Crispy onion rings, juicy beef, and a creamy cheddar sauce-oh, and it gets better! This easy Green Bean and Ground Beef Casserole is a one-pan meal, perfect for those busy weeknights when you're not in the mood to cook. It's hearty, feel-good food that'll stick to your ribs and get the whole family excited for dinnertime.
Table of Contents
- 🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- 🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
- 📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- 🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success
- 🥫 Leftover love: how to store and reheat
- Marye's Tip o' the day
- 💭 Insider tips: things to know
- 👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
- 📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
- 🍽️ Perfect pairings: what to serve with
- 🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose
- 📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- This hearty meal is easy on the budget and big on flavor.
- Prep is quick, so this is a great dinner recipe for long days-the skillet keeps it hot on nights when everyone has a different schedule.
- Everything cooks and bakes in one skillet, but if you don't have one, you can transfer the stovetop mixture to a casserole dish.
Green bean and ground beef casserole combines savory ground beef with a rich, cheesy sauce and irresistible onion rings.
Plus, all of the veggies are smothered in the creamy soup mixture, making it completely picky-eater-approved!
🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- Swap the beef with any ground meat you're trying to use up-ground turkey, chicken, or even sausage will work great.
- Feel free to add other veggies (like canned corn or peas) into the mix to bulk things up.
- Switch up the cheese for a different profile flavor. For example, Pepper Jack is great if you like a zingy kick.
- Don't like onion rings? Use frozen tater tots or French's fried onions instead.
🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.
Brown the ground beef. Add the peppers and onions.
Add the drained green beans to the ground beef mixture.
Whisk together the soup, cheese, and milk. Stir into the skillet.
Top with more cheese and onion rings. Bake.
🤫 Marye's secret for zhuzhing it up -
Shred the cheese fresh from a block so that it's extra melty and gooey. (Not only does this make the green bean and ground beef casserole look more enticing, but it actually tastes creamier, too!)
zhuzh: verb. To make something more interesting or attractive
🥫 Leftover love: how to store and reheat
Ground beef casseroles are best stored in the refrigerator for up to four days. However, you can freeze leftovers for up to three months.
Portion leftover green bean casserole into an airtight container for storage, or cover the dish tightly with foil. To reheat, use the microwave or bake it again, covered, for 10-15 minutes or until hot.
Heads up-the onion rings won't be as crisp after reheating the leftovers. They're still tasty but will lose a bit of their texture.
Marye's Tip o' the day
Set a colander or strainer in a larger bowl and dump in the green beans. Let them sit while you prep the ground beef so that all the juices from the canning process drain out.
💭 Insider tips: things to know
- You may want to drain off extra beef grease if you're using an 80/20 or 85/15 blend. Any leaner than that and you're fine to leave the fat.
- I recommend using regular milk (skim, 1%, or 2%) for this recipe. However, you can use unsweetened almond or oat milk if it's all you have. (Make sure it doesn't have any vanilla or flavoring, though.)
- If you don't have an oven-safe skillet or fry pan, transfer the cheesy ground beef and green bean mixture to a casserole dish to bake.
- If the onion rings aren't quite crisp enough for your liking after the casserole is done baking, finish it under the broiler for a minute or two.
👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!
Sure thing. In that case, I recommend thawing and draining the green beans. Otherwise, the extra moisture can make the cheesy sauce too watery.
Yep, you can, but you'll want to par-boil 'em first. This means you'll give them a short boil so that they start to soften, but don't make them mushy. They'll continue to cook a bit as the casserole bakes.
Yep. The casserole will be way too watery if you don't drain them first. Plus, the green bean water can have an off taste.
You can use cream of mushroom soup instead of cream of celery, though it does change the flavor a bit. If you do, I recommend adding some sliced mushrooms to the casserole-yum!
If you're having a tricky time finding onion rings, head away from the veggies and look in the snack or appetizer area of the freezer section. They're usually near frozen potato skins, mozzarella sticks, pizza bites, and other fun stuff like that.
⏲️ Marye's time saving hacks -
Of course, you can use fresh peppers and onion if you'd like. However, I like to buy them frozen and pre-diced to make prep super quick.
📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
- French Onion Ground Beef Casserole is another one-pot meal that combines savory flavor with hearty beef and loads of cheesy goodness.
- Busy nights just got a little better with Puff Pastry Cheeseburger Pot Pie-it's everyone's favorite comfort food and super easy to make.
- Loaded Green Bean Casserole has the classic, comforting flavor you love upgraded with bacon, ranch seasoning, and extra creaminess!
🍽️ Perfect pairings: what to serve with
Cast Iron Country Potatoes are the perfect side dish for any meal-breakfast, lunch, or dinner! They're crispy yet tender and loaded with Southern flavor. Everyone loves 'em.
There's nothing quite like the flavor of fragrant Cinnamon Spiced Apple Rings paired with a creamy, hearty dinner. It's no wonder that they're a classic Southern staple.
Sweet and chewy with perfectly crisp edges, Oatmeal Cookies hit the spot after a satisfying meal. These are easy to make, and you can add raisins if you like-or don't!
🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose
Give those leftovers another life! If you're like my family, the onion ring topping will probably disappear first.
So, scoop the leftover green bean and ground beef casserole mixture out and make:
- Open-faced buttermilk biscuit sandwiches (think biscuits and gravy)
- Muffin-tin "mini" shepherd's pies topped with mashed potatoes
- Loaded baked potatoes-use sweet potatoes for a fun twist
📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Green Bean and Ground Beef Casserole
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 2 cups mixed onions and bell peppers, I use frozen
- 29 ounces green beans, 2-14.5 ounce cans drained
- 10 ¾ oz condensed cream of celery soup
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, 8 ounces divided use
- 1 cup milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 ounces frozen onion rings
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Brown ground beef in a 12-inch *cast iron skillet.
- Add the mixed onions and peppers and cook until they are softened.
- Remove from heat.
- Mix in drained green beans; set aside.
- Whisk cream of celery soup, 1 ½ cups of the cheese, and the milk together in a medium mixing bowl.
- Pour over the green bean mixture in the skillet and stir gently to combine.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
- Arrange the onion rings over the top of the cheese.
- Press down lightly.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the onion rings are crispy brown and the casserole is heated through. It should read 165F on an instant read thermometer when stuck in the center.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
Notes
- You may want to drain off extra beef grease if you're using an 80/20 or 85/15 blend. Any leaner than that and you're fine to leave the fat.
- I recommend using regular milk (skim, 1%, or 2%) or evaporated milk for this recipe. However, you can use unsweetened almond or oat milk if it's all you have. (Make sure it doesn't have any vanilla or flavoring, though.)
- If you don't have an oven-safe skillet or fry pan, transfer the cheesy ground beef and green bean mixture to a casserole dish to bake.
- If the onion rings aren't quite crisp enough for your liking after the casserole is done baking, finish it under the broiler for a minute or two.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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