Shipwreck Casserole – ARRR!
I’ve had a lot of folks tell me they’ve ordered the Southern Plate Cookbook as Mother’s Day gifts and I’m so tickled about that! Since we have to wait a bit for the pre-orders to ship, I’ve made a printable page with a letter from me to give to your mother or grandmother so you won’t be empty handed come Sunday. The photo we used is one that was taken for the book by Jennifer Davick of me, Mama, and Grandmama and it is one that is very dear to my heart. To see this page and print it out, click here. Thank you so much! Gratefully, Christy
My Mama could feed an army with a single pound of ground beef. If a recipe called for two pounds, she’d use one. If it called for one, she’d sometimes use even less! We never knew the difference, though, because she’d use recipes like this where other ingredients fill in the gaps and everybody leaves the table happy. I’ve always relied on Ground Beef as my fall back and love nothing more than to add another recipe using it to my collection. This is a yummy recipe with a fun name that helps get the kids on board: Just tell ‘em it’s pirate food!
The thing I love most about this, though, is how it makes your house smell! You know how you walk into your Mama’s house and she’s been cooking a full country meal with all the trimmings? Well open the oven door and fan the room because this meal-in-one does that all on it’s own!
P.S. This is great “man food” too!
You’ll need: Ground beef (I browned mine with onions), frozen carrots, and tater tots.
You can use fresh carrots but you need to boil them for a few minutes (I’d place in boiling water for five minutes) to get them started cooking or else this casserole will take ten forevers to get done. These carrots will have a little bit of a bite to them when the casserole is finished, which I like. If you prefer them a little softer you can boil the frozen ones for five minutes before assembling just like I suggested with the fresh ones. You can also just nuke these suckers in a little water to get them going as well.
Grandmama says you have to eat carrots because they put the hop in the rabbit!
You’re also going to need Salt, Pepper, Tomato Soup, and some Italian Seasoning.
I spent a whole fifty cents on that new bottle of Italian Seasoning because I’m just all elite and high maintenance like that.
These are my happy bowls. They are Pyrex (of course) and the pattern is called Daisy. I have matching casserole dishes to go with them as well.
If you have any vintage Pyrex bowls it’s important not to wash them in the dishwasher because it will destroy the pretty shiny finish. Lil’ random note from me.
Spray the bottom of your casserole with cooking spray.
You know to be honest, I don’t even know if you need to do this because I don’t even think about it, I just spray. Habit.
Spread a layer of tater tots over the bottom.
If you’re stretching your ground beef a bit, you can always just use more tater tots.
Now sprinkle a little pepper evenly over that layer. Just a little, no big deal.
Do the same with salt.
Spread your ground beef and onions over the top of that.
I have a lot of folks email me asking what to do if someone in their family doesn’t like onions. Y’all, I got the same problem here. There are a few options:
A. Leave onions out (I love onions so this one ain’t happenin‘)
B. Chop them very very fine OR use those dried onions that come in the little spice jars. You can hide them a lot easier and still have a somewhat oniony taste
C. Ignore them and just peel and chop the onions before they get home and hide the evidence because some folks never really pay attention unless you chop the things right in front of them.
Yes folks, I’m a Choice “C” person 
My husband thinks he doesn’t like onions, too. ~giggle~
Salt and pepper the meat layer as well.
Now put your frozen carrots on the top of that.
And this time around we’re going to sprinkle about a tablespoon of Italian (pronounced EYE-talian by my grandmother) Seasoning on the top of that.
Italian Seasoning is my answer to world peace. I use it almost as much as I do salt and pepper.
Now we’re ready to pour our soup over this whole shebang and get this party on the road!
Pour your can of tomato soup in a bowl or a big cup (I’m using a two cup measuring cup) and then fill the can with water and pour that in, too.
Stir it up a bit.
Then pour that over your casserole.
All done!
Cover it up with foil and bake at 350 for one hour.
(If you’re hungry, forty five minutes will work)
I forgot to tell y’all about this casserole dish. This is a 9×13 (ish) pan from Pyrex commonly referred to as a lasagna dish. It’s not quite as deep as a normal 9×13 but will still work for this casserole. The pattern is Butterfly Gold. I don’t have a lot of this pattern but it was very popular, every bit as much as the green daisy and snowflake garland ones.
