Crunchy Beef Casserole (and my casserole dish collection)
Most folks have never had to think about taking a photo of a casserole and I doubt few have spent the time I have wishing they were more photogenic. I guess it’s just a fact of life that casseroles aren’t pretty things, but they sure are good.
This recipe came from Granny Jordan’s well worn files and got a handwritten rating of “very good”, her highest praise. It’s warm, soothing, filling, and delicious. 
My mother didn’t start making casseroles until my early teens. She had been raised to cook the traditional Southern meal of “Meat and Three” which consisted of a meat, three vegetables, bread, and tea. At our table, dessert was served every night as well. Jealous? Me too. Sure do wish I could have meals like that cooked *for* me now!
My mother never thought to make a casserole because her mother and grandmother had never made them either. The first casserole I remember her making was Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli casserole. Why did she finally make one? Up until then, she’d never had a single casserole recipe!
In today’s busy world, casseroles are a cook’s best friend. Rather than buying frozen family sized meals, homemade casseroles enable you to make your own “convenience” meal in one dish much more economically. Usually, you can double or even triple a recipe for just a few dollars more. I like to mix up several at once and freeze them for home cooked convenience.
To cook a frozen casserole, simply place it in the oven while it preheats and add about ten minutes to the baking time. To develop your own signature casserole recipes, check out my Handy Dandy Casserole chart by clicking here. I developed it on a twelve hour drive back home from Disney World and it has been a great tool in my kitchen!
And now a word on casserole dishes, then back to our recipe!
Casseroles came into fad in a big way in the sixties and seventies and with that a variety of colorful casserole dishes were introduced. Most of y’all know I collect Pyrex dishes. They are from the era of my childhood and were made so well that any in my collection can still be used today. I collect, display, and use every one of them on a regular basis!
That is my rule about collecting things: If I’m gonna collect it, it has to have a purpose other than collecting dust!
(there are very few exceptions to this)
This is my current Pyrex Casserole collection.
All of these dishes are of the “Cinderella” design. They have special handles which are designed to be easy to pour from. I have several Cinderella mixing bowls as well and just love them.
~grins~
This is one of my oval casserole dishes. The pattern on the lid is called “Verde”.
Most of mine have been acquired at antique shops and on eBay but this one actually belonged to Granny Jordan.
This is an oval “Snowflake Blue” pattern.
It matches my grandmother’s dish pattern and is a favorite pattern of mine.
If you turn one of the lids upside down, all of the Pyrex casseroles stack very securely.
A graduated set of three casseroles in the “Daisy” pattern. I came across these yesterday in Nashville and just couldn’t resist them. They are so sunshiney and remind me of trips to Florida as a little girl in the seventies.
They stack really well, also! I’m so glad I got these.
They make me smile just looking at the pictures. I can’t wait to actually bake something for the kids in them!
They were priced at $38 but I paid $30. I probably could have got them for less but I’m not such a good haggler.
This pattern is called “Gooseberry” and it came in several colors.
Pink Gooseberry is one of my favorites but I also really love the way black gooseberry looks, it is a black print on white.
This one also belonged to Granny Jordan so I’m really honored to have it.
This pattern is called “Crazy Quilt” and is a bit harder to come by. It was offered as a promotional item only once and no other matching pieces were made. It was originally sold with a metal cradle to sit it in while serving at the table.
And another one of my favorite patterns, this is called “Friendship”. This is a mini casserole that I purchased in a set of three but the other two were crushed when I received them in the mail. I do still have two other lids just like this one though so maybe one of these days I’ll find some casseroles without lids and have a set again.
This pattern is called “Early American” and is most often seen with the pattern printed in brown on white.
I love this pattern because Grandmama and Grandaddy had a lot of bowls and such with this on it when I was little.
This is called “Amish Butterprint”.
And this is an almost complete set of “Snowflake Blue” round casseroles, I’m just missing the middle size.
So what do you think? Do I have too many?
OF COURSE NOT!!!
Have I got you in the casserole mood yet?
We’re off to the races!
For this one we’ll need : French Fried Onions (you don’t need a can as big as the one I have pictured) , Rotini Pasta (can substitute other type if you like), Cream Of Mushroom Soup, Can of Diced Tomatoes, Ground Beef, and Shredded Cheddar Cheese.
Don’t be disillusioned by my use of name brands lately. I’m still a “cheapest of the cheap” gal. The name brands popping up in my pantry are just a testament to how busy I’ve been! I haven’t had a good full out grocery shopping trip in about two months!
You’re also gonna need some Seasoned Salt.
Y’all know I have an affinity for Morton’s brand because of my grandparents.
