Cheeseburger Casserole

This comforting Cheeseburger Casserole pasta dish features all the fixings of a delicious cheeseburger all baked in the oven. It is cheesy, easy, and the perfect meal for families who are short on time. This post contains affiliate links.

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What is it?

Seasoned, browned hamburger meat is cooked in a skillet with onion, and spices while the pasta boils. Canned tomatoes, chopped pickles, and some ketchup, all flavor this meal nicely. Freshly grated cheddar is melted on top of the oven. Overall, this meal is ready from ingredients to dinner in about 30 minutes flat!

If you love cheeseburgers and are sick of the same old boring dinners, this fun meal can have you enjoying the flavors year round.

The best part is this meal is simple to make and will not cost a fortune. Chances are, you might even have the canned diced tomatoes, hamburger, and pasta on hand. If you are like us, ketchup and pickles too! We are using our homemade variety of Cold Packed Refrigerator Pickles which are a hit!

Ingredients

This meaty, cheesy casserole only requires 10 ingredients with a few of them being spices.

Ground Beef

You can use 90/10 lean or 80/20 ground beef for this recipe. Plant-based meat crumbles can also be used. Just make sure you have at least 1 lb of meat.

I recommend 2 lbs. for a hearty meal.

Ground Beef Tip

If you use a higher fat content ground beef, be sure to drain it into a glass jar or bowl to harden. You can later throw it away once it has cooled. Hot grease is not good for the drain and can cause plumbing issues.

Pasta

For the pasta ingredient, you can choose macaroni elbows, penne, or shells. Any pasta that can hold extra flavor will work well.

Tomatoes

This recipe also calls for a tomatoes. I used canned diced tomatoes. You can use fresh too if you have them on hand. Another tomato ingredient you could add in is seasoned tomatoes like RO*Tel for a zesty flavor.

Cheese

I recommend avoiding shredded cheddar that is bagged. Shredded cheese contains an ingredient additive that prevents the shreds from sticking to one another. Unfortunately, it also bakes the cheese up to a stringy, dry consistency.

Cheese Tip

Hand-grate a block of solid cheddar cheese. It’s more work, but it will melt evenly with lots of oils, creating a delicious cheese pull. Freshly grated cheese also simply tastes better. Trust me, it’s all worth it!

Spices

For spices, this area is almost up to you. I chose kosher salt (which is not as salty tasting as table salt), black ground pepper, onion, and garlic powder. You can also use Montreal Steak Seasoning which is delicious on meat. Use your preference.

How to Make

Prepare a 6-quart stockpot with water, a pinch of kosher salt, and bring the water to a roaring boil before adding your pasta. Cook pasta until al dente while doing the below steps.

Chop up one yellow onion, and add it to a large frying pan with your hamburger, and seasoning; cook until hamburger is browned, and onion is translucent.

Drain excess hamburger fat and cool in a glass jar to throw away once it is solid.

Open your tomatoes with your can opener. If you need a new can opener, I really love this KitchenAid can opener which requires little effort to open the can. Drain the excess juices from your tomatoes, and then add them and the ketchup, and mustard to your skillet; stir well over low-medium heat.

Strain pasta, and then add the hamburger tomatoes, and onion blend to the stockpot and stir.

Grate 4 ounces of cheese into the pot and mix thoroughly. I love this Oxo Good Grips Grater which is wide, and helps to quickly shred the cheese.

Add cheeseburger mixture into your oven-safe casserole dish; grate remaining cheese for the top of the casserole.

Pro Tip:

For casseroles like this one that feature a pound of pasta, I recommend using a Deep Dish Pyrex casserole dish. This pan is 50% larger than a traditional 9″ x 13″ pan, and is needed.

Place in the oven on the middle rack to bake for 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You want to bake this uncovered to get the cheese nice and melty.

How to Serve

Once this comes out of the oven, top with chopped pickles and serve warm. You could also top it with green onion if you prefer.

We serve this Cheeseburger Casserole with garlic bread. You can even make your own Frozen Texas Toast Style Garlic Bread at home! It stores nicely in the freezer and bakes up to a golden brown perfection.

Substitutions

Cheese

If you do not like cheddar cheese, you could use a creamy deli American cheese hand grated. Just order your cheese in a half-pound block from the deli and grate as you would the cheddar. If you prefer Swiss, jack, or white cheddar you can also use those–it is all about preference.

Meat

You can use lean hamburger, 80/20 hamburger, ground turkey, or meatless meat crumbles.

Pasta

You can use any variety that will hold the flavor like shells, macaroni elbows, penne, or rigatoni.

How to store this casserole

If you have any leftovers, store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Frozen Meal

To make this a “freezer meal”, do all the steps above besides baking the pasta. You will mix the ingredients and top with cheese. However, you will not bake the cheese. Once the casserole is cooled, top with cheese, and add it to a freezer-safe aluminum pan and cover tightly.

Baking from Frozen

To bake from frozen, you will need to bake it for about 60 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Top with pickles before serving.

Other casserole dishes

• Cheesy Crab Casserole
• Tater To Breakfast Casserole with Sausage
• Fish Sticks Casserole
• Chorizo Green Bean Casserole

Recipe

Follow the recipe below to make this delicious and hearty Cheeseburger Casserole. This recipe makes 8 servings, but it can be adjusted as needed in the recipe card.