5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole
Dinnertime just got easier. Our 5-ingredient ground beef casserole is bursting with flavor yet requires minimal prep and cooking time. You can whip up this hearty and satisfying dish with a quick list of kitchen staples. It is budget-friendly and takes a little over an hour to make and cook.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 12
Preparation Level: Beginner +
Details About the Recipe
- It only requires five ingredients.
- Your dinner will be ready in a little more than an hour. Plus, this feeds our family of four, and we still have leftovers.
- The casserole recipe can be made ahead of time and frozen, so you can pull it out and cook it when you’re ready. I will usually make the entire recipe, split it into two containers, and freeze one for later.
- It’s very adaptable. You can add vegetables or use pantry ingredients, such as pasta or spaghetti sauce.
- The recipe is a hit with picky eaters! The kids ask for it all the time.
What Do I Need to Make the Best Ground Beef Casserole?
- Oven
- Stovetop
- Spatula
- Skillet
- 13″ x 9″ casserole dish
- Non-stick spray
- Large mixing bowl
- Ground beef
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Cream of cheddar cheese soup
- Cubed potatoes (I used frozen)
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Tinfoil
Full printable recipe with ingredients, measurements, and instructions listed at the bottom of the post on the recipe card.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Start by cooking the ground beef. Drain the grease and add it to a large bowl. You’ll need a large bowl to mix up this ground beef meal. It’s a lot, and it will feed a lot of people. In fact, I have two teenage boys who eat quite a bit, and we had some leftovers. I think we all had a couple of servings, too.
Secondly, add the cream of mushroom soup and cream of cheddar cheese soup to the bowl.
I make several dishes with the combination of the two soups, and they always work great and add a ton of flavor to ground beef, chicken, tuna, or pork casseroles. Plus, they are inexpensive and budget-friendly meals.
Next, add the cubed potatoes to the bowl. I used frozen cubed potatoes because they’re so much easier to prepare than chopping up a bunch of potatoes. You need three cups of cubed potatoes, so you can cut up some potatoes, boil them, and add them to the casserole, or add the frozen ones.
Pile the shredded cheddar cheese right on top. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, and give everything a good stir.
Finally, pour everything into a greased 9″ x 13″ casserole dish and spread it out. Sprinkle the remainder of the shredded cheese on top and cover with tin foil. You’ll be baking the dish for half an hour with the tin foil and half an hour without the tin foil, so the cheese will bake on top toward the end.
This is one of the best ground beef casserole recipes out there. It’s so simple to make. You can add diced onions, green peppers, or even different cream soups to the mix.
Tips
- You can cook the beef ahead of time and store it in the fridge for a couple of days or put it in the freezer until you’re ready for it. It’s handy to have several bags of cooked meat to pull out of the freezer, thaw it, and have it ready for the casserole.
- I buy my meat at the Fresh Market on sale days. They have a sale on chicken and ground beef, and I always try to stock up each week. It saves us a lot of money over a year, and I love their ground beef.
- I used two pounds of ground beef for this recipe, but you can use less.
- If you have a bag of hash-browned potatoes in your freezer, you can use those instead of the cubed potatoes.
- This recipe allows you to switch out the soups. For example, you can use cream of chicken or cream of celery. I’ve had readers use con queso cheese dip instead of the cream of cheese soup.
- You can switch out the potatoes for cauliflower for a low-carb recipe.
Can I Make This With Lean Meat?
Yes, you can make the recipe with lean ground beef or ground turkey.
What To Serve With Your Dinner
- Moist Jiffy Cornbread
- Corn fritters
- Jiffy jalapeno cornbread
- Jiffy creamed corn cornbread
- Buttermilk cornbread recipe
5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 to 2 pounds ground beef
- 10.5 ounce can cream of condensed mushroom soup
- 10.5 ounce can cream of cheddar cheese soup
- 3 cups cubed frozen potatoes
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cook the ground beef, drain the grease, and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the can of cream of mushroom and cream of cheddar cheese soup to the bowl.
- Add the frozen cubed potatoes to the bowl.
- Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese to the bowl.
- Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix everything together.
- Pour into a greased 9" x 13" casserole dish and sprinkle the remainder of the shredded cheddar cheese on top. Cover with tin foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes, and carefully remove the tin foil. Bake for 30 more minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more casserole recipes? Try Crock Pot chicken and rice or slow cooker pork chops and rice.
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