Savor the simple joy of home cooking!
This easy hamburger casserole recipe combines rotini pasta, lean ground beef, and veggies in a rich tomato sauce, all under a bubbly cheese layer.
Perfect for a family dinner or when you’re craving some cozy homestyle cooking.
Weeknight Wonder: Easy Hamburger Casserole
- It’s a crowd-pleaser – kids and adults both love it!
- Easy to prepare, with simple, common ingredients and perfect to sneak in some nutritious veggies.
- Totally budget friendly and versatile – feel free to mix and match proteins, pastas, and cheeses.
- This ground beef casserole recipe is pure comfort food when you need a hearty, delicious meal.
- Excellent for meal prep and for saving time on busy weekdays.
Ingredients and Variations
- Pasta: We love rotini because the spirals are perfect for holding onto the savory sauce. If you can’t find rotini, replace it with another medium pasta like fusilli, penne, or egg noodles.
- Lean Ground Beef: Lean ground beef is often referred to hamburger, giving this meaty dish its name. Replace beef with ground turkey, Italian sausage, or ground chicken.
- Frozen Mixed Vegetables: Use any blend you like; I use a blend with carrots, peas, corn, and green beans. Adding them to the pasta water makes for a fast meal!
- Sauce: This sauce is simple but flavorful. Any brand of pasta sauce will work or even try homemade marinara as the base. Diced tomatoes add a tangy freshness, I prefer petite diced tomatoes if you can find them. , tomatoes and McCormick oregano, basil, and garlic powder add extra flavor. You can swap the spices for homemade Italian seasoning.
- Shredded Cheese: A pre-shredded cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese blend is a great (and easy) option; choose any mixture you like.
How to Make Hamburger Casserole
- Cook pasta per package directions, adding the frozen vegetables in the last few minuts per the recipe below.
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, add sauce ingredients and simmer for a few minutes.
- Combine noodles, ground beef mixture, and cheese in a casserole dish. Top with cheese and bake until bubbly.
What to Serve with Hamburger Casserole
Hamburger casserole is a full meal deal in itself, so it only needs a simple green salad and some bread.
Prep Ahead & Leftovers
Keep leftover hamburger casserole covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Freeze portions before or after baking, wrapped tightly in foil. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake as directed in the recipe.
Easy Weeknight Casseroles
Did you make this Hamburger Casserole? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Hamburger Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini or medium pasta
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 ½ cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 14 ounces pasta sauce canned/jarred
- 14 ounces can diced tomatoes or petite diced tomatoes, lightly drained
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon McCormick dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon McCormick dried basil
- ½ teaspoon McCormick garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper or to taste
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar mozzarella blend
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the rotini al dente according to package directions. Add the frozen mixed vegetables to the boiling water for the last minute of cooking time.
- Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and diced onion to the skillet, cooking until the beef no pink remains. Drain any grease. Stir in the oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add the pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce to the skillet. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until thickened.
- In a large bowl, combine the sauce, pasta, and vegetables. Spread into a 2½ quart baking dish and top with cheese.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or just until heated through and the cheese is melted.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Love it! Moved to my Favorites folder on Pinterest. We like it spicy so we increased all the spices from 1/2 to 1 whole TBSP and added a TBSP of chili powder. We used a whole jar of Ragu Original Pasta Sauce.
Hi Holly!! I am excited to try this recipe and am wondering if you think bow ties would work? Thank you!!
Any medium noodle shape should work in this recipe Lauren. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
can you frezee leftovers? so delicious I have left over marinara sauce and dice tomatoes Soooo good, love your recipes
I have not tried freezing this recipe but it should work just fine! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out Betty!
I have never left a comment on a recipe before, but there has to be a first time for everything!
I am not a beef eater, so I substituted Impossible burgers. I fried it up the same way the recipe calls for. I also did not have any pasta sauce so I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 small can tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, more garlic (fresh and powder), some onion powder (as well as the diced that the recipe calls for), I doubled the basil and oregano, and I also added 1 jalapeno and 1 serrano chili, and some red pepper flakes (because we like spicy food). I used a mix of cheese, with parmesan, about half and half. Oh, I also snuck in 1.5 cups frozen mixed veggies while my husband wasn’t looking. Ha!
This turned out DELICIOUS!
Thank you, Holly for the recipe.
I am so happy to hear you loved this recipe! Your version sounds delicious!
I definitely doubled the spices and the liquids, as I felt the required amount wasn’t enough. But good base recipe and a good variation to regular pasta & meat sauce!