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Home » Recipes » Easy Recipes with Ground Beef : Million Dollar Casserole

Easy Recipes with Ground Beef : Million Dollar Casserole

By Lynette on February 18, 2014 · 43 Comments

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Easy Recipes with Ground Beef Million Dollar Casserole Freezer Friendly

Easy Recipes With Ground Beef

In my quest to find more freezer cooking friendly meals I decided to try some easy recipes with ground beef.  My husband loves beef, so finding a casserole that I could easily freeze and cook on busy nights was a priority.  After cooking a big batch of ground beef in the crockpot, I jumped into this super easy recipe I found online from here.

Million Dollar Casserole Ingredients

Here’s the ingredients you will need.  (I tripled this to make four half size pans to freeze.)

1 lb ground beef
26 oz spaghetti sauce
8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
8 oz ricotta (you can also use cottage cheese)
½ cup butter
16 oz penne pasta
8 oz sharp cheddar shredded cheese

You will also need aluminum pans if you plan to freeze this recipe.  You can find the best deal on pans here.

UPDATE:  Some of you noticed that I used cottage cheese but listed Ricotta.  I tried both, the pictures just came from the cottage cheese trial.  I definitely think the ricotta did better in the freezer and had a creamier taste which is why I chose to list the ricotta on the recipe.  I definitely use the recipes I share here and try them out first.  That means freezing them for at least a few weeks and then serving them to my family. 🙂

Step 2 Easy Recipes with Ground Beef

1.  Cook the ground beef.  When I know I’m going to do do some freezer cooking in a big batch, I cook the ground beef in the crockpot easily the night before. Once it’s completely cooked, drained and cooled, I place it in the a container in the  refrigerator.  The next day, it’s really easy to pull together a recipe like this one.

But anyways, once the ground beef is cooked.  Set it aside.

2.  Boil the penne pasta and drain once fully cooked.

3.  In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese.  It’s much easier to mix them together if you let the cream cheese soften first.

Step 3 Ground Beef Recipes easy4.  Add half of the pasta to the containers you’re using.  In this case, since I had tripled the recipe, I used four half containers.  If you’re making only one batch, I would use a 9×13 pan.

5.  Top the pasta with the cream cheese mixture.  Spread it evenly around the pan.

Easy Recipes with Ground Beef Million Dollar Casserole

6.  Top the cream mixture with the rest of the noodles.

7.  Cut the butter into slices and top the noodles.

8.  Top the butter with the ground beef.

Beef Casserole Easy

9.  Top the ground beef with the spaghetti sauce.  Straight out of the can, man.

10.  Add cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees Faranheit for 45 minutes.

If you’re freezer cooking, you can top it with foil and add it to the freezer.  Once thawed in the future, you can bake it for the same time.  Personally, I think when you freezer cook with pasta, it sometimes soaks up the sauce.  I like to add some sauce to the casserole before cooking it.

Let me know what you think!

If you plan to do a lot of freezer cooking, make sure to grab these pans!  You won’t find a better deal!

Handi-Foil 120-Ounce Half Size Steam Table Pan (Case of 100)

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Million Dollar Casserole

★★★★★ 4.7 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Lynette Rice
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

Million dollar casserole with layers of spaghetti sauce and noodles and a cheesy middle Can easily be frozen to enjoy later.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 26 oz spaghetti sauce
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 8 oz ricotta
  • ½ cup butter
  • 16 oz penne pasta
  • 8 oz sharp cheddar shredded cheese

Instructions

  1. Cook the ground beef.
  2. Boil the penne pasta and drain once fully cooked.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese. It much easier to mix them together if you let the cream cheese soften first.
  4. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Add half of the pasta to the containers you’re using.
  5. Top the pasta with the cream cheese mixture.
  6. Top the cream mixture with the rest of the noodles.
  7. Cut the butter into slices and top the noodles.
  8. Top the butter with the ground beef.
  9. Top the ground beef with the spaghetti sauce. Straight out of the can, man.
  10. Add cheese.
  11. Bake at 350 degrees Faranheit for 45 minutes.
  12. If you’re freezer cooking, you can top it with foil and add it to the freezer. Once thawed in the future, you can bake it for the same time. Personally, I think when you freezer cook with pasta, it sometimes soaks up the sauce. I like to add some sauce to the casserole before cooking it.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Serving
  • Calories: 784
  • Sugar: 6.8
  • Sodium: 637
  • Fat: 42.8
  • Carbohydrates: 61.2
  • Protein: 37.8
  • Cholesterol: 156.3

Keywords: million dollar casserole

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @cleverlysimple on Instagram and hashtag it #cleverlysimple

Looking for another casserole to try? You will love this recipe for Chicken Enchilada Casserole or this Spinach Rice Casserole recipe or even this Green Bean Casserole recipe!

What are some of your favorite easy recipes with ground beef?

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About Lynette

Lynette is the home cook, recipe tester and photographer for Cleverly Simple which she created in 2010.  Most of her recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from her great-grandma, grandmother, and mother.

Lynette’s recipes and projects have been featured in Country Living, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and others.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. M. Elaine Holland

    December 12, 2019 at 5:39 pm

    This sounds awesome and I plan on making this recipe for a Santa’ s Elves Casserole contest” for the Nursing and Rehab Nursing Home in the town I live in. The contest is this Sunday Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Lynette

      December 20, 2019 at 3:18 pm

      Awesome! I hope it was a winner!

      Reply
  2. Lori

    October 28, 2019 at 5:34 pm

    This looks amazing! Do you cook this covered or uncovered?

    Reply
  3. Joan

    May 22, 2019 at 6:59 am

    If I plan to freeze this, do I cook it first then freeze, or freeze it without cooking. I want to make it to store in the church freezer for our people in need.

    Reply
    • Lynette

      May 22, 2019 at 8:46 am

      Hi! You do not need to cook it as a casserole first. Make the casserole as instructed and then put a layer of saran wrap and then foil. I like to write on the foil the baking time. Store in freezer and then let thaw before baking as instructed when ready to enjoy.

      Reply
  4. Gemma

    March 21, 2019 at 5:32 pm

    How do you cook ground beef in a crock pot?

    Reply
  5. Brittney

    August 03, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    This might be a silly question, but is this 16oz or pasta (a whole box) or 16oz cooked pasta? If I am tripling the recipe, will I need 3 whole boxes of penne?

    Reply
    • Lynette

      August 03, 2018 at 9:34 pm

      No silly questions! It’s 16 oz of pasta before it’s cooked. So yes, typically that’s an entire box.

      Reply
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Lynette Rice head shotHi, I’m Lynette. My desire is to help women who feel uninspired weave time honored recipes into their routines to create a sense of simplicity. Most of my recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from my great-grandma, grandmother and mother. And I want to share them with you.  Learn more.

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