All the delicious flavors of a cheeseburger rolled into one frugal, easy recipe. This Cheeseburger Casserole is a definite family friendly meal!
There are affiliate links in this post – please read my full disclosure policy.
Our kids really aren’t picky eaters, but they definitely like some dishes much better than others. And this Cheeseburger Casserole? It’s one of their favorites! Every time I make it, they scarf it down and offer plenty of comments about how much they love it. And as a mom, that is always welcome! 
As the cook of the house, the fact that this dish is super easy to make and frugal ta-boot makes it a winner with me! Not to mention the fact that it really is rather delicious. I mean, who can resist all the yummy flavors of a cheeseburger in one easy-to-make dish? Not me!
CHEESEBURGER CASSEROLE
Cheeseburger Casserole
All the delicious flavors of a cheeseburger rolled into one frugal, easy recipe. This Cheeseburger Casserole is a definite family friendly meal!
Ingredients
- 8 slices of bread, toasted and buttered
- 1 to 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
- ½ c. onion
- ¼ c. celery optional
- ½ c. ketchup
- 4 tsp. mustard
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1 c. shredded cheese
- 1 c. milk
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp. dry mustard
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
Instructions
-
Fry ground beef, onion and celery until ground beef is cooked.
-
Add ketchup, prepared mustard and salt.
-
Layer 4 slices of toast, half of beef mixture and half cup of cheese in greased baking dish (this is the one I use).*
-
Repeat toast and beef layers.
-
Mix milk, egg, dry mustard and pepper and pour over everything.
-
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
-
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and let sit for 5 minutes to melt cheese.
Recipe Notes
* I’ve used an 8×8 baking dish before, but you kind of need to really squish the bread in to fit. If you end up using an 8x8 dish, you could just tear the bread into pieces instead. That should work too!
MORE RECIPES THAT YOU’LL ENJOY:
Missy says
We love casseroles. Thanks for sharing! Would this work as a freezer meal?
ThriftyFrugalMom says
Missy, I know a lot of people don’t think much of casseroles, but we love them too! I would think that this would freeze well, although I haven’t tried it. The milk would be the biggest issue, but I don’t think it would really affect it. I keep wanting to try it, but so far havne’t gotten it done.
Maria says
I love casseroles and this is no exception! It seems so easy to make, and very tasty too! I know Missy was inquiring about freezing the meal and the milk being a concern. Have you tried freezing just the casserole without the milk mixture? Maybe adding the milk mixture once it’s reheated? Just a suggestion. Either way the dish sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing 🙂
ThriftyFrugalMom says
Maria, you are BRILLIANT! 🙂 Seriously, I have no idea why that wouldn’t work, especially if you let the casserole thaw completely or almost completely. And if you like casserole, then I think you’ll for sure love this one!
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
I love casseroles because I always end up with leftovers.
This looks and sounds fabulous.
\
Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Rebecca says
This casserole looks delicious !!! I’m always on the look out for easy meals that can be thrown together in a hurry. This sounds like a keeper. A must try this week. Thanks so much for sharing !!
ThriftyFrugalMom says
Yes, easy fast meals are my go-to as well! I enjoy more complicated recipes too, but this season of my life, they just don’t work very well.
Trish says
oooh, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do ‘make ahead’ hamburgers. It’s hard to be frying things up and have them hot and ready with a baby around. I FAR prefer anything I can make earlier and keep warm in the oven until I’m ready. But does the milk make the bread soggy??? Also, I agree with freezing all but the milk mixture–I do that with some casseroles, adding the dairy just before I bake.
ThriftyFrugalMom says
I’m with you about preferring things that you can make ahead of time. Because you toast the bread, the milk mixture doesn’t really make it soggy. It’s the consistency of a breakfast casseroles that have egg/milk in them- not exactly like toasted bread, but not totally mush either if that makes sense. Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!
Julie says
Do you think this could be done in a crock pot? I am anxious to try it…
ThriftyFrugalMom says
I have never done it, but I would imagine it could be- and it’s a great idea! It would probably work better if you just tore the bread up into bite sized pieces though, just because it would fit in the crock-pot better. I’m not good at guessing how long things should be cooked in a crock pot either, so I’m not sure I’m much help on that part. Maybe you could look at some crock pot breakfast casserole recipes and kind of go from that? If you try it, I’d love to know how it worked out for you!
Shelly says
Classic recipe, thanks for sharing! I like the bread crumbs. To be truly frugal these days I’d substitute hamburger for turkey. Hamburger prices are ridiculous!
ThriftyFrugalMom says
Yes, ground turkey is definitely a great money saving substitute! Hamburger prices are making me cringe too.
Dee says
My Mother, who may have been one of the original “frugal moms” (having been raised during the depression!) used to make this for us when we were kids. So glad to have found this recipe again! Thank you for sharing!
ThriftyFrugalMom says
You have to love frugal moms! 🙂 And some of those Great Depression era ladies were absolutely amazing in how they were able to stretch stuff. I love reading articles from that era. Happy that I could help you reconnect with an old favorite.