5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole

5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole is a budget-friendly and easy dinner recipe for the entire family.

The casserole recipe is pure comfort food.

An Easy Casserole For The Family

With 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.

5-Ingredient ground beef casserole is one of those main dishes that even the pickiest eaters will love.

This dish is a huge hit around our house and the kids ask for it all the time.

I will usually make the entire recipe and split it into two containers and freeze one for later.

The Best Ground Beef Casserole

I love easy casserole recipes and they seem to make life a little less stressful and of course, always taste delicious.

This main dish ground beef casserole only calls for five simple and inexpensive ingredients. I love budget-friendly, and I love simple.

Ground beef casserole with potatoes is one of those meals that is comforting, easy to make, filling, and full of ingredients that everyone loves.

With ground beef, potatoes, cheese, and soups, you can’t go wrong with this meal.

The kids are at two different schools on two different sides of town, so I spend a lot of time driving to car circles, sitting in car circles, and then driving to after school activities, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for cooking meals.

So, anytime I can get a casserole going, it allows me to relax a little at the end of the busy day and dinner becomes an easy task.

Other Casserole Ideas:

• Jiffy Cheeseburger Casserole is a simple and inexpensive dish to make for the whole family, and it’s always a hit around here. This is perfect for those busy weeknights.
• Chicken and Rice Crock Pot Casserole is perfect for those busier days when you don’t have time to cook, but want the family to eat something healthy.
• Chicken Casserole with Ritz Crackers is a mouthwatering delicious meal for the family. It’s one of those recipes that has simple ingredients and stays as the family favorites.
• Tater Tot Casserole – this is another one of those easy ground beef recipes with just a handful of ingredients. The easy weeknight meal makes one of those perfect freezer meals, too.

Full printable recipe with ingredients, measurements, and instructions listed at the bottom of the post on the recipe card.

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

How To Make Ground Beef Casserole

Start by cooking the ground beef. Drain the grease and add it to a large bowl.

You’re going to 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 that eat quite a bit, and we had leftovers.

I think we all had a couple of servings, too.

You can cook the beef ahead of time and store it in the fridge for a couple of days, or stick it in the freezer until you’re ready for it.

It’s handy to have several bags of cooked meat to be able to pull out of the freezer, thaw it out, 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 quite a bit of money over the course of a year and, I love their ground beef.

For this recipe, I used two pounds of ground beef. But, you can use less than that, as well.

Secondly, add the cream of mushroom soup to the bowl. 

Thirdly, add the cream of cheddar cheese soup to a 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 it’s just so much easier 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.

The frozen potatoes come out just as delicious. You can also use hash browned potatoes if you have a bag of those in your freezer.

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.

For this recipe, I used cooking spray to grease the casserole dish.

Baked 5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole

This is one of the best ground beef casserole recipes out there. It’s so simple to make and costs less than 10 dollars.

You can add diced onions or green peppers if you’d like, or even add different cream soups to the mix.

What Is Ground Beef Casserole?

Ground beef casserole is usually a combination of cheese, potatoes or rice, and meat. Most casserole recipes are easy to make, are hearty, and will feed six to eight people.

Things I Love About This Recipe

This is definitely one of our favorite ground beef casserole recipes and here are a few reasons why:

• It’s an easy weeknight dinner, and it offers so much versatility.
• You can make it ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze it.
• If you get your meat on sale, it’s budget-friendly.
• Picky eaters love this recipe.

What Is The Best Way To Cook Ground Beef?

Cooking ground beef in the skillet on top of the stove is an easy and great way to make dinner. You can cook the ground beef for your meal, or place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for when you’re ready to use it.

Can I Make Ground Beef Casserole With Lean Meat?

Yes, you can make the recipe with lean ground beef or ground turkey.

5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole Variations

This is a great recipe to add some variety to from time to time. Here are a few ideas:

• Mexican-Inspired Casserole

Switch out the cream of mushroom soup for a can of diced tomatoes, and green chilies. While you’re cooking the meat, add some taco seasoning.

Top the casserole with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips toward the end of the baking time. Sprinkle some diced green bell pepper right on top or your favorite toppings.

• Italian-Inspired Casserole

Try a can of tomato sauce instead of the cream of mushroom. Add some Italian seasoning to the ground beef mixture and top the casserole with shredded mozzarella cheese and breadcrumbs.

• Sprinkle some fried onion rings on top of the recipe at the end of the baking time.
• Add some green beans, peas, or a variety of canned vegetables to the dish before baking.
• You can also add some variety with ingredients such as ground sausage or Italian sausage.

What To Serve With Ground Beef Casserole

• Moist Jiffy Cornbread is a delicious side that goes well with the cheesy ground beef dish.
• Corn fritters are always a hit with ground beef recipes including sloppy Joe’s, and hamburger casserole.
• Jiffy jalapeno cornbread goes great with taco casserole (such a great family dinner) and chili. Just add a little dollop of sour cream, and you’re in business.
• Jiffy creamed corn cornbread – is the perfect dish for any occasion including holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Buttermilk cornbread recipe – love buttermilk? This cornbread is a rich and tasty side.
• Add some salmon patties on the side for a rounded-out easy dinner idea.
• And add a little bit of dessert with chess squares (everyone loves them) and buttermilk Texas sheet cake.

5-Ingredient Ground Beef Casserole

Check out the 5-ingredient ground beef casserole full recipe card below, grab those ingredients, and start cooking! I love ground beef casserole recipes, and I think you’ll love this one, too.

The classic comfort food is a delicious dinner and perfect for those picky eaters. You can make it any night of the week, and people will be asking for seconds.

Then, share your comments below and share a picture of your dinner on the Pinterest Pin!  If you made any changes or added something different, be sure to share with us. 

6 Things to Cook If You’re Broke

Check out other delicious recipes at:

Julia’s Simply Southern and South Your Mouth