Budget-Friendly and Comforting Casserole

This hobo casserole recipe is a delicious but easy family dinner that I like to serve when I have limited time. It goes by a variety of names, including hobo stew, hobo hubby casserole, and hamburger casserole.

Regardless of what you want to call it, your family will love this delicious one-pan dinner. It’s loaded with meat, potatoes, and cheese for a flavorful, filling, and comforting experience. I started making it when my now-adult daughters were toddlers, and they liked it.

I’ve placed a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for your convenience.

Ingredients

All of these ingredients are easy to find at the grocery store. In fact, you might even have most of them in your pantry and refrigerator.

Here is what I used:

• Ground beef 
• Chopped onion (sweet onion or any yellow onion)
• Thinly sliced potatoes
• Condensed cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken soup for a creamy sauce)
• Sour cream
• Milk (or half and half)
• Grated cheese (cheddar cheese, Colby cheese, or jack cheese)
• Crushed potato chips
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Swaps

Here are some alternate ingredients you might want to try:

• Ground turkey or chicken instead of ground beef
• Slices of American cheese instead of shredded or grated cheese
• Tomato sauce or tomato soup instead of cream soup (for a tomato flavored sauce)
• Canned crispy French fried onions instead of potato chips

Add Heat

If you want to spice it up, try one or two of these ingredients:

• Chili powder
• Taco seasoning
• Cayenne pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Hot sauce
• Pasta sauce
• Italian seasoning

Low Carb Version

If you want this to be low carb, leave out the potatoes. Or only put the potatoes on one side of the casserole to provide options.

Directions

This is a super easy recipe to make. Basically, it’s all about layering the ingredients and making sure everything is evenly distributed.

First, preheat your oven to 350˚ F. Spray the bottom of a 7” x 11” casserole dish or baking pan. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Drain the ground beef and pour it into the baking pan. 

Chop a small onion until you have at least 1/2 cup of chopped onion. Sprinkle that over the top of beef.

Thinly slice the potatoes. Place them over the onion layer.

Sprinkle with the desired amount of salt and black pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine soup, sour cream, and milk. Mix well.

Pour mixture over the salted potatoes. Spread it out evenly.

Sprinkle crushed potato chips over the mixture. 

Then sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

Lightly grease or spray nonstick spray over aluminum foil (to keep the cheese from sticking) and cover the casserole. 

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese gets melty and bubbly. Serve hot.

Note: The saltiness from the chips sometimes coats the cheese. If you want the cheese to be meltier, put the cheese on the casserole first and put it in the oven before adding the crushed potato chips.

Slow Cooker Version

If you want to start this recipe in the morning and come home to a delicious dinner, follow the directions listed above until it’s time to add the crispy, cheesy topping. Leave those off until the last hour of cooking.

Cook on high heat for 3 hours or low heat for 7 hours. Add the crushed potato chips and shredded cheese and cook for an additional hour. This version makes it easy to have dinner as soon as you walk in the door after a long day. In other words, it’s the perfect weeknight meal.

More Tips

This is such an easy dish to make for a family dinner. Sometimes I serve it with a side dish, but other times it’s just a simple one-pan meal.

Here are a few tips to make this a successful meal:

• If you’re serving a lot of people, feel free to double or triple the amount of all of the ingredients in the recipe. Just remember to increase the size of the baking dish so it won’t overflow.
• Don’t be afraid to add your favorite veggies to the mixture. Cut everything up into bite-size pieces so that they cook evenly.
• You can also add canned vegetables. However, don’t forget to drain them first, or you’ll wind up with a watery casserole.

Easy Side Dishes

You can serve any side dish or salad with this yummy casserole. My family enjoys this Watermelon Cucumber Salad that’s refreshing and adds color to the plate. We also enjoy this Broccoli Slaw.

Please feel free to share!