And if you cook it..
They will come!
and bring friends!
ARRGGG!
Shipwreck Casserole
Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds ground beef*
- 2 pounds frozen tater tots*
- 1 onion, diced
- two cups frozen sliced carrots
- 1 can (11 ounce) tomato soup
Instructions
- Brown beef and onion together until done, drain off any grease. In a greased 9x13 inch pan, place all of the tater tots in one layer in the bottom. Salt and Pepper this layer lightly. Cover with browned meat and onion mixture. Lightly salt and pepper this layer as well. Place carrots evenly over top and sprinkle 1 tablespoon dry Italian seasoning over them. Mix tomato soup with one can of water (use the tomato soup can to measure the water) and pour over all. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for one hour. Hide from pirates, they'll smell it and come running!
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Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds ground beef*
- 2 pounds frozen tater tots*
- 1 onion, diced
- two cups frozen sliced carrots
- 1 can (11 ounce) tomato soup
Instructions
- Brown beef and onion together until done, drain off any grease. In a greased 9x13 inch pan, place all of the tater tots in one layer in the bottom. Salt and Pepper this layer lightly. Cover with browned meat and onion mixture. Lightly salt and pepper this layer as well. Place carrots evenly over top and sprinkle 1 tablespoon dry Italian seasoning over them. Mix tomato soup with one can of water (use the tomato soup can to measure the water) and pour over all. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for one hour. Hide from pirates, they'll smell it and come running!
*If you have diced hash browns you can use those in place of the tater tots. I try to never make a special trip to the grocery store if I have something that will work.
*You can economize on ground beef in this recipe if you like. Simply use one pound of ground beef and add a few more tater tots if you need to stretch it a bit. However, I sometimes use one pound and just keep the tater tot and carrot amounts the same.
Normal is just a setting on the dryer.
~Barbara Johnson
Submitted by Elaine Raye. Submit your quote here.
Got any special plans for Mother’s Day? I’d love to hear about them!
Be sure to check out my Mother’s day post from last year for inexpensive but heartfelt ideas to please any Mama!
Posted by Christy Jordan
on May 3 2010. Filed under Main Course, Quick&Easy.
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Sounds great Christy! My 5 year old will love the pirate food. I wonder if this could be made with that cheesy soup? My kids are suckers for cheese!
HOLY MOLY KRISTI! I Think that would be DELICIOUS. Cheesy Shipwreck Casserole!
Kristi, I have a tater tot casserole recipe that uses a can of cheddar cheese– it’s to die for. Leave me your email if you want me to send it to you!
would love to try your tator tot recipe!
I would love it too!
my email is tlk_37@yahoo.com. thanks.
Ahoy Christy!
This looks absolutely yummy! Definitely going to have to give this recipe a testing! (Hope I don’t eat It all after I do! lol) Would It hurt any If I was to add shredded cheese atop of It while It baked? Inquiring cheese addicts wanna know! hehehe
Cheese would be awesome. I’m not sure about having on the carrots though, I think I’d layer tots, carrots, beef, cheese, but thats just because I’ve never had cheese and carrots! lol
Would be good though, This is a great casserole for customizing.
I ate so much yesterday I thought I was gonna pop!!!!
Hope your day is going great, Shane!
I’ve never had cheese and carrots as well. Guess I could be brave enough and try it…but I’m gonna chicken out this time and use your layering advice. I think that would taste much better overall.
Appreciate the Info Christy and hope your having a fabulous day!
I think I would use shredded parmesan instead of cheddar.
I would also add shredded cheese to this already tempting recipe. However, I would layer it this way: tots, shredded cheese, hamburger w/ onion, then the carrots. That way, the cheese and carrots don’t actually touch and the hamburger gets glued to the tots with all that melty, cheesy goodness. *drools*
yeah definately not sure on those carrots, but love the concept of the tator tots on the bottom. I will have to try some other veggie possibly. Thanks Christi
That is a beautiful letter that brought tears to my eyes. I adore that picture of you, your mother and your grandmother. I am constantly seeing deals to get free canvas prints for free and if ever there was a photo that deserved that treatment it is this one. What a great photo to pass down to the future generations!
