby told me I could make it once a week. Maybe your family will too!

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