Crunchy Beef Casserole recipe
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This Crunchy Beef Casserole recipe came from Granny’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!
Casseroles: A Cook’s Best Friend
In today’s busy world, 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.
How To Cook A Frozen Casserole
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!
A Little Bit of Casserole History
Did you know the word ‘casserole’ comes from a french word that means sauce pan. Me neither! This sauce pan is a large, deep dish used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. Sound familiar?
The word casserole also doubles for the food in the “sauce pan” Casseroles came into fad in a big way in the sixties and seventies and with that a variety of colorful casserole dishes were introduced. Have I got you in the casserole mood yet?
We’re off to the races!
Recipe Ingredients:
- 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
- Green Pepper
- Ground Beef
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Season All
Here is the Season All.
What is Season All?
It is some lovely seasoned salt.
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)
Add green peppers and ground beef that has been cooked and drained.
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.
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
Nutrition
You may also enjoy these easy casserole recipes:
Green Bean Casserole Rich, Creamy With The Perfect Crunch
Ham Egg and Cheese Casserole (Insta Pot or Oven!)
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.
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 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!
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.
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!!!!!!
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)
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~
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