Easy Ground Beef Casserole Recipe for a Family Dinner
This easy Ground Beef Casserole is the perfect family dinner for busy nights! It’s simple to make, full of flavor, and always a family favorite.
This easy ground beef casserole is a simple family dinner made with ground beef, pasta, mixed vegetables, and plenty of cheese in a creamy homemade sauce. It feeds a crowd, uses basic ingredients, and is easy to change up based on what you already have at home.
A friend originally shared this ground beef casserole recipe with me years ago when we were talking about how exhausting it can be to feel like a short-order cook every night. We’ve made it countless times since, usually changing something based on what we have in the kitchen. That’s one of the reasons I still love it.
Packed with flavor and the perfect ingredients, this simple family meal is sure to become one of your family’s favorite recipes.
Over the years, we have done many variations of this recipe depending on what we had in the home.
In the picture below, we used penne noodles and pepper jack cheese with the same delicious results. This is one of those easy family meals that is simple to change based on what you already have in the kitchen.
Dig into dinner tonight!
Kitchen Tools for Making Ground Beef Casserole
One thing I love about this ground beef casserole is that you don’t need a bunch of fancy kitchen gadgets to make it. Just a few basic kitchen tools make putting dinner together even easier!
- 9×13 Baking Dish: A good casserole dish is perfect for this recipe since everything gets mixed together and baked in one dish.
- Ground Beef Meat Chopper: This makes breaking up ground beef while cooking so much easier. It’s also handy for tacos, spaghetti, and other quick dinners.
- Large Mixing Bowl: Great for mixing ingredients together before adding everything to your baking dish.
These are simple kitchen essentials that come in handy for all kinds of easy family meals.
Easy Ground Beef Casserole
- Prep Time 10 minutes
- Cook Time 40 minutes
- Total Time 50 minutes
- Servings 8 -10
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 15 oz can of Veg-All Mixed Vegetables
- 2 cups macaroni noodles (cooked)
- ¼ cup onion (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Sauce Mixture:
- ¼ cup butter or margarine
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup milk
How to Make Ground Beef Casserole
- Preheat oven to 350˚.
- Cook macaroni noodles as directed and drain.
- Brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper, then drain any excess grease.
- Melt butter, mix in flour and milk to make the sauce in a bowl.
- Add Veg-All Mixed Vegetables and macaroni noodles together with ground beef in a 9×13 oven-safe dish.
- Mix in 4 ounces of shredded cheese and add the sauce mixture to the casserole.
- Top with the remaining 4 ounces of shredded cheese.
- Bake at 350˚ for 30-40 minutes.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
A ground meat chopper makes it easy to break up the beef as it cooks, and a good 9×13 baking dish is perfect for casseroles like this one. I’ve included both, along with more practical kitchen tools I love for making weeknight dinners easier, in my Amazon collection.
Shop Things That Make Dinner Easier →
Easy Ground Beef Casserole Tips
One of the best things about this recipe is how easy it is to change things up based on what you already have in the kitchen!
Can I use frozen vegetables instead of Veg-All?
Absolutely! Frozen mixed vegetables work just as well. Just cook and drain them before adding them to the casserole.
Can I use different pasta?
Yes! I’ve made this casserole with penne noodles instead of macaroni, and it turns out just as delicious.
Can I change the cheese?
Definitely! Cheddar is great, but pepper jack adds a little extra flavor if you want to change things up.
Make Meal Planning a Little Easier
After years of figuring out what to make for dinner while raising my boys, I learned that having a simple meal plan makes life so much easier!
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Easy Ground Beef Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 15 oz can of Veg-All Mixed Vegetables
- 2 cups macaroni noodles cooked
- ¼ cup onion chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Sauce Mixture :
- ¼ cup butter or margarine
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚.
- Cook macaroni noodles as directed and drain.
- Brown the ground beef and chopped onion in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper, then drain any excess grease.
- Melt butter, mix in flour and milk to make the sauce in a bowl.
- Add Veg-All Mixed Vegetables and macaroni noodles together with ground beef in a 9×13 oven safe dish.
- Mix in 4 ounces of shredded cheese and add the sauce mixture to the casserole.
- Top with the remaining 4 ounces of shredded cheese.
- Bake at 350˚ for 30-40 minutes.
Do you ever change up ingredients to your favorite family meal recipes based on what you already have at home?
More Simple Dinner Ideas
Simple Beef Stir-fry Dinner
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Wraps
Tex-Mex Fish Tacos
What is veg-all?
Hi Miranda! Veg-all is mixed vegetables in a can. I have also updated the recipe to include this information. Thank you for reaching out!
I suppose I could cook up a bag of frozen vegetables and get the same result?
Absolutely! You can easily use frozen over canned in this recipe.
This sounds good and, even better, SO easy! I’m kind of on a cooking kick right now, so this one is getting bookmarked. :)
Stopping by from #SITSBlogging
Lauren
Thanks for stopping by Lauren! Hope you enjoyed the recipe!
Looks good! I’m trying it and it’s in the oven right now.
Just an observation – I didn’t see where it said to add the salt and pepper, but I assumed it would be best in the sauce so that’s what I did. Also, I think it would be helpful to have a suggested pan size – I’m using a 9×13 and it looks like it’s a good fit, but it’s nice to not guess. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the suggestions and stopping by Laura! I hope you enjoyed the recipe this evening with your family!