Oh, and the recipe sounds wonderful, as always.
I LOVE the pirate and friend! I am going to make this tonight since I have everything on hand and it is so easy. Perfect dinner for a busy day!
My husband is not a big fan of carrots…I wonder how corn would be instead of carrots. He HAS to have corn at supper time!
Personally, I think corn would be fabulous! Great idea.
Thanks Lisa…you just gave me the courage to fix it with corn!
Thanks for the new recipe!!! This sounds like a great dinner and I’m sure you could really mix things up. I was also thinking of cheese sauce.
Christy, what size onion did you use? This looks delicious! I would imagine my little nieces and nephews would love it.
My onion was medium sized, probably yielded about 3/4 of a cup or so chopped…no wait, maybe 1/2 cup, lol.
You can really just play with this however you like!
Love y’alls idea of corn. I’m a corn person, too!
CJ
This is one I’m going to try ASAP! Thanks Christy, as always. I can never get enough ground beef recipes, especially ones that include potatoes in any form.
I made my mama a mandarin orange cake for her birthday and we had some old friends we haven’t seen in 30 years join us and everyone raved over that cake! My twin boys would have eaten the whole thing. They have never had cake before (even at their first birthday, it was such chaos ~poor babies~), and their eyes just got so big anticipating each bite coming toward them!
Grateful for Christy and Southern Plate,
Lisa in Memphis
Christy, I almost split a gut at this post! I loved those little pirates. That was the last thing I expected to see in the post! HA! I can’t wait to try this! Tracie
My mom would make shipwreck casserole too! Very similar to yours but she’s not a potato person so no tater tots! It was ground beef, a can of corn and a can of green beans, and then tomato soup and shredded cheese! Your version just made me think of hers! I haven’t made it in a long time!
I have made a similar version since my kids were small. I used the hamburger, hashbrowns (shredded version) onions, whole kernel corn, and a can of kidney beans topped with the tomato soup. It is a great crock pot dish too. The story behind it being called shipwreck according to folklore at my house is that a ship was going down and as the sailors bailed each grabbed a can and the Captain grabbed the hamburger and when they made it to an island they combined their loot and made the casserole aptly named “shipwreck”. My boys loved the flavor and the tale and it got embellished over the years with what they would have chosen and how they might have escaped the island. It made a great dinner table discussion.
Christy,
RE: carrots and cheese sauce (soup). Are you gonna argue with the Green Giant? One of the frozen veg combos in the plastic bag inside a box used to be a combo of broccoli, carrots and something (cauliflower?)in cheese sauce. Be brave–carrots and cheese are good!! (What ISN’T improved by a little added cheese?
Kathy
This casserole sounds great and I can’t wait to try it. Just a little note about the onions…I LOVE them, but I’m allergic to them. I would never hide onions in a casserole and not tell someone about them because I know three other people with onion allergies. Onions are at the top of the list of migraine-inducing foods, so you should always try to find out if people have allergies before feeding them a dish with onions. I do use a little onion powder…there is something about the processing that breaks down the onion and removes the component I have such a strong reaction to (and I mean it’s BAD…headaches that my migraine meds won’t take away, tingling of my mouth and throat, feelings of being poisoned and stomach cramps so bad they double me over in pain and other problems I won’t name) but even using onion powder I have to do so sparingly. Of my fellow onion-allergic friends I mentioned, a couple of them can’t even use the powder…any part of the onion sets off an allergic reaction that even causes some to have difficulty breathing. I just wanted to mention this because there are people who can get very sick, even deathly sick, from certain ingredients, so it’s a good idea ask guests if they have any food allergies before serving them anything. I hope this doesn’t come across as critical, because I don’t mean for it to do so. I’m just trying to make people aware that onions are high on the allergy list and can truly make some people very ill.
You don’t sound critical at all and thank you for making such a good point!!
