CHEESEBURGER CASSEROLE RECIPE
This cheeseburger casserole is one of the first recipes I posted to this blog! It's a family favorite and it's different than the traditional creamy, canned soup casseroles.
Pasta noodles, ground beef, seasonings, tomatoes, mustard, and cheese make this a family friendly dinner.
HOW TO MAKE GROUND BEEF CHEESEBURGER CASSEROLE
Spiral Rotini Noodles - Cook to your liking. My kids don't like al dente noodles so I cook for at least 10 minutes. The oven time is only 12 minutes so the noodles won't cook too much more in the oven.
Ground Beef
Onion, Garlic, Salt, Pepper - You can use fresh garlic cloves that have been minced or pressed. Use chopped garlic from a jar or garlic paste from a tube. I use a yellow onion but you can also use a white onion.
Petite Diced Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Dijon Mustard
Parsley, Basil, Salt, Worcestershire Sauce, Sugar - I like to add the additional salt here to flavor the tomatoes but it's optional. Add more or less to taste. All these ingredients season the tomato mixture. The sugar helps offset the acid from the tomatoes so be sure and not skip it.
Shredded Cheese - Use any kind you want! For a true cheeseburger experience use some shredded American cheese like Velveeta shreds. I use Colby Jack cheese.
MY TIPS FOR THIS RECIPE
- It's important to salt the boiling water before adding the dry pasta to cook. It will help flavor the pasta. I add about 1-2 teaspoons of salt before I add the pasta in.
- Use more cheese if you like! My kids love the cheese so I will usually add a bit more 🙂
- We love this casserole topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and chopped dill pickles.
- Try it with some big mac sauce on top the casserole! Yum!
TRY THESE OTHER GROUND BEEF CASSEROLE RECIPES
- cheeseburger tater tot casserole
- easy taco casserole
- cheesy taco spaghetti casserole
- creamy beef noodle bake
- baked spaghetti casserole
- easy mexican biscuit casserole
- taco biscuit bake
Cheeseburger Casserole
Ingredients
- 2½ cups rotini pasta dry & uncooked
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 yellow or white onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves use fresh garlic, chopped garlic, or garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 can (28 oz) petite diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard I use 1½ tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon salt (I add this but it's optional, taste to see if you need it, add more or less)
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups shredded cheese
Optional Toppings & Garnishes
- shredded lettuce
- diced tomato
- chopped dill pickles
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. We don't like al dente pasta so I cook mine for around 10 minutes. Remember to add at least 1-2 teaspoons of salt to the boiling water to help flavor the pasta. Drain pasta and set aside in a bowl for later use.
- While pasta is cooking cook and crumble the ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a skillet pan (or large pot) over medium-high heat. Drain the grease.
- Add the petite diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, dried parsley, Worcestershire sauce, basil, and sugar into the ground beef and stir. Let cook for a 5 minutes just so everything can combine and flavors can come together.
- Add the cooked pasta into the ground beef and stir to combine.
- Pour half of the mixture into the baking dish and spread out. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Pour the other half into the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup cheese.
- Cook for 12 minutes. Serve immediately with the toppings or as is.
Notes
Nutrition
What a nice little recipe. The kids and Grown ups will love this one. Its so easy that it practically makes itself. I used No yolks broad noodles and cut back on the cheese.
The mustard and chopped Pickles a Must !
Yes, I agree, the pickles are top are yummy! I love the substitution of the yolk noodles. I'll have to try that next time I make this.
How long would you bake this if you had frozen it prior to the baking stage? Thanks!
I would probably let it thaw first in the fridge and then it may need an additional 5 to 10 minutes of bake time if the casserole is still cold. But I'm not certain on all of that as I've never done it before.
One of our favs. We added a little big Mac sauce on top and my goodness. Amazing.
Big Mac sauce?!? Yum.... I need to try that next time I make this. So glad it was a hit.
Big time family favorite, my kids all love it!
Very good and easy. I did’t think I would need all of the diced tomatoes but I really did. The flavors all came together to make a very tasty dish. Even better the next day.
Hi there!! Just wondering if this would be enough for 6, along with a salad?
Oh yes, for sure. Enjoy!
I had to tweek it a little. I used macaroni, ketchup and regular mustard. Lots of cheese and lots of pickles. So good on a rainy day! Thanks!!
This is an easy recipe and very good. I have made it several times. The only change I have made is to make it a large deep fry pan (copper Chef). I mix in the cheese reserving some cheese for the top and then bake.
Hi, I want to make this on Saturday and was wondering if you need to drain the tin of tomatos or if the liquid goes in too?
Thanks in advance, can´t wait to try this 🙂
Rakel.
Do not drain them. Just dump in the can of diced tomatoes. Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you for getting back to me, made it for just the two of us and we both really enjoyed it, such a quick and easy thing to make and we had enough left over for our dinner the day after wich is always a big bonus 🙂 Thank you for sharing this, I´m going to give the recepi to my daughter because I know she will LOVE it,. Rakel x