The BEST Cheeseburger Casserole Recipe Made In Under 20 Minutes

This cheeseburger casserole recipe is so, so tasty. It combines seasoned ground beef and melty cheddar cheese, with macaroni noodles and a delicious creamy savory sauce. Honestly, this casserole is better than the best cheeseburger you've ever had, and it's so easy to make too. In fact, all you need to cook this cheeseburger casserole is one skillet and 20 minutes. So, not only is making it a breeze but clean-up is too.

The Best Cheeseburger Casserole

This may go without saying, but if you love cheeseburgers, then you're going to love this cheeseburger casserole. 

I mean, it has the two best parts about a cheeseburger - the meat and the cheese - and it has a lot of it!

And what's even better about eating this casserole - instead of eating a cheeseburger - is that all of those meaty cheesy flavors get absorbed into the elbow macaroni noodles that it's made with. That means every bite of this stuff is just flavor on top of flavor. 

Also, for what it's worth, this cheeseburger casserole kind of reminds me of the Hamburger Helper my mom used to make me when I was a kid, but this stuff is ten times better!

And, I'm not going to lie, Cheeseburger Helper was my jam growing up, so if I'm saying that then you know this ground beef casserole recipe has got to be good!

Oh, and as I mentioned earlier, the best part about this recipe is that you can cook everything in just one skillet and in just a few simple steps. That means if you make this easy cheeseburger casserole recipe you can have dinner on the table in under 20 minutes!

And, I don't know about you, but I think that makes this dinner recipe the perfect one to make on busy weeknights. It's honestly just as quick and easy as making this broccoli rice casserole and Philly cheesesteak casserole. So, if you're looking for some other casserole recipes to fill out your dinner menu this week, you'll want to give those a try next.

Ingredients

Now, to make this cheeseburger casserole recipe even better, it's made with all really common ingredients. Honestly, you probably have most - if not all - of them in your pantry or kitchen already!

Anyway, here's what you'll need to make this cheeseburger casserole:

• 0.75 lb. ground beef
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• ¼ cup onion, diced
• 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste (or diced tomatoes)
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 14oz. elbow macaroni
• 3 ¼ cup beef stock
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 ½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup milk
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

See, not too bad, right?

Oh, and if you like casseroles with ground beef, you have to give this pizza casserole and hamburger potato casserole a try next!

Ingredient Substitutions & Suggestions

When it comes to modifying this recipe, you can switch it up just like you would if you were building the perfect cheeseburger.

For example, I like cooking my ground beef with onions because I usually add onions to my burger, but if this isn't your thing, just cook the beef alone. 

As for the cheese, cheddar is always my go-to, but you can really use anything like pepper jack cheese, provolone cheese, mozzarella cheese, or even Colby jack cheese.

Also, if you want to make this a bacon cheeseburger casserole, just add some cooked bacon to the ground beef mixture, and "you're off to the races"! 

As far as the noodles go, I think elbow macaroni works best, but any smaller noodles like shells will work just as well. Honestly, my 2-year-old prefers it with shells when I make it. So, you might want to consult the kids on what noodles you use for this casserole before you make it.

Lastly, to finish off the casserole when it comes out of the oven, you can add things like shredded lettuce on top, some hot sauce, or drizzle it with something savory like this McDonald's breakfast sauce. My wife likes to add spicy relish to her portions - I know, weird right?

How To Make Cheeseburger Casserole

As I mentioned above, this is a one pan recipe that doesn't take much time to make.

You basically just add everything to the pan - at different times of course - and let everything cook. How easy does that sound?

With that said though, you will have to stir everything from time to time. So, just make sure you're around the kitchen when everything is cooking.

Anyway, let's stop wasting time and get into how to make this cheeseburger casserole recipe!

Step 1: Cook The Beef

First things first, take out a large skillet, put it on the stovetop, and set it over medium-high heat.

Then, once the pan is hot, you can add the ground beef and onions to it. Just make sure to break up the ground beef as it cooks.

Now, once you've got that looking good, you can let the ground beef and onions cook for a few minutes until the beef has browned on all sides.

As soon as the beef is fully cooked, add the tomato paste and garlic paste to the skillet and give it a stir. Then, you can let everything cook together for about a minute or two.

Step 2: Cook The Pasta

Now that the browned ground beef portion of the cheeseburger is good to go, you can move on to the noodles.

To cook the noodles, first add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth to the skillet, followed by the elbow macaroni. Then, give everything in the skillet a good stir so it can combine. Finally, cover it with a lid, and cook the pasta for about 5 minutes. 

Step 3: Build The Creamy Sauce

Once the 5 minutes is up, remove the lid and give everything a stir. Then, add the sour cream, milk, and cheese to the skillet with the hamburger meat.

Now, let everything cook for 3 minutes, gently stirring to combine the ingredients every minute or so. 

Step 4: Serve The Casserole

So, by now, your casserole should be fully cooked with a slightly thickened sauce.

To finish it off, serve the cheeseburger casserole in four bowls and top it with fresh parsley or anything you want - like any remaining cheese, shredded lettuce, or a sauce of your choice.

For what it's worth, I like topping my casserole with this Big Mac sauce.

Finally, dig in and enjoy! 

How To Make Cheeseburger Casserole In The Oven

So, this casserole recipe, similar to Hamburger Helper, is prepared on the stovetop. That being said, if you prefer the more traditional oven-baked casserole, then you can totally bake this casserole!

To do that, preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.

Then, while the oven preheats, you can cook your pasta according to the package instructions and the ground beef in one large skillet.

Then when it comes time to add the pasta, you can just combine all of the ingredients together in the casserole dish - instead of in the skillet - and top it with the shredded cheese. Finally, to finish up the casserole, you can bake it for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

How To Store Cheeseburger Casserole

This recipe cheeseburger casserole makes 4 large servings, so it'll be great for a family dinner. With that said, it couldn't be any easier to make a double batch of this recipe if you think you'll need more, or want to have leftovers!

Speaking of leftovers, to store your leftover cheeseburger casserole, just transfer everything to an airtight container, and you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.

Alternatively, if you want to keep your leftovers for even longer, you can freeze them in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

How To Reheat Cheeseburger Casserole

To reheat your leftover cheeseburger casserole, I recommend using the oven or stovetop.

If you want to use the oven, put the leftovers in a baking dish and warm at 350°F for about 10-12 minutes, or until it reaches your desired temperature.

Alternatively, you can reheat your leftovers on the stovetop. I like reheating it this way because it gives the noodles a slightly crisp texture, similar to this fried spaghetti. Anyway, to reheat it on the stove, first, put a large skillet over medium heat. Then, add the casserole to it along with a little broth, and warm the casserole for a few minutes, stirring it occasionally to reheat it evenly.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make cheeseburger casserole!

As far as casserole recipes go, it honestly doesn't get better than this whenever you're craving cheeseburgers and pasta all at the same time. It truly is an elevated version of Cheeseburger Helper, and if you love that stuff - which who doesn't - then you'll love this homemade version of it.

As always, if you give this easy casserole recipe a try, leave a comment below and let me know how it went.

More Recipes

If you're looking for more busy weeknight recipes that the whole family will love, we have a bunch of easy casseroles you can make next!  

Here are some of our most popular ones:

• Million dollar chicken casserole
• Cheddars broccoli cheese casserole
• Chicken divan
• Pineapple casserole
• Ground turkey casserole
• Carrot casserole

Oh, and for more deliciousness, don't forget to follow us along on Tiktok, Youtube, and Instagram. We post new tasty recipes daily on them. 

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