Cook pasta according to directions. Drain when done.
In large mixing bowl place cream of mushroom soup, tomatoes…
Add seasoned salt..
Cheese…
(”…” is my best friend ya know)
and ground beef that has been cooked and drained.
Oooh, gettin’ steamy at Southern Plate!
Toss in your drained pasta
Give it a good stir.
Spoon into casserole Dish.
This recipe says to bake in a 2 quart casserole, which is just slightly smaller than a 9×13 inch dish.
You could bake it in a 9×13 if you like, it just won’t be as deep.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
As always, baking times vary by oven.
Obviously, I’m going to give you the baking times in the original recipes as these have always worked for me.
After thirty minutes, remove from oven and remove foil.
Top with onions and return to oven for five more minutes.
Serve hot. Oh yum.
Crunchy Beef Casserole
- 2 Cups Corkscrew Macaroni (Rotini)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 3/4 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 3/4 tsp Seasoned Salt
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 can (14 oz) whole or diced tomatoes
- 3/4 C Green Pepper (optional – I leave it out for the kids)
- 1 can french fried onions
Cook pasta as directed, rince and drain. Brown beef, drain fat. Combine all ingredients except french fried onions. Pour into greased 2 quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 for thirty minutes. Uncover, top with french fried onions, and bake five minutes longer.
Thank you so much for reading Southern Plate. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you!
Gratefully,
Christy:)
For those who wish to sing, there is always a song
~on a sign hanging in my kitchen.
To submit your positive or motivational quote and read an awful lot of others, please click here.
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Looks Great! I love your casserole dishes! they are so colorful!
Thank you Amanda!!! I love the pretty colors, make me smile!
Gratefully,
Christy
I love the casserole dishes! I had the snowflake small one but my son brok it. I went to a second had shop and found the Amish design – just a bow with no lid for $3.50 – a set was $4.50. A small blue bowl was $4.50 and the next size up in red was $5.50. I bought the blue on but the red was pretty beat up. Am always on the look out for these pyrex bowls and casserole dishes as I love them. Thansk for saying what the names of them were. I didn’t know. I do love your daisy ones, they are indeed beautiful. I sent your e mail on to a friend as she wanted to know where I got some of the recipes I sent her. Glad it was this one so she could see your beautiful display.
Wendy
Love the collection of casserole dishes. We have one true casserole dish. It’s a deep dish Corelle and Mama paid five bucks for it at the downtown trade day. Is this the 2:30 in the morning post? You are a lot more coherent than I would’ve been.
I see somebody’s been to Target. Seriously I wish someone would start a game show where you match the store brand to the store. I would actually be pretty good at that.
This is going in the hat for the August meal plan.
It’s the Blue Heart pattern and I actually picked up a tea pot and other things like a soup tureen (that my dad broke my ladle for)at a thrift store in town.
hehehe, That would be a FUN GAME!!!!
Let me know how you like it! I’m looking forward to getting to meet all of y’all! Getting things lined up now so I’ll holler at ya soon as I have details.
I wish I had a soup tureen!
I won’t go into all of the things my husband has broken.. ~sigh~
How wonderful that you went to Nashville yesterday…time for you and a friend. Love that new Daisy pyrex! That first picture of all the pretty colors of your dishes is very uplifting. The casserole recipe looks delicious……I have a very busy week and this, as always with Southern Plate, looks easy and quick! Thank you for finding time for “us” SP readers. Love ya!
Terri, I hope you get to try this one soon! Brady even loves it!
Let me know when things settle down for ya! I know you’re tired but I also know it is appreciated!
Hang in there!
Christy
Thanks, I think you are right.
Sooo, what about Princess Picky Pants liking this one? ~waves to Brady~
(I have all the ingredients but the French Onions….need to go to tha store)
Thereis no such things as too many casserole dishes. I have a lot of them and tend to put a certain recipe into the same casserole dish over and over until they alomost get names as the baked bean bowl or the rice pudding bowl. Wonder if they would get mad if I switched-they being the bowls. I tend to personify objects. Been in the kitchen alone too long!!!!!!
This is great because it’s made with stuff I usually always have. Love the casseroles. Love your posts. Love your recipes.
Thanks for sharing yourself with us.
I can’t wait to try this one Christy! I just made your Country Casserole today to take to my grandparents. These are great for them and easy to reheat. I hope they like it as much as we do. I know they will!
I love your daisy pyrex…..
My daughter’s favorite flower is daisies and she is getting ready to move into her first apartment, I think I need to find some of those.
