• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Eat Well Spend Smart
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Money Saving Tips
    • Meal Plans
    • Gardening
  • Shop
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • Money Saving Tips
  • Meal Plans
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Cowboy casserole from scratch

    April 5, 2021 by Tara Buss Leave a Comment

    Sharing is caring!

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Cowboy casserole is a comforting casserole popular at potlucks. This is a modified version made with real food ingredients and no cream soups or tater tots.Cowboy casserole

    Especially if you are from the midwest or south, you are quite familiar with that famous cheesy beefy tater tot casserole, sometimes referred to as Cowboy Casserole. It typically uses cream of mushroom soup, corn, ground beef, sour cream, cheese, and frozen tater tots. While quite delicious, it's not something I make in my home anymore since cutting out overly processed foods.

    Years ago on my original diary-style family blog I shared a modified version of this cowboy casserole that I made without cream of mushroom soup and tater tots. This cleaned up version uses fresh mushrooms instead of mushroom soup, shredded potatoes instead of tater tots, and green beans instead of corn for more nutritional value. When I re-branded to my new website, the recipe got lost in the shuffle. Since then, I have had several readers requesting that I repost the real food cowboy casserole recipe because it had become a family favorite for them.

    After making it again to photograph and bring back to live another day on the blog, I agree that it is indeed a tasty dish. Cheesy, beefy, comfort food.

    Cowboy Casserole Step by Step Instructions

    Browning ground beef for cowboy casserole

    Brown ground beef, diced onions, and mushrooms in a skillet until beef is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Drain excess fat. Stir in flour to the beef mixture and cook for a minute or two.

    Adding liquids to cowboy casserole

    Whisk in broth, milk, salt, pepper, and green beans. Stir while mixture thickens.

    Topping cowboy casserole with potatoes and cheese

    Once mixture is thickened, stir in sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

    Squeeze out the liquid from shredded potatoes and evenly place on top on casserole. Top with remaining cheese and bake.

     

    Dietary substitutions

    • For a gluten-free version, use an all purpose gluten free flour.
    • For a grain-free version, mix 2 tablespoons of arrowroot with the milk/broth to make a slurry. Then add it to the ground beef, mushrooms, and onions to thicken.
    • For a dairy-free version, use a milk-alternative like almond milk, oat milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or your favorite milk substitute. You could try a dairy-free cheese and sour cream or you could simply omit the cheese altogether. Another option would be to add a few shakes of nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor, while omitting the cheese from the top.
    Cowboy casserole
    Print Pin

    Cowboy casserole

    Ground beef casserole dish with a cheesy mushroom sauce and topped with shredded potatoes
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American
    Keyword casserole without cream of mushroom soup, cowboy casserole, ground beef casserole
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 40 minutes
    Total Time 55 minutes
    Servings 5 people
    Author Tara Buss

    Equipment

    • large oven safe skillet
    • grater
    • knife
    • cutting board

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups mushrooms diced
    • 1 cup onion diced
    • 1 lb ground beef
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • ¼ cup flour of choice
    • ¾ cup broth beef or chicken
    • 1 cup milk dairy or dairy-free alternative
    • 1 ½ tsp salt
    • ½ tsp black pepper
    • 2 cups green beans frozen or canned
    • 2 tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt
    • 1 ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
    • 2 cups potatoes shredded

    Instructions

    • In a large oven safe skillet, brown ground beef, onions, and mushrooms until beef is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
    • Drain excess fat. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
    • Stir in flour and cook for another minute.
    • Whisk in broth, milk, salt, and pepper.
    • Add green beans and cook mixture until thickened.
    • Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup cheese and sour cream.
    • Shred potatoes with a grater or food processor and squeeze out excess liquid.
    • Top casserole with shredded potatoes and remaining ½ cup cheese.
    • Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. I like to broil the casserole for another couple of minutes at the end to crisp the top.

    Cowboy casserole from scratch

     

    « Feeding growing children and teens on a budget
    Spicy Honey Chicken »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Tara Buss headshot

    Hi, I'm Tara! Mom, wife, and frugal living expert. I believe you can feed your family well even when money and time are tight. Let me show you how.

    More about me →

    5 SECRETS TO SAVE MONEY ON FOOD

    5 quick lessons delivered to your inbox.

    You can unsubscribe anytime. No spam, promise.

    Thank you!

    You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

    .

    Popular

    • How to sauté chicken tenders
    • Crockpot pinto beans
    • Easy Homemade Biscuit Recipe (Without Buttermilk)
    • Homemade Basic Cheese Sauce

    Grab my E-book

    Eat well spend smart ebook

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Eat Well Spend Smart