Cheeseburger Casserole is a one pot, 30 minute recipe that’s outrageously good. Beefy, cheesy and saucy, it tastes like cheeseburgers in pasta form. It’s a homemade Hamburger Helper – a tastier and much healthier version of the popular boxed pasta!
I love a good one pot recipe, and this one sits alongside reader favourites including Greek Chicken & Lemon Rice, Sausage Bake with Vegetables and Gravy, Baked Chicken with Garlic Butter Rice and the one skillet Asian Beef Noodles!
“It’s beefy, cheesy and saucy – Hamburger Helper tastes like cheeseburgers in pasta form!”
Cheeseburger Casserole
The first time I published this recipe, I said that I burnt my mouth taste testing this straight out of the pot.
And almost 3 years later, I’m saying the same thing – yet again, I burnt my mouth.
I took a small taste to check for seasoning. Had a swoon moment, then scooped up a huge spoonful and shovelled it in my mouth.
And totally scorched the entire roof of my mouth. OUCH.
Here’s an up close and personal look at the offender. Look at it. Can you blame me for my lack of self control??
Another ground beef recipe!
I’m a big fan of ground beef (mince) recipes because it’s economical, requires no chopping and it’s a terrific sponge for flavour.
So for those of you who put a packet of beef mince in your shopping basket this week, this Cheeseburger Casserole is for you! The key ingredients are fairly standard pantry items. And the items that are not can be substituted:
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carrot, celery and corn are optional. Feel free to add other chopped veg
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some subs available for the spices
The cheese is not optional. If you skip it, then this pretty much becomes a bolognese, hmm??
One pot! 20 minutes!
The beauty of this recipe is the speed at which it has to be cooked. You cannot cook the pasta for longer than 12 minutes, otherwise your sauce will disappear and you’ll end up with overly soft pasta.
It’s a 19 minute job on the stove:
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Onion, garlic, celery, carrot – 4 minutes
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Brown beef – 3 minutes
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Add the other stuff and stir – 2 minutes
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Cook – 8 minutes (no peeking!)
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Stir & Cheese – 1 minute
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Melt -2 minutes
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TOTAL 20 minutes
(PS I used to work in finance. This is the extent of the maths I do nowadays 🤓)
This Cheeseburger Casserole is a recipe from my good friend Jo from Jo Cooks. It’s one of many fabulous one pot recipes in her cookbook, 30 Minute One Pot Meals.
I originally shared this recipe back in 2016 to celebrate the release of her cookbook. It was fabulous then, and it’s just as fabulous now. ❤️
Sometimes, I reduce the amount of pasta (because I always have half packets 250g/8oz lying around!) and up the veg quota. Zucchini and red peppers /capsicum are ideal. Jo also suggests topping it with diced tomato which is a great topping.
If you do this, then you might not need a side salad. But if you do, try your garden salad or steamed vegetables with French Dressing, Balsamic Dressing or my favourite Italian Dressing. Or make a big batch of Broccoli Salad that will last you days and days! – Nagi x
PS And if you feel like a total carb blow out, add a side of Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread. *She swoons at the thought and her skinny jeans are cursing*
More One Pot Ground Beef / Mince recipes
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Chili Mac – mash up of Mac and Cheese with Chilli Con Carne, so good!
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Asian Beef and Ramen Noodles – one skillet, 15 minutes
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Taco Soup – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, it’s amazing!
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Browse all One Pot recipes and Ground Beef / Mince recipes
Cheeseburger Casserole
Watch how to make it
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Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 small carrot * , chopped (optional)
- 1 celery stalk * , chopped (optional)
- 500 g/ 1 lb ground beef (mince) , preferably lean
- 12 oz / 340g dried macaroni , uncooked
- 1/2 cup frozen corn * , optional
- 2 cups chicken broth/stock, low sodium
- 1 tbsp hot sauce or Sriracha sauce , adjust to taste
- 1 tsp American chili powder (Note 1)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder , or sub onion powder
- 800 g / 28 oz crushed tomato
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1.5 - 2 cups (150 - 200g) cheddar or tasty cheese, shredded (Note 3)
- 1 cup (100g) mozzarella cheese , for topping
Garnish (optional)
- 1 green onion , sliced
Instructions
- Heat oil in a dutch oven or large deep skillet over medium high heat.
- Add onion and garlic, cook 1 minute.
- Add celery and carrot, cook 3 minutes until soft.
- Increase heat to high and add beef. Cook, breaking it up as you go, until no longer pink - 3 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT cheese. Stir to combine, add macaroni, then turn down to medium or medium low so it's simmering gently.
- Cover, cook 8 minutes. Pasta should be just about cooked, and still nice and saucy.
- Add cheddar cheese, stir. Top with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with lid, cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Remove from stove. The pasta should now be cooked - tender but firm, not mushy, slick with sauce, not dried out.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions, if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is the same Dozer photo I shared when I first published this recipe back in 2016 – Dozer looking at Jo’s cookbook instead of the food.
We all know I was holding a treat just out of frame to make him do that.
But she loves the photo so much anyway, I can’t change it!!
In your ingredients visual, there’s a bowl of macaroni captioned “Sugar”. Mistake?
De-lic-ious! And huge servings. We made the 5-serve quantity and 4 of us only ate about half of it. The leftovers were great tho!!
Not gonna lie – I only clicked on this due to morbid curiosity because I thought the title sounded gross. I expected beef with pickles and Mayo. Boy was I surprised! This will be in regular rotation, easy, economical and SO TASTY. Miss 9 put it in her top 10 dinners, Mr 6 gave it a 10/8 (we’re still working on fractions 😂)
So easy, and so tasty!
Holy cow, I loved this! I was just looking for something quick for ingredients I had on hand; I didn’t expect to like it sooo much.
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) Let me say..Hamburger Helper only wishes to taste this good! This was so easy to fix and was even better the second day! Excellent!
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) Let me say..Hamburger Helper only wishes to take this good! This was so easy to fix and was even better the second day! Excellent!
Followed recipe mostly as written. The subs I made were minor and only because of not having certain ingredients on hand. Seems to be a pretty flexible recipe. Delicious, and will make again! Thank you!
Super quick and easy! Brilliant! Very tasty 😋
My fussy 2yo loved it 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe it’s so easy and tasty although I used shells instead of macaroni (what I had in the pantry). Is now a staple
Made this last night.. Delicious and super easy. Also leftovers for dinner tonight. just as good reheated.
I made this last night. Hit with the family 🙂
Hi Nagi, what American chilli powder do you use. I have a friend in the US who can send me some.
Cheers, thankyou.
I made this last night. So easy and SO tasty!!
Thanks for this gem, Nagi.
I just cooked this and my 14 year old son loves it. He said it is Mac and cheese on crack.
LOL. this is the best review. Really had me laughing.
Very good. I made it tonight and the family liked it. It is easy to make.
Kids and I loved this! Super easy. Please more one pot meals Nagi!!!! We love your food blog:)
Can this be made without the tomatoes?
Hi Hailey i don’t like whole tomatoes, so would use Pasata / tomato puree..
So yummy! I used penne instead of macaroni because that’s the only pasta i had..I added around 2-3 mins. It was still a little bit soupy though. But it dried up more on the table. Still delicious and a very easy dish to make.
Thank you! N x
Gah! Do not make this when you are trying to eat reasonable portions! I had seconds, then a few scoops for bedtime snack, then again this morning for breakfast. I didn’t top with cheese, and had to tweak the liquids a bit because my box of pasta was 14 ounces. I’ll do this again!