I love your casserole dishes. I have always had a thing for anything kitchen, but I love collecting bowls and casseroles. To me, you can never have too many…even when their isn’t cupboard space for it all! *grin*
~Mrs. M
My mom has the casserole dishes with the prints on them as well! So cool! I am the casserole queen! I love casseroles! Thanks for the delicious recipes!
I only have one casserole dish, and it’s not nearly as fun as yours! When I have a larger kitchen and a bit more money to spend, I think that would be a fun collection to start though!
I really love the friendship pattern! And the daisy ones you just got are sooo sweet!
I LOVE your pyrex dishes!!! The designs are so cool and my mom had a few of those aswell. I cant really find them like that in the netherlands but once and awhile when I hit the second hand stores,they will have one there and I will pick it up.
The casserole looks great! I think casseroles get a bad rap. I love them and so does my family. I will be trying this one aswell!
I had forgotten all about Pyrex dishes! I love yours and wish I had some. I do have a few questions. Do you take yours right from the freezer to the oven? Also, do you top your casserole with foil or anything to keep it fresh in the freezer?
Thanks so much for all you do! I love Southern Plate!
Your pictures of your Pyrex really take me back. I remember my mom and my mother in law having these patterns. I still have a few of them and love to use them.
The recipe sounds delicious, I’m saving it for a Fall dinner. It’s too hot in Texas to cook right now!
Sounds great! Now I just need a BUNCH of casserole recipe’s!!!
You can never have too many casserole dishes! I love your collection, especially the Amish Butterprint. It’s so folksy; just my style.
The crunchy beef casserole sounds great, too. I’m trying to decide what I can put on top other than fried onions as my family doesn’t care for them. Maybe some crushed corn chips or a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese…
Corn chips sound great. I’m not much of an onion person, but was thinking potato chips.
I thought I was the only person that likes to collect cassarole dishes and serving dishes. I am in love with the “blue snowflake” pattern. I am getting out my pyrex dish and making your crunchy beef casserole for dinner tomorrow.Thanks
This looks like a recipe I need to try. As for the pyrex collection it was you that got me started. I love going to the goodwill and flea markets then getting a great deal on pieces like .99 on the two smaller snowflake bowls. My daughter is a much better haggler than I which is why I have a complete set of Amish butterprint bowls in my cabinet at $30.00 I love them. Now you have me eyeing the Tulip bowls. I am actually doing away with my plastic storage bowls and going to glass.
I agree it must serve a purpose for collecting.
OH Im gonna love this one, and I have everything here at the house to make this (except the onions). I need to go to some yard sales like Mom and I used to do and get some casserole dishes. ( I won’t go into the collection of glass bells and such that I have and need to get a second curio cabinet for). Now its time to cook a blue streak and have a good hot meal for later this week.
I just printed off the casserole chart. Now that I see it, it looks really simple, but I never would’ve thought of it or tried it on my own! I have to tell you, too, that I look forward to reading your blog. . .not just for the tasty recipes, but for your cheerful heart and sense of humor. It’s a real day brightener. Thanks!
I have a set of the pink gooseberry pyrex mixing bowls, the nesting ones from large to small. we got them at an estate sale for 20 bucks! I have a pyrex casserole that came with a wooden trivet, it’s white glass with fancy gold designs on the side. Elaine, I’m the same way as you- this is the sweet potato praline caserole dish. Love me som Pyrex!
i love all of your casserole dishes but my favorite is the friendship pattern. i got into an argument with my grandma the other day about whether or not one of her mixing bowls was a pyrex bowl. my grandma was like no i don’t think that this is a pyrex bowl and i said grandma this is a pyrex bowl in the friendship pattern and then i turned it over to show her the bottom and then she was like man you really know your pyrex stuff and i said you got that right sister!
You are so right! Casseroles don’t really photograph well do they? Because I was iffy on this recipe at first glance, but after reading all the way through, I’m sold!
Sounds deeee-licious, and I may be putting this on next weeks menu.
Hi Christy,
Great casserole! I can’t wait to try it!
With all your bowls and casserole dishes posts, I am on a mission. I had all these types of bowls and dishes… but got rid of most when I got married and had new stuff. Now I am longing for the old stuff… with each post you make – it reminds me of my Grandmothers and Mom!
Happy Monday!
Tracie
Those vintage dishes are beautiful Christy. I wihs i had a set like that. The casserole looks yummy, I am all for casseroles.
Hi, Christy–and friends!
“Pyrex” and “Corningware” are two of my very most favorite kitchen words.
I have some of the Pink Gooseberry that Ma got for wedding gifts back in 1956.
My Corningware pattern is Spice O’Life.
This casserole looks like a keeper! It will come in handy when potluck season resumes at church.
Blessings!
