Cheeseburger casserole is a hearty pasta filled with beef in a cheesy burger inspired sauce.
This is an easy filling entrée that the whole family will love. It can be made ahead of time and reheats well.
Ingredients for Cheeseburger Casserole
PASTA: Rotini has the shape and texture to hold the sauce, but any medium pasta works. Try farfalle, penne or mostaccioli.
BEEF: All good cheeseburgers start with ground beef! I prefer an 80/20 as the little bit of fat adds flavor to the meat.
SAUCE: This is an easy cheesy sauce that just needs to be stirred together (no boiling or roux required).
In addition to a great cheesy flavor, a bit of Worcestershire sauce and BBQ sauce bump up the beefy flavor.
Variations
- Going low carb or keto? Swap out the pasta for roasted cauliflower or cauliflower rice (and swap out the bbq sauce for a low carb version).
- If you have leftover hamburgers, chop them up and use them in place of ground beef.
- As for the seasoning, feel free to mix it up with some variety and add some red pepper flakes, or change the soup base and use cream of mushroom or French onion soup.
How to Make Cheeseburger Casserole
No need to fry up individual burgers because with this easy casserole, everyone’s dinner gets cooked at the same time!
- Boil pasta al dente & drain.
- Brown onion & ground beef, add seasoning (per recipe below).
- Combine sauce ingredients, pasta, and beef in a 9×13 pan.
- Top with cheese, sesame seeds, bacon, & BBQ sauce.
- Bake until bubbly.
Top the casserole with your fave burger toppings including pickles, onions, and tomatoes.
Storing
Cheeseburger casserole will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 4 days. For best results, reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop and scoop it into a wrap for a grab-and-go lunch or pile on top of salad greens for an energizing lunch.
This casserole can be frozen, you can find more info on reheating and freezing casseroles here.
More Cheeseburger Inspired Favorites
- Cheeseburger Salad (Big Mac Salad)
- Cheeseburger Stuffed Meatballs
- Bacon Cheeseburger Bombs
- Cheeseburger Pizza
- Hamburger Casserole
- Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
- Cheeseburger Pot Pie
- Cheeseburger Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe
Did you make this Cheeseburger Casserole? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Cheeseburger Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups rotini 8 ounces
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ medium onion diced
- ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- 10 ¾ ounces condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1 cup milk
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup barbecue sauce + 2 tablespoons, divided
- 14 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes drained
- 1 teaspoon steak spice
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons bacon bits
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425°F.
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, brown onion in the ground beef until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in seasoned salt.
- In a large bowl combine pasta, beef mixture, soup, milk, 2 cups cheese, mustard, Worcestershire, ¼ cup BBQ sauce, diced tomatoes, & steak spice.
- Spread into a 9x13 casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese, sesame seeds, bacon bits, and drizzle with remaining BBQ sauce.
- Bake 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Notes
- fried mushrooms
- caramelized onions
- jalapenos
- Swiss or blue cheese
- fried eggs
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner, Entree, 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.
Excellent cheeseburger casserole. Very flavourful and made enough to feed my husband and I for 3 nights. Will definitely be making this dish again!!
The only thing I personally did not care for was the Worcestershire sauce taste as I personally found the taste too overpowering. Next time I make this dish I will try reducing the amount I add from 2 teaspoons to 1 teaspoon. Again, this is not a criticism of the recipe, it is just my personal preference for a less Worcestershire sauce taste.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Linda!
Hi, can you substitute the BBQ sauce with ketchup? Thank you.
Hi Stacey, you can but the BBQ sauce adds a lot of flavor to this recipe so it will change the overall flavor. I hope that helps!
Hi,
In NZ we do not have cheese soup. Is there an alternative I can use or a recipe that you could provide to make this please.
Hi Fiona, it will change the flavor but you can replace it with another condensed soup that you prefer.
In the instructions part of the recipe, you need to state that you combine the ground beef & onion mix in with the pasta soup, milk, cheese, etc. mix. I had printed just the recipe and instructions, and there was no explanation as to what to do with the ground beef mix.
Thanks for pointing that out, Barbara! We add the beef & onions with the pasta in step 4 before spreading into the casserole dish.
Was this supposed to be covered ?
We bake this recipe uncovered.
So very good! My husband had not one, not two but three helpings. Thanks for giving us old timers some new recipes to try. And they are good, too.
So happy to hear he loved it, Maggie!
CAN this recipe be made and frozen before baking? Thank you.
Hi Sue, we haven’t tried freezing this casserole but I think it should turn out okay. The noodles may be a little softer when reheating so be sure to cook them al dente when preparing the casserole. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
This one really surprised me. I usually don’t care for noodle casseroles but I love this one! I was planning to make something else but ran short of time. I had gotten an email for your recipe so I thought I’d try it. I had almost all the ingredients (I substituted ground turkey for ground beef) and it was easy to put together. I knew my husband would love it but it surprised me that I loved it! I will be making it again for sure! Thanks for posting it!
So glad you both loved it Debra!
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for ALL of the wonderful recipes you post. Your emails are the first to pop up in my folder each morning, and they always bring a smile to my face ~ because I know something wonderful is inside.
Thanks for the smiles, and thank you for sharing your delicious recipes! :)
Thank you so much for your kind words and for following along, you’ve made my day! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes Diana!