I always talk out my meals with guests before they come over so I can make sure everyone likes what I’m serving. My grandmother is actually allergic to red food dye, so I’m used to thinking in terms of allergies with others. I only lie about onions to my immediate family ~grins~.
Thank you very much for such an important note!
Gratefully
Christy
Mornin Christy Lou.
I will try this with the Dadster..(who turned 84 yesterday)but I’ll have to figure out what to replace the carrots with. He hates them. Maybe I’ll cut them up really fine and hide them. I’d bet that yellow or zucchini squash would work just fine too.
I wish I had plans for Mother’s Day but mom has been living in heaven for many years. She’s having a better time than we could ever give her!
Christy, This looks delicious and I want to try it as soon as possible! I’ve been making your meatloaf that EVERYONE has loved, but since I couldn’t find the Hunt’s sauce I’ve substituted the Manwich Sauce. I’ll bet that would be good over the carrots, too. I, too, have pre-ordered your book and am so excited about it and for you, as well. You’re definitely the Greatest – Ali can now officially retire.
Now this one you need printer friendly! My grandsons would love it…and they don’t like onions either! LOL Thanks so much for this recipe…think I will try it out as soon as school lets out…then the little munchkins come and stay with Nanny and PawPaw!
I’ve seen you mention in other recipes the use of handy pre-cooked beef or chicken. Is there a measurement you use say for a pound of ground beef?
I’ve just found your website recently and thourouly enjoy it. Thank you for sharing with all of us.
oh Christy, I love your ideas for people who don’t like onions!! I am also a “c” person when it comes to my husband who thinks he doesn’t like some things too. Anything that calls for mayo. or sour cream I have to add while he isn’t looking. He also says he doesn’t like ketchup in things, it’s only for fries….so he just doesn’t know if it goes in! If he knows I put it in he tells me he can taste it,haha. Oh the many things he has eaten and never known the difference.
This looks great. I make Shepherds Pie that is similiar. Ground beef mixture with diced tomatoes, sometimes corn mixed in the meat then topped with mashed potatoes and cheese and baked in the oven until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve with a salad and rolls and there is nothing left for the next day. That is what is for supper tonight at our house.
Yum! It’s almost like I can smell it in the oven now!
Happy early Mother’s Day to you Christy! You are a great Mom and you deserve to be catered to on our special day.
I’m picking up my baby (son, James who will be 20 in July) from college in NC on Saturday and driving down to visit my Daddy (in GA) for a few days. Yes, that is right. I’ll have my baby with me and I’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day with my Daddy. Crazy huh?
I went to surprise my Mama (in FL) for her birthday at the end of February…maybe I’ll go back and spend Father’s Day with her…just to keep things even.
Looks delish!! I think I will make this for my family tonight.
I have an option “D” for onions. My daughter HATES onions too. I kinda figured out though that she likes the flavor of onions but dislikes the texture. So, when a recipe calls for onion, instead of using dried flakes or powder, I grate the onion. It makes a paste out of the onion and a lot of juice that makes the recipe delicious. She hasn’t complained yet. =)
I’m the same way. I can’t stand the onion texture. I use onion powder liberally and dont’ mind if it is done like you do, as long as I can’t feel it in my mouth. Weird, huh?
Great idea (or should I say “grate” idea? Haha. Ahem)! I was like your daughter when I was younger. Now I like onions okay in foods if they’re cooked until soft, but still can’t stand them if they’re crunchy. I’ll have to try the grating trick for recipes that use raw onion (like pasta salads)!
Wow..you could really change this dish up with different soup/ vegetable blends! fiesta cheddar cheese soup, corn & taco seasonings for a mexican flair, add some mozzarella cheese blend, broccoli, for EYE-talian,..even cream of mushroom, green beans, and french’s fried onions……endless possibilities! YUMM!!
Hey Christy!
My little guy doesn’t like onions, either, so I use onion powder instead of the actual onions. We still get the taste of onions, which he likes, but he doesn’t have to deal with the texture of the cooked onion, which is the real problem!
I just saw your wonderful pyrex bowls on FB!
Did you know those were antiques now? lololol
I have my own set in baby blue…
I’ll be making this as well! My hubby loves carrots!
