Shipwreck Casserole – ARRR!
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Dig in to this Shipwreck Casserole!
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!
Makes Your House Smell Amazin’
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!
Recipe Ingredients:
- Ground beef (I browned mine with onions)
- Frozen carrots
- Tater tots
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato soup
- Italian Seasoning
Can I Use Fresh Carrots?
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!
Some Tips for this Casserole:
*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.
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!
You may also like these casserole recipes:
Cabbage Casserole Recipe Oven or Slow Cooker
Ham Egg and Cheese Casserole (Insta Pot or Oven!)
Normal is just a setting on the dryer.
~Barbara Johnson
Submitted by Elaine Raye. Submit your quote here.
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
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
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.
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!
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
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, 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