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.
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
1/4 cup sour cream
8 oz ricotta (you can also use cottage cheese)
1/2 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. 🙂
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.
4. 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.
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.
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!
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Million Dollar Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 26 oz spaghetti sauce
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 8 oz ricotta
- 1/2 cup butter
- 16 oz penne pasta
- 8 oz sharp cheddar shredded cheese
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef.
- Boil the penne pasta and drain once fully cooked.
- 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.
- Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Add half of the pasta to the containers you're using. Top the pasta with the cream cheese mixture. Top the cream mixture with the rest of the noodles.
- Cut the butter into slices and top the noodles. Top the butter with the ground beef. Top the ground beef with the spaghetti sauce. Straight out of the can, man. Add cheese.
- Bake at 350˚ F for 45 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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?
Comments & Reviews
Dana Cinque says
This is one of my new favorites and the recipe was easy to follow.
This is an absolute keeper!! 🙂
Lynette says
Hi Dana, I’m so glad you all loved it!
pam morgan says
I make a similar recipie, no butter, cottage cheese or ricotta and add green onions sliced with egg noodles in layers. Yum. Im going to try this with penne as I can find it gluten free and not egg noodles, thanks!
Lynette says
Glad you enjoyed it, Pam!
Lauren says
So after you freeze it, how do you thaw it before cooking? Pull it out on the counter the night before, or in the fridge? Or just put it in the oven frozen? I’m new to freezer meals. Thank you!
Mommers says
Put in your fridge the night before – if you have to bake from frozen it will take a lot longer & may require some more liquid added cuz it could dry out. I’d also spray the foil when you cover it as cheese may stick to foil on top. I’d also bake on a cookie sheet as pan can get wobbly.
Sandy says
Must try this!
Alida says
Great supper! I didn’t have sour cream in the house. I didn’t substitute for it and the meal was very tasty. I also have trouble not adding veggies to a meal (my husband and kids only eat veggies if they don’t taste like veggies) so I added a cup of corn and 1 cup shredded zucchini that I keep in the freezer. I didn’t realize how big the meal was or I would have done 2 cups corn and zucchini. I am definitely making this as a freezer meal for the future!!
Lynette says
So glad you liked it!
Mari says
We just got done eating this for dinner. VERY good. However, I left the butter out. I had added up (WW) points before adding the butter and just couldn’t bare to add any more points to this dish. It was really good without it, but I’m sure it would’ve been better with it. I mean, how could it not be? It’s butter.
So, I told my husband that next time I’ll make it when I’m not dieting and don’t care about added points 🙂
But, it was still really good. Thanks for sharing.
Lynette says
Thanks for sharing Mari! It’s one of our favorites. 🙂
Suzanne says
For those of you who don’t like ricotta or cottage cheese, if it’s a texture issue and not taste, you might want to go ahead and try this recipe. I have a little one with major food texture issues who hates cottage cheese and ricotta. I put the ricotta, cream cheese, and sour cream in the food processor briefly to smooth the texture out for her. She ate it, w/ seconds and thirds!
Lynette says
Thanks for the tip Suzanne!
Lana May says
I noticed there were not spices listed. I always salt and pepper my ground beef and add a little garlic too. I also added diced onion to the ground beef while browning. For color, I added chives and dried parsley to the cheeses. Added Red pepper flakes before adding the butter. (We like the heat when it comes to food). Turned out great. I will be cooking this one again
Gina Gentry says
Hi! My family DESPISES ricotta & cottage cheese, any ideas on what I can use in its place? 🙂
Lynette says
Hi Gina, You could try mozzarella cheese. I think it would turn out great as well. You can always omit it all together as well to see if it’s more your family’s style. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Mary says
Did you cook the pasta first? Or does it cook in the oven? Sounds delish !
Lynette says
Hi Mary, Yes, you cook the pasta first before putting it into the oven. Enjoy!