Here’s a “Happy”….for all of us trying and eating Christy’s recipes, let’s do this…….”Take a small wooden block, place it on the floor and walk around it two times. Then tell people you have walked around the block twice”!
Oh, Christy, I know what I’m making for dinner tonight! I was going to make chicken cordon bleu casserole, but no more. This one looks like it will be lots of fun, I’m already scheming about how I can change the recipe up a bit to accommodate our tastes and my laziness. I think I’m going to add a can of cheddar cheese soup, garlic powder, a can of mixed beans that’s been in the pantry forever, put the carrots under the meat (ground turkey, 1.25 pound since that’s how much comes in the package for some reason), and add the soups and water (maybe use 1/2 can milk and 1/2 can water because of the cheddar soup?) directly to the skillet with the ground meat because I’m lazy and don’t wanna mix up the soup and water in another bowl. I may even toss in what’s left of the bag of green beans from the Sweet and Sour Green Beans recipe. Oh and I’m going to bake it in my beautiful 9 by 13 Pyrex Friendship dish! It will be the first time I’ve used the dish and this seems like the perfect recipe for it.
Also, my fiance says EYE-talian, too. He just turned 24 last month. I told him that only little old people (and his parents, who are in their 60s) say it that way, but he perseveres. Got to love him!
I’m going to try this one!!! i bet it’d be just as good with ground turkey!
I was getting ready to make this, and then realized I didn’t have tomato soup or onions…. being lazy, I used what I had – Manwich Sloppy Joe sauce with 3/4 can of water. It turned out great! Added a little bit of spice to it, and a little of the onion taste!
Thanks for the recipe Christy, sounds delish. We like most anything made using hamburger.
Kolene I like youe idea with the wooden block. If my Dr. asks me if I’m getting plenty of exercise I’ll tell him yep, walk around the block twice a day. hehe WELL! I won’t be telling a story, cause I don’t lie.
Christy girl! We will be makin’ this tonight, shiver me timbers! Me will be usin’ some cheddar o’er the top o’ the taters cuz us pirates Lo’e cheddarrrrr!
Made this last night! Added the cheddar soup and garlic powder and actually used ground beef instead of ground turkey for once. It turned out quite nicely. I think the leftovers may need CHEESE though!
Once again I see SP’s Christy Jordan has hit a home run!! I only see one problem with this meal and that is it’s too darn easy! lol I’m sure I would sit there for five minutes after putting it together and wonder if I had forgotten something because this is just so simple!! I can’t imagine how quick this must be.
I love how everyone has a slightly different angle on it too. This is one of those great recipes that you can customize no matter what your tastes are. I was taught a similar recipe which used a Sloppy Joe mix instead of the soup…but it too had a can of water added to stretch it out.
Christy, I don’t know how you keep doing it over and over again but you manage to entertain and educate us every time you post! Bravo!! Oh, and feed those poor pirates would you? They’re so starved they look like they shrunk! hehe
Oops….just saw that Allison posted about the Sloppy Joe mix! She’s right though….delicious!!
Glad to know that I wasn’t totally off the wall with my ingredient!
If you’re doing low-carb (which no self respectin’ suthunah would do), you could substitute cauliflower for tater tots. Nah – might be gross. Go with the carbs!
lol! I love you! You know that, right?
~giggles~
I MADE THIS “SHIP WRECK CASSEROLE” FOR MOTHER”s DAY DINNER — BUT I USED MIXED FROZEN VEGGIES INSTEAD OF CARROTTS,, AHhhhhhhhhh , SO GOOD !!! THIS IS A KEEPER FOR SHO”
I TOO, WILL TRY DIFFERENT WAYS OF MAKIN” THIS RECIPE —
CORN INSTEAD OF CARROTS OR MIXED VEGGIES & USE CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP ALONG WITH EXTRA CHEDDAR CHEESE — SOUNDS SO GOOD — I OFTEN TWEET MY RECIPES –I LOVE CASSEROLES & CROCK-POT DISHES , SEND ME SOME CROCK-POT RECIPES – SIMPLY ONES- I”M A SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTRY GIRL RAISED on TURNIP GREENS & CORN BREAD ( NOT THE SWEET STUFF EITHER )&& SWEET TEA
I’m making this as we speak, the house smells wonderful, will post the family reviews after dinner.