I don’t serve casseroles very often because the spousal unit is a super-finicky eater, but I think he’ll like this one (that is, if I omit the french-fried onions and substitute maybe buttered bread crumbs). Thank you!
Love this and am having casserole dish envy. I do have a set of four bowls in the Amish Butterprint and I LOVE them!! I picked them up at an estate sale for $20 and was followed by 2 other ladies who were hoping I would set them down!! LOL I really hope to add to my collection.
I just tried this recipe tonight and it was a huge hit with the entire family. It was so easy to prepare too. Thanks so much….
I made this dish last night. YUMMY!!!
Thanks again for sharing all your reciepes.
Your the best.
Dora Renee’ Wilkerson
Christy,
I love my mixer! So excited to get it! I also made your baked macaroni and cheese. Delicious. I put way too much pepper in but I will fix that next time. My error. My husband loved it. Have a wonderful week!
Lesley
Looks great! What would be a good substitute for Cream of Mush soup? My hubby is alergic to mushrooms. Dont want to kill hm just yet!
Just visit my casserole chart and look in the sauce column. Any of those can be used as substitutes
http://www.southernplate.com/2008/09/southern-plates-handy-dandy-casserole.html
Yeah, you probably should wait until you get more life insurance before you go pulling out the ’shrooms. ~winks~
Enjoyed seeing your casserole collection. We’ve always been a Corningware family (blue cornflower) so was not as familiar with Pyrex but I do recognize the Amish butterprint pattern. I didn’t know what it was called. I feel enlightened.
Your dishes are so bright and fresh looking even though they are old. Do you put them in the dishwasher?
I pretty much love casseroles, hubby, not so much.
I love the pyrex bowls, have a few myself, I love Goodwill!
I love your colorful collection! And the retro colors are back in style too!
I received two sets of Pyrex bowls for my wedding in 1973. They came ‘3 nesting sizes’ in a box. One was in the blue & white snowflake pattern & the other was in the green & white pattern that looks very similar to the ‘verde’ pattern you have. I no longer have a complete set, alas they do get broke, but I still have the 3 sizes, 2 in the smallest size in each color, the middle size in the green & white pattern & the largest bowl in the blue snowflake. I am always on the lookout for more pieces too, esp with all the toxin talk about plastics these day. Most that I find are very worn from use. I remember my Gran had an old casserole in plain colors, no pattern and it was very worn. My family never did care for casseroles growing up ( do not know why?) except for the perennial greenbean casserole at holiday times…
I love the Daisy set & the friendship. They would “almost” make me want to have a cabinet with glass doors to display them… almost! I am not the type to keep everything organized & tidy
I am sooooo jealous of you. I love your collection. I remember the Amish Butterprint. My mom had a whole set of bowls like that and a couple casseroles as well. Woosh, that sure did bring back memories. Thank you Christy.
I have a few snowflake pieces, the divided casserole and a rectangular casserole. I love them and wish I had more.
I’ve always liked how comfy and warm casseroles made me feel. And this one looks so good I want to gnaw at the computer screen. =)
And I really like Pyrex too! At the moment I only have a few Pyrex dishes but am aiming to try and collect more.
I have casseroles similar to the ones you recently bought-they were a wedding gift 31 years ago. Mine nest so yours may too-they take up very little space that way!
Christy,
I must say that the casserole was wonderful. I am a wife that doesn’t do much cooking. So when I told my husband I was cooking dinner he was not sure about it. Once it was not he said Wow that was great. I went to take some for lunch the next morning and the whole dish was gone. Thanks for all your wonderful ideas.
well hello there…from cambridge, ontario
…just received the tiny green/blue one as a housewarming gift…it really makes my heart sing!
…tickled pink to see someone else lucky enough to be in possession of this little piece of sweetness…
all the best,
louise
Thought you might like this link of patterns by pyrex
http://www.pyrexlove.com/vintage-pyrex-pattern-guide/
that casserole looks DELICIOUS will be trying it soon, LOVE your recipe
Carm
Dear Christie: I was in the local mission thrift shop earlier this week and saw TWO of these Pyrex casserole dishes, with lids. No chips or cracks. One was harvest gold and the other avocado.
I don’t collect them myself but if you didn’t live 500 miles away I would have been tempted to buy them for you!
I fixed this today and my husband and 2 boys loved it! Thank you! Quick question – is this a casserole that would freeze well?
I love your vintage casserole dish sets. I have a few of my own and buy them whenever I see them at secondhand shops and yard sales. I especially like the ones made for one or two people…unfortunately I have only found two of that size so far. Thanks for the great recipe…I know what’s for dinner tonight!