Scalloped Potato and Ground Beef Casserole

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Sliced potatoes in a delicious creamy sauce on the bottom then topped with a ground beef mixture - instead of layering the potatoes you can just mix them with the sauce in a large bowl transfer to the baking dish then top with the ground beef mixture either way is fine but the potatoes will cook a little faster if mixed with the sauce. Feel free to throw in some cooked chopped green beans, mushrooms, corn niblets to the ground beef mixture or whatever you wish, I also like sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese over the potato mixture before topping with the ground beef and then again after the casserole has been cooked, this casserole is very versatile and you don't have to worry about the exact amounts. To save time you may cook the ground beef mixture a day ahead and refrigerate, all ingredients may be reduced to half if desired to yield 4-6 and baked in a smaller baking dish. NOTE some of the reviewers are stating that the potatoes are taking a long time to cook so you may want to pop them in the microwave first just to soften slightly. (Kittencalskitchen)

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Ingredients

  • SAUCE:
  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef ( or use bulk Italian sausage meat, can increase the ground beef slightly)
  • 1 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 small green bell peppers, seeded and chopped (optional)
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped ( or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes ( adjust to taste) (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon seasoning salt (or to taste) or 1/2 teaspoon white salt ( or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper ( or to taste)
  • 5 -6 russet potatoes ( peeled and sliced thinly, or use as many as desired)
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese ( or to taste)
  • ....................................................
  • 2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted (using any other flavor of soup will not be as good)
  • 1 small onions, chopped ( about 1/3 cup)
  • 3/4 light cream
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper ( to taste)

Preparation

Step 1

In a skillet cook the ground beef with onion, bell pepper and chili flakes (if using) until no longer pink; drain fat over a colander.

Return to pan and add in garlic, season salt and black pepper; cook stirring with a wooden spoon until the meat is lightly browned (I usually add in about 1-2 tablespoons bacon fat that I keep frozen in my freezer to the meat while browning for added flavor and it also helps to brown the meat) set aside.

For the sauce; in a medium bowl mix together the undiluted soup with onion, milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, seasoned salt and black pepper to taste; mix well to combine.

In a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish or a large oval casserole dish, alternately layer the sliced potatoes on bottom of the baking dish, then soup mixture (I like to sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top of the soup mixture) then the ground beef mixture on top.

Since this is a large casserole I strongly suggest to place the baking dish on a jelly-roll sheet in case of any spills.

Bake covered with foil for about 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Uncover and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender (baking time will vary depending on the thickness of your sliced potatoes).

Remove from oven then sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese; return to oven for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
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REVIEWS:

I made this recipe on 11/4/10 for our dinner. This recipe was made with a few changes due to our tastes and what was on hand.All I had was 14 ounces of ground beef so, I browned that with some onion,a bit of crushed red pepper flakes, some seasoned salt, and used garlic powder instead of the garlic cloves.For the sauce I used 1 1/2 cans of the soup, onions( which I had cooked in some margarine until slightly softened),and used a bit of milk instead of the light cream.Also used a little less sour cream, a bit more of the garlic powder,and instead of parmesan a parmesan/ romano blend was used.To make it a quicker assembly, I mixed the potatoes in with the sauce. I layered the dish as follows, half of the potatoes, sprinkled with half of the shredded cheese, and add all of the meat.Added the remaining potatoes, covered with foil and baked at 375 degrees for 1 hour. After that baking time, added the remaining cheese and baked for an additional 30 minutes. After removing from the oven, I let it "rest" for about 10 minutes. This was a very good " Comfort Food " type dish and I will make this again.

Great recipe, was looking for something to do different with hamburger meat and this was it! After reading reviews about the potatoes not cooking enough, I remembered a recipe I had for potatoes au gratin...so for the first 20-25 minutes I cooked this at 400* degrees covered and then turned it back to 350* degrees covered for the remaining time this recipe called for. It was perfect. This made alot, so had plenty for lunch the next day! Thanks for posting another wonderful recipe Kittencal!!

A recipe! I ommited the entire section for the ground beef and only made au gratin potatoes(my kids wont eat it if I include the beef) and had little time so literally I made the sauce and threw in the cut up potatoes, added half a lb of cheddar cheese(mixed in) and voila. It was incredible! Thanks so much for posting this. The trick for all who have had issues with their potatoes not getting soft enough is to first cut them very fine and second, make sure you use a big 13" by 9" baking dish so they have room to cook.

Kitten you did it again! We loved this, will be making it again and again. I sliced the potatoes thin, about 1/8 inch and they cooked just fine. I added a touch more red pepper flakes and added fresh mushrooms and about 1/4 t of Italian seasoning to the meat at the same time as the garlic. I also sprinkled cheese into each layer. Thanks Kitten for another winner!

So delicious!!!! Will definitely make again and again! :)

This was a very enjoyable meal. I did nuke the potatoes a bit before mixing them with the sauce to make sure they'd get done. I added grated cheddar cheese to the top for about the last fifteen minutes of cooking. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you!

As I sit here typing my review I have my second one of these casserole's baking in the oven! I'm anticipating it turning out as good as the first one I made! This is absolutely great! My daughter loved it, which is a plus for me! As other reviewers suggested I microwaved the potatoes first. The flavors blend very well together and I KNOW I will be making this many more times! Thanks Kittencal!!!!!!

Loved it! This was a winner. I didn't have an onion and I didn't have 2 cans of the cream of chicken, so I substituted French onion soup for both of the missing items. Also, I pre-cooked the potatoes a little before assembling the casserole. Thank you for another great recipe!

The only reason I gave this recipe 4 stars is I felt there was bit too much garlic powder (or maybe it was fresh garlic?) In any case, it was just too much, in my opinion (and I adore garlic.) I think next time I'll cut it back to 3 cloves fresh and 1/2-3/4 tsp. garlic powder. I have to admit that I made a substitution of canned milk for the light cream (I had no cream) and made a mistake in the layering order, ending up with cheese on top, which made a crunchy cheese layer, but that didn't change the flavor, only the texture. I also didn't have any seasoned salt, so I just used plain salt and cut it back to just shy of 1 tsp. for the entire dish, and that was very much more than plenty. I used just 1 pound of ground beef, and that was also plenty of meat. Perhaps the larger amont of beef would have been able to handle the additional 1/2 tsp. salt, but I doubt it. (The soup has a lot of salt in it already, and the dish was very salty with the scant 1 tsp.) This dish is a lot like the flat enchiladas I often make using corn tortillas instead of the potatoes - both are wonderful family dishes.

After reading comments about the potatoes taking a long time to cook, I started out the dish with slicing the potatoes and putting them in water on the stove to boil. When the sides of the pot were boiling, I then turned off the flame and let them sit in the hot water as I prepared the remaining items. It did help, but still took 1 1/2 hours to get done, and could have easily cooked another 1/2 hour before the potatoes turned mushy. So, parboiling or pre-cooking the potatoes is definately in order if you have any time limit in your schedule.

Made ahead for dinner using low fat/ reduced fat ingredients and veggie grounds instead of ground beef. Popped it in the oven tonight for an hour covered and 30 minutes uncovered. We all enjoyed it. It was a little on the spicy side for DD, so she requested less crushed pepper next time, but it didn't stop her from asking for seconds. Served with steamed broccoli, made a delicious meal.


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