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This Amish Country Casserole is soft, savory, Beefy, and comforting, with pasta and a creamy tomato-and-mushroom sauce that comes together with pantry staples. You put it in the oven, it bubbles away for half an hour, and dinner is handled. You’re going to love how easy and satisfying it is.
Why You’ll Love It
- Pantry-friendly — tomato soup, mushroom soup, milk, pasta, and ground beef make up the simple base.
- Big and filling — it stretches a pound and a half of beef into a generous casserole.
- Creamy and comforting — the tomato-and-mushroom sauce coats every bite of pasta.
- Flexible — sturdy pasta shapes and whatever shredded cheese you have on hand work well.
- Great for leftovers — it reheats easily for another meal.
Ingredient Notes
Lean ground beef keeps the casserole from getting greasy, though you’ll still want to drain it after browning. I use the lean stuff because I am tired of trying to spoon off beef fat. But use what you have, just drain it well.
For the pasta, any sturdy shape works. Egg noodles are lovely, but rotini, penne, or elbow macaroni will do the job too. I’ve made it with whatever half-full boxes were in the pantry, which is not exactly culinary precision, but we survived.
The condensed tomato soup and condensed mushroom soup are the heart of the sauce here. Do not add water to them; the milk is what loosens everything into that creamy, clingy sauce. Any comparable condensed soups should be fine.
Cheese is optional, and I know I just said that like a reasonable person. In my house, cheese is rarely optional. Cheddar gives it a familiar, sharper top; mozzarella makes it stretchy; a blend is good too. Paprika adds a little color, while dried parsley mostly makes me feel as though I made an effort.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped—not too fussy; it all cooks down
- 1 pound pasta, any sturdy shape you like
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup milk, whole or 2% is what I usually have
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 (22.6-ounce) can condensed tomato soup
- 1 (22.6-ounce) can condensed mushroom soup
- Salt and black pepper, to taste—I eyeball this, as usual
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley, optional
- Shredded cheese of your choice, optional, but honestly pretty nice on top
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a casserole dish—something in the 9-by-13-ish neighborhood works nicely. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain it and set it aside. I try to pull mine just when it is done, not floppy-soft, because it will spend another 30 minutes in the oven. I have turned pasta into mush before, and no amount of cheerful table conversation can disguise mush.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and cook until the onion is translucent and smells sweet. Don’t wander off to answer an email here. Garlic will go from fragrant to bitter faster than my patience at a self-checkout lane.
Add the ground beef to the skillet. Break it apart as it cooks until it is browned and fully cooked through. Drain off any excess fat. I usually tip the skillet carefully and use a spoon.
In a separate bowl, stir together the condensed tomato soup, condensed mushroom soup, and milk until smooth. It will look a little odd at first—sort of pinkish-tan and not especially photogenic—but don’t judge it yet. A lot of good casseroles have an awkward phase.
Add the cooked pasta and the soup mixture to the beef. Stir everything together, then season with salt and black pepper to your liking. Make sure the pasta gets coated all through; the corners of the skillet can hide dry little pockets if you rush.
Transfer the mixture to your greased casserole dish. If you are using shredded cheese, sprinkle it over the top. Add the paprika and dried parsley, if using. The paprika does not need to be perfectly even. This is dinner, not a decorating competition on television—though I do watch those baking shows sometimes and get irrationally upset when someone drops a sponge cake.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the casserole is hot and bubbly around the edges. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving if you can stand it. It comes out molten, and I once burned the roof of my mouth so badly I couldn’t taste coffee for a while. A sad day, let me tell you.
Variations
Extra cheese works naturally, and spiral pasta is a nice choice because it holds the sauce well. A little more black pepper is good too.
You can leave the cheese off entirely and it is still a warm, satisfying casserole. I’ve served it with a crisp green salad when I was feeling virtuous, or steamed vegetables when the refrigerator contained something green that needed using. Crusty bread or biscuits are wonderful alongside it for scooping up the creamy sauce.
I did once try adding a bunch of extra vegetables directly into the casserole—bell peppers, zucchini, the works—thinking I was being very clever. It was not terrible, but it got watery. So I keep the vegetables on the side now. Everybody wins. Mostly.
Storage & Reheating
Cover leftovers and refrigerate them once they have cooled down. They keep well for a few days, though I think the flavor is best after everything has had time to settle into itself.
To reheat, scoop out a serving and warm it in the microwave until hot, stirring once if you remember. For a bigger amount, cover the casserole dish and warm it in the oven at 350°F until heated through. If it seems a little dry after sitting in the fridge, a tiny splash of milk before reheating helps bring it back.
This makes a great lunch. I’d eat it standing at the counter sometimes, looking out the window at the backyard and pretending I was just “taking a quick break” rather than avoiding folding fitted sheets. Nobody likes folding fitted sheets. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
Final Notes
There is something comforting about food that does not ask much of you. Brown the beef. Boil the pasta. Stir together the soups and milk. Put it all in a dish and let the oven do the rest while you deal with the hundred little things that somehow collect in an ordinary day.
I think that is why this casserole has stayed in my rotation—not because it is glamorous, certainly not, but because it feels dependable. Like an old quilt that is a little faded but still warm. It reminds me of noisy dinners and mismatched plates.
And now, when I make it, the kitchen gets quiet for a minute while it bakes. Not truly quiet—the refrigerator hums, a phone buzzes, the dog sighs dramatically from the floor—but quiet enough. Sometimes that’s plenty.
The Amish Country Casserole That Somehow Fills the Table
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 pound pasta any sturdy shape, such as egg noodles, rotini, penne, or elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup milk whole or 2%
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 (22.6-ounce) can condensed tomato soup do not add water
- 1 (22.6-ounce) can condensed mushroom soup do not add water
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley optional
- shredded cheese of your choice, optional, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-by-13-ish casserole dish, then cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain it, and set it aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the chopped onion and minced garlic, and cook until the onion is translucent and smells sweet.
- Add the ground beef to the skillet, break it apart as it cooks, and continue cooking until browned and fully cooked through, then drain off any excess fat.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the condensed tomato soup, condensed mushroom soup, and milk until smooth.
- Add the cooked pasta and soup mixture to the beef, stir until everything is well coated, and season with salt and black pepper to your liking.
- Transfer the mixture to the greased casserole dish, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top if using, and finish with paprika and dried parsley if using.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, until the casserole is hot and bubbly around the edges, then let it sit for a few minutes before serving.