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Hobo Casserole is a hearty, beefy, and cheesy dish your whole family will love. It’s full of comforting flavors, tender potatoes, creamy sauce, and browned beef. This is a quick and simple recipe that is also a great make ahead meal!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: This hobo casserole is so easy to throw together. It’s great to prep the night before and throw it in the oven an hour or so before dinner time.
- Budget Friendly: The ingredients you need are as budget-friendly as they get. It’s easy to make and won’t break the bank! Winning!
- Comfort Food: Potatoes, cheese, and beef are classic comfort foods that taste amazing. Pair it with my cornbread, and then serve buckeye brownies for dessert.
Simple and Delicious
The beauty of this recipe is taking simple ingredients and putting them together. Much like a tater tot casserole, or Potsticker Casserole, they’re nothing fancy or complicated, just simple, satisfying food that your whole family will love!
Ingredients Needed for Hobo Casserole
- Potatoes: Use russets. Waxy potatoes (like Yukon or red) release liquid and can make the casserole watery.
- Meat: Swap lean beef for ground turkey or chicken if you prefer.
- Dry Potatoes: Pat potatoes well to prevent extra moisture and a watery casserole.
- Check Doneness: Test potatoes with a fork, all the way to the bottom. If watery, cook longer. Up to 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- Soups: Use cream of mushroom, chicken, or celery (homemade or store-bought).
- Bell Peppers: Any color pepper works; it just needs to be 1 cup total.
How to Make Hobo Casserole
You’re going to love how simple this hobo casserole recipe is to throw together. I like preparing it the night before so I can easily cook it for dinner the next day. Everyone in my family loves it!
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9 x 13 x 2-inch casserole dish with pan spray. Add the ground beef to a large skillet and cook over medium high heat until no pink remains. Break it into pieces as it cooks. Stir in the salt and pepper. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft. Drain off the fat and turn off the heat.
- Potatoes: Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly, placing the slices into a large bowl of cold water.
- Whisk: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, cream of mushroom soup, and cream of chicken soup.
- Dry: Drain the potatoes and pat them dry with clean paper towels before layering half of the potatoes in the bottom of the prepared baking dish to start your hobo casserole.
- Layer: Layer half of the meat and vegetables mixture over the sliced potatoes.
- Layer Sauce: Pour half of the sauce over the meat mixture.
- Repeat: Then, sprinkle half of the cheese. Repeat the layers using the remaining half of the potatoes, meat, sauce, and cheese.
- Bake: Top with the crispy french-fried onions before covering the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 75-80 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the foil and broil under high for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown on top. Let the hobo casserole sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
How to Store Leftovers and Make Ahead Instructions
- Leftovers/Reheating: Store in the fridge up to 5 days. Reheat portions in the microwave or the whole casserole at 350°F for 20 minutes, until 165°F in the center.
- Make Ahead: Prep the night before, cover, and refrigerate. Add 20–30 minutes to the bake time.
- Freezer: Cook first, then freeze. Thaw 24 hours in the fridge, then bake at 350°F for 25+ minutes, until heated through.
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Hobo Casserole
Hobo Casserole is a hearty, beefy, and cheesy dish your whole family will love. This a quick and simple recipe that makes a great make-ahead meal!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup diced onion, about ½ a large onion
- ½ cup diced red bell pepper
- ½ cup diced green bell pepper
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 cup fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish with pan spray.
- Add the ground beef to a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until no pink remains, breaking it into pieces as it cooks. Stir in the salt and pepper.
- Add the onion and bell peppers to the skillet and cook for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft. Drain off the fat and turn off the heat.
- Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and slice them thinly, placing the slices into a large bowl of cold water.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the evaporated milk, cream of mushroom soup, and cream of chicken soup.
- Drain the potatoes and pat them dry with clean paper towels before layering half of the potatoes in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Layer half of the meat mixture over the potatoes, then half of the sauce, followed by 1 ½ cups of the cheese. Repeat the layers using the remaining half of the potatoes, meat, sauce, and the remaining 1 ½ cups of cheese.
- Top with the fried onions before covering the dish tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 75-80 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the foil and broil under high for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown on top.
- Let the casserole sit for about 10 minutes before serving to allow the potatoes to soak up any residual liquid.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 576kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 30gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 907mgPotassium: 857mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 737IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 367mgIron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
More Beef and Potato Casserole Recipes
If you loved this hobo casserole, then I know you will love these other recipes that include similar ingredients and amazing flavor. Top of the list is my Cowboy Casserole! Go make it today!
I tried your hobo casserole and it came marvelously tasty everyone loved it .
The hobo casserole looks amazing for this 82 year old jome cook. Yhanks
Love to receive more of these recipes for casserole dishes and main course meals side dish recipes to go with certain main courses veggie bakes