Quick & Easy Hamburger Pie Casserole (Hotdish) Recipe

I love my mom’s cooking more than the Food Network. Her recipes are amazing, and thankfully most of them are simple enough I can make them at home. Because, after all, homemade is best, and it costs less! 🙂 So, this is her Easy Hamburger Pie Casserole Recipe, which in the Midwest we call a hotdish.

If you’re looking for dinner ideas that use ground beef recipes and soup recipes, this is the perfect meal for you! Give it a try. Your whole family will love it!

Why Hamburger Pie?

WHAT’S IN A NAME? I struggle with what to call this recipe. I Google’d it and found Hamburger Pie Casserole. Boring. Or, something like Tomato Soup, Ground Beef, Mashed Potato Skillet is boring, but at least more definitive.  I guess the best ever Hamburger Pie Hotdish is a little closer, but still doesn’t do it justice. It’s not shepherds pie, although I do love a good shepherds pie recipe. Oh, and Best. Recipe. Ever. was taken. To be honest, OMG that Awesome Stuff Mom Makes with Tomato Soup, Hamburger and Potatoes is close but doesn’t explain what it is to the unsuspecting-yet-hungry passerby, unless they’ve already eaten it in which case it’s the perfect name. So, you see my dilemma.

Hotdish vs. Casserole

A word about hotdish and casserole – they’re essentially the same. Different parts of the United States call meals like this different things.  Hence the dual name. 🙂

What You’ll Need

SOUP IT UP You can make it a Campbells soup recipe, instead of using generic. I admit in this case name brand often tastes better than generic. But if you find an off-brand soup that tastes good, then go for it and save a little money.

HANGA-BURR (How two of my favorite little people used to say it!) We’re fortunate to live in the country where good hamburger is available. The grocery store in my teeny-tiny little town, Nilssen’s – named after the family that owns and operates it, makes award-winning ground beef. I use 80/20 from them, but it’s not like 80/20 from other stores. It’s very lean and incredibly tasty. If you’re buying regular hamburger meat, you might want to opt for a leaner variety such as 93% lean or better.  If not, be sure to drain the fat after you brown the meat.

Price breakdown: 

• Tomato soup:  this can vary in price from $0.25 a can to over $1
• Hamburger: Ground Beef in my area ranges from as low as $2 per pound if you buy in bulk, but the good stuff I buy costs $3.79/lb at my local butcher which is still cheaper than most places I’ve found!
• Mashed Potatoes: You can make from whole potatoes, or from potato flakes – whichever you prefer. Neither are very expensive, but obviously you pay for convenience. A serving of 6-8 instant potatoes costs about 25¢, if that. Real potatoes are going to be more like 10¢
• Total = You can make this whole meal and serve up to 5 people for around $4 – $5!!

Easy Hamburger Pie Casserole

Food: Easy Hamburger Pie Hotdish Casserole | Recipes

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• Author: Gimmie
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 5 1x

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Description

Easy and fast, can be baked or made as a one-skillet meal! This tasty meal uses as few as 3 ingredients.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef hamburger
• 1/2 cup onion (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• 1 can green beans (optional)
• 1 can condensed tomato soup – undiluted
• 1/2 cup water
• Prepared Instant potatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded American or Cheddar cheese (optional)

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Instructions

1. Brown meat in skillet, add salt and pepper. Add onions (if desired) and saute. Drain off grease.
2. Add condensed soup, water and green beans (if desired, or serve on the side) and simmer on low for 5 minutes.
3. Prepare 4-6 servings of instant potatoes, as directed. Or peel & quarter 5 medium potatoes, boil in water for 20 minutes or until fork tender, remove and mash with 2 cups milk and 3 T butter.
4. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of potatoes.
5. For quick skillet meal: spoon mashed potatoes on top of meat mixture and cook for 5 minutes
6. For oven baked meal: pour meat mixture into casserole dish, spoon mashed potatoes as top layer, leaving a crater (hole) in center for faster baking time. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are golden.

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Main Dish
• Cuisine: American