What is shredded Cheese Sauce?
Hi Kristi! It was a typo on my part. It has been fixed. Sorry about that.
I wonder if you could freeze this at the point before it goes in the oven….thoughts?
I have not tried freezing it, but I don’t see why you couldn’t do it. Let me know how it turns out Cathy!
Do you drain the vegall before mixing in?
Yes, drain the Veg-All into a strainer and rinse if you would like to. Thanks for stopping by…hope you enjoy the casserole!
Hi Kristi :)
I saw this recipe and thought it was a very good use of ground beef that I could incorp into the rotation on the family menu. I did season the beef and the sauce with a bit of salt, pepper and onion powder. My husb doesn’t like onions and I love them so it is a compromise. He is also not a pasta fan so I sub’d potatoes for the noodles and melted some pepper jack on top. This is such a versatile recipe, I love it. Thanks for the inspiration! God bless!
Hi Chris! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe and were able to substitute the potatoes and onion powder seasoning to compromise. I’m definitely going to try your version. Thank you for sharing and stopping by!
what type of cheese?
I use any type of shredded cheese with this casserole. Hope you enjoy!
This recipe was so simple! It is great to find a recipe that is so versatile. I stuck pretty close to the original recipe. Instead of Veg-All I used frozen peas and carrots, I also doubled the sauce and cheese. I also seasoned with salt and pepper and a but of fresh garlic. Its in the oven and smelling amazing! Hoping it tastes as good as it smells! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I love this recipe i was looking for a good recipe to use hamburger in cause i have a large family. And i also love the veggies in it. I’m always trying to get my kids to eat more vegetables which is hard with a wide range of ages.
Cooking this for dinner tonite. Looks DELICIOUS.
I am Interested in trying this, but I do not see the sauce ingredients. Am I missing something?
The sauce mixture is listed in the ingredient list.
Liked this. My husband can be picky but enjoyed this. I definetly wrote this one in my notebook of online recipes. It’s nice to find smoething new to do w/ground beef. I was getting sick of tatertot casserole.
Awesome Becky! Glad your family enjoyed the recipe! :)
Was looking for an easy recipe and I’m trying this one. It was so easy to make! I added mushrooms chopped up and fried with the Hamburg and onion along with the salt and pepper, I added Mrs. Dash seasoning. Didn’t say to cover in the oven so I didn’t. Came out great and was delicious!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe and put your own twist on the recipe Barbara! I’ll have to try your additions when we make it again!
Just my type of recipe. Looks delicious. I will definitely be making this! Thanks…
This recipe looks delicious but could I use rotel instead of the mixed vegetables?
You could try it, but I’ve never done it. We add the mixed vegetables to help our family get their daily intake of veggies. If you decide to try it with Rotel, I’d love to know how it turned out.
This is in the oven now! It looks so good and easy! Thanks for posting the recipe!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! My husband & I really enjoyed it. Plus it is a dish I think my grandchildren will eat while they visit. I did make a few changes. I added some basil, minced garlic, chopped peppers & some beef broth base (Better than Bullion). This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Love the additions you added to the recipe Babette! I’ll have to try adding them next time!
Made a few changes, like frozen veggies, reduced pepper to 1/4 tsp, increased salt to 1/2 tsp, and increased milk to 2 cups. How that I have read some of the other reviews I will add some garlic and possibly some beef bouillon next time. Just out oven. Looks good!
Delicious! It is not very often that my husband and daughter go back for seconds… they did with this recipe though. Thank you. I did add saluted mushrooms on top because I needed to use it before it got old. It did make a great addition. I love that this recipe can be tweaked in many ways!
I tried this last night, very delicious! I used frozen mixed veggies. The recipe had some questions un-answered but it wasn’t hard to figure out. The salt and pepper that it called for wasn’t in the directions but I added it to the sauce. I think next time I will mix the sauce in instead of pouring over the top before adding the cheese. I will definitely be making this again, yummy!
Glad to have run across your recipe. My mother used to feed a family of six (four boys) with something similar to this. She used to put crushed potato chips on top. Thank you.
Just so I’m clear on this: I actually need 16 oz. of shredded cheese; 8 oz. in the mixture and another 8 oz. for the topping? Thanks in advance.
You will only need 8 ounces of cheese. 4 ounces in the mixture and 4 ounces on top. Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we do!
I tried this tonight & got really good reviews. I do find I had to add a cup & a half more milk than the recipe called for because the white sauce was too thick. I also added a tsp of beef better than bullion paste. I also used frozen mixed veggies by adding into the meat at the end of cooking it. I will add some gentle spice next time with some basil. Thank you for the recipe.
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it and love your suggestions.
This is good but I tweaked it to make it even more flavorful. I used a cup of onion sautéed with the beef, a mixture of frozen peas, carrots and corn that i added to the beef mixture and finished it off by sautéing some baby Bella mushrooms in the mix.
I added salt and pepper to the milk mixture.
I used Cabot aged cheddar for the cheese which added an extra zing.
For me, this recipe gave me a great outline to work with.
In the future, I may add beef broth to the pasta water and Worcestershire to the beef to further enhance the flavor.
Love these ideas! Thanks for sharing.