Thanks for the recipe again, everyone loved it! I’m thinking next time I’m going to have to give into the cheese sauce as suggested, lol.
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This is such a good recipe! We all love it…does it freeze well after baking, or is that silly since the ingredients are already frozen anyway?
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this last night and it was to die for! The only thing I did differently was to leave out the carrots (my hubby hates carrots for some odd reason) and add cheese. So good and so easy!!
I think Tater Tots are deep fried
What could be used instead for a healthier version? I was thinking maybe just thinly sliced potatoes? Or frozen shredded hash browns?
It looks like delicious comfort food. I can’t wait to try it!
I’m going to try this one tonight….w/o the carrots though. My son absolutely won’t eat them, so I’m thinking corn or peas on top. As for onion haters, I’m a C woman too since my son ‘claims’ to hate them. I simply chop them a bit smaller and put them in when he’s not looking. I’ve done the same with mushrooms for years…….and he was 7 before he found out pork chops weren’t ‘white steak’. Sometimes a Mom’s gotta do what a Mom’s gotta do!
Lol!! You’re awesome!!!!
Love it!
I showed this to my son and he said he would try it! Yippee! Something for the picky pooh. Legos will win him over everytime!
As for sneaking onions, garlic etc in I am the master at sneaking “undesirables” into recipes. My pizza and spaghetti sauce have enough veggies in it to make any mama happy. And we have a vitamix so I sneak a little bit of cabbage, spinach and celery into smoothies and blender ice cream. What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em!
But I do need to know, why is this called “shipwreck” casserole?
Hi All!!
I have just stumbled on this blog. I am so in need of easy recipes and this one sounds fabulous!!! Somewhere in here I read something about a mandarin orange cake…does anyone have that recipe?
I am a grandma, who just got custody of our grandson (aged 11) and in need of kid friendly recipes!! I am tired of cooking the usual…please help if you can!!!
We dont have frozen carrots for this recipe but I am using corn and seeing as we are also a cheesy family..I am going with the cheese!!!! Cant wait to see what dinner will be like tonight!!!!
Thanks so much!!
My Mom something similar called Hamburger Casserole.
She uses ground beef, sliced russet potatoes, sliced onions, tomatoe and mushroom soup. You follow similar steps, but you put the ground beef down first, then layer with onions, layer with potatoes, and add the soup mixtures on top. She cooks her for 45 mins to an hour on 350 and when she is almost ready to pull it out the oven, she adds shredded cheese on top, melts it and then serves…omg it is awesome.
Made a slightly different version of this last night, and boy, it turned out good! Used broccoli instead of carrots, cream of mushroom soup instead of tomato, and melted swiss cheese on top during the final 5 mins of baking!! Yum, yum! Thanks, Christy!! Cheers!
Yummy!!!! I bet that was fabulous!
[...] with ham, 5. crockpot chicken & dressing, 6. jordan rolls, 7. fiesta chicken & rice, 8. shipwreck casserole, 9. ground beef stew, 10. taco [...]
I don’t know what I did wrong, but my casserole didn’t turn out right. The tater tots were limp, the carrots were perfectly cooked, but the entire dish was too cold. I baked it for an hour on 350 covered with foil, then I even tried taking off the foil for another 5 minutes to heat it up. Was my foil too thick? Should I have baked it for less time? What did I do wrong?
Thanks for the cute and easy idea. With a three week old it is good to have simple recipes on hand and my 8 yrs old was just asking if we could add carrots to a shephards pie? I think this will be close enough to work.
Congratulations on the new baby!! I hope that you enjoy the casserole, I think it will be a hit with the 8year old.
My Sweet Little Mama used to make a similar version of this she called Dinner in a Dish. She used regular potatoes sliced thinly, then layered the hamburger, canned carrots and a layer of peas. She would pour the tomato soup over the top and lay a few pieces of celery and some onion slices on the top to “make it look pretty!”
This was always a favorite with our family. 