Cheeseburger Pasta Casserole
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What ground beef is best for casseroles?
Tips for making the best Cheeseburger Casserole with pasta:
- Be sure to heavily salt the water when cooking pasta. A good rule of thumb is at least 1 tablespoon per pound of pasta. This will infuse flavor into the pasta so that less salt is needed at the end.
- Since the pasta will continue cooking once combined with the ground beef and sauce, you want to ensure that you under cook the pasta when you boil it in the water.
- Be sure to cook the ground beef until it’s perfectly browned and crumbly. This will also perfectly cook the onion and mushroom while blending all of the flavors together.
- Freshly grated cheese always tastes better than the stuff you’ll find in the bag, but pre-shredded is convenient and saves on time.
Should you make Cheeseburger Casserole with pickles?
Yes! You will find a lot of recipes out there that tell you to use relish. I do not recommend using relish because it is incredibly sweet. Besides, relish is for hot dogs, not cheeseburgers!
I decided to add the pickles at the very end when I served up the cheeseburger casserole instead of incorporating them into the recipe. I did this for two reasons.
- First, I didn’t want the pickles to get soggy by cooking them. I like my pickles to have some bite to them.
- Second, people’s love of pickles can vary. If you serve them as an “extra” to the meal, they can eat as many or as few as they like.
Have you ever made your own homemade pickles? If not, you’ll need to stock up on some fresh pickling cucumbers this summer and make a big batch of easy refrigerator dill pickles. You’ll never want store bought again!
Cheeseburger Pasta Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta Fusilli recommended
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 8 ounces mushrooms diced
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 ½ cups swiss cheese shredded
- sliced kosher dill pickles for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente, about a minute less than the recommended cooking time. Drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet or dutch oven, cook the ground beef, onion, and mushrooms over medium high heat until the meat is browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, combine beef broth, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and corn starch. Mix well to ensure mixture is smooth.
- Once meat mixture is fully cooked, add beef broth mixture and stir to combine. Heat over medium heat until the mixture bubbles. this should only take a couple minutes.
- Toss in the cooked pasta and gently stir to combine.
- Reduce heat to low, top with shredded cheese, and cover until cheese is melted. Alternatively, casserole can be made ahead by covering and refrigerating without the cheese. Then, when ready to serve, allow casserole to warm to room temperature, add cheese, cover, and heat in 300 degree oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.
- Top with sliced pickles and serve hot!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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I’ve been love to have recipes I could make ahead. Or I can freeze and divide.
You can freeze this dish, but the noodles may get a little soft when reheating. This BBQ Chicken Bake is great to freeze as well.