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. Melted cheese on top of noodles, hamburger and tomato soup. This casserole supper is so kid friendly, I have had readers tell me their pickiest eaters loved it! Talk about a winner of a dinner!
What is hamburger casserole?
It is a casserole with only a few ingredients. It also has a unique ingredient, tomato soup. I know some may be scared away by the thought of tomato soup in this recipe. The subtle but unique taste of the soup compliments the seasoned hamburger and noodles very well.
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/Mozzarella cheese
- Hamburger
- Tomato soup.
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.
I also will broil the cheese in the broiler for 3-5 minutes to get that extra layer of crispness to the cheese. Don't worry, still gooey cheese underneath!
Make ahead preparation
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
Sure! But then it would be more of a pasta casserole. Still works, just a different recipe.
Yes, you can. A little onion would be delicious. As would a touch of garlic.
Place any leftovers in an airtight container and place in fridge for up to 48 hours. Reheat as desired.
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!
Pin for later!
Hamburger Casserole
Equipment
- 1 medium pot
- 1 frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb box medium shells
- 1 lb ground hamburger , cooked with garlic powder, dried onion, salt and pepper to taste. We use 2 teaspoon each.
- 21.5 oz tomato soup 2 cans
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain.
- While cooking the noodles, in a frying pan, cook the hamburger until no longer pink. (If you are using salt and pepper, add it while cooking the hamburger).
- Pour cooked noodles in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
- Stir the cooked hamburger and tomato soup with the noodles. I just stir everything in the pan. I also sometimes add ½ cup of water to the mixture for a little more moisture. Completely optional.
- Sprinkle cheese over casserole and cover with foil.
- Bake in a 375* oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes longer.
- Can bake under broiler for 3-5 minutes to brown cheese, if desired.
- Note: If you want to use 2 cups of one kind of cheese (example: mozzarella) instead of the combination, you canDried onion and garlic powder is completely optional and can be adjusted to your family's tastes
Angie
Anything hamburger always sounds good to me so I decided to try this. I live alone and the next time I'll cut the recipe in half. I actually used a 1# box of medium shells and substituted a 1/4 finely chopped sweet onion cooking it with the burger. I used a 23.2 oz can of Campbell's tomato soup plus 1 10.75 oz. can. I used 1c of combined shredded sharp cheddar/Colby jack to use up partial bags of cheese and 1c of low moisture mozzarella. It turned out so good as what's not to like about melted, gooey cheeseburger pasta and burger!! Great recipe Kim!!
Kim
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Sue bendfeldt
I make the same casserole but I add a can of whole kernel corn drained and I fry the hamburger with green pepper. It was my son's favorite casserole when he was young and if he was still alive he'd still be eating it because he just loved it and it really has even better flavor with the green pepper
Debbie
I tried your recipe and it was easy and delicious! Thank you!
Kim
Thank you so much!
Robyn
Is it (2) 21.5 oz cans of tomato sauce or just 21.5 oz of tomato sauce in total? I wanna make this for dinner this week.
Kim
Hello! It is 21.5 oz total for the tomato soup. It usually is the equivalent to two regular soup cans. It can be a few ounces off either way and it will still work. Hope that helps!
Bonnie Coleman
Do you mix soup strait out of can or make according to directions on can
Kim
Yes, straight out of the can.
Melissa Henson
I made this recipe. WE LOVED IT. I had to use Cellentani noodles, there long and curly but they worked. And I did like added about 1/3 water, but I used water off the noodles. Followed the instructions came out great. Thanks for the sharing recipe.
Kim
I'm so glad you liked it!!
Melissa Henson
Yes i made this. The only shells I could find was Cellentani noodles,which are long & curly. But the recipe still turned out FABULOUS. WE LIKED IT.
Donata
can you make this in a crock pot an if so for how long
djahaw
Kim
I have never tried to make this in a crock pot before. My main concern would be the noodles would get crunchy and over cooked.
Deborah
More than 4 ingredients, so misleading recipe
Kim
I'm sorry you feel that way. Let me explain: in most recipes, the salt and pepper is not included in the amount of ingredients a recipe has. Did you read through the whole post? It will explain things more. I hope you try it... it is a delicious recipe!
Sherry
It is 4 ingredients unless you use two kinds of cheese, then you could say 5. Still cheese, no matter how much you use, is still one ingredient' It is shells, hamburger, soup and cheese. 4 ingredients. :) (You don't count spices because everyone uses what they want, if any)
Kim
Yes, I agree!!
Nancy
I want to try this but I can't find the 21.5 Oz of tomato soup,this looks so good want to make for our family Christmas.
Kim
Use two cans. If the size is a little off, it will still work! I hope you enjoy this recipe... it is a favorite here!
Dot
My husband had lost his sense of taste & smell for a long while, but he said this recipe was very tasty!!
Kim
Now that is a compliment! Thanks for sharing!
Cindy
I tried this a while back and my family LOVED it!!! I just went looking for it again and panicked because I couldn't find it in my files. Then I remembered it might be on Pinterest. Felt like dancing when I found I had saved it. Thank you!!!
Kim
I am so glad to hear you found it again and that your family loved it! It is a favorite at our house!
Cindy
This recipe is so easy to make wirh minimal ingredients! It is super-tasty! I followed the recipe as written but halved the ingredients since l live alone
There are enough leftovers for two more meals which is a bonus! I did add extra cheese and prepared and baked in my 5-quart duch oven. Thank you for sharing...this definitely a keeper!
Kim
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
Rita
This looks good. I know my grandtoddler does not like pasta sauces so this she would like. Making, but sneaking in a vegetable.
Kathie
Do you add the 2 cans of water to the 2 cans of soup?
Kim
No, you just use the soup as is.