Cheeseburger Quinoa Casserole
Considering cheeseburgers are one of the three ways to my heart through food, it is surprising I don’t have more recipes featuring them on my site. Sure, I have the recipes for my lamb burgers with sweet potato buns and the lettuce wrap burger with sweet potato fries and spicy mayo sauce, but there is no limit to how many burger focused recipes a blogger shall have. Lately, I’ve been craving lots of ground beef, which is probably due to my butcherbox arrival and the fact that my freezer is now stocked with grass fed and finished meats. I decided to put some to work with this new recipe for a cheeseburger quinoa casserole.
A dear friend of mine, Serena Wolf, just released her second book, The Dude Diet Dinnertime, and I am constantly impressed with her creative ways to incorporate delicious foods we are all craving made with better for you ingredients. During one of her incredible Instagram story recipe round-ups, I remember her mentioning a cheeseburger quinoa bake. Though I did not follow her recipe for the making of this creation, she is absolutely the one who planted the seed for this idea in my brain awhile back. So, when it came time for the big Monday night football game featuring Eagles vs Giants and I was tasked with making a football-ish dinner, my mind immediately went to cheeseburgers, and then to creating some type of casserole. Alas, this recipe was put into motion.
I am not only incredibly pleased with the final result, but I am also in awe of how simple this was. It also made me realize what a wonderful meal prep option this meal can be for lunch (or dinner), and how ideal it is for a dinner party as you can fully prepare it the day of, or day beforehand, and then pop in the oven as guests are arriving. No one likes to be cooking up a storm and making a mess in the kitchen with friends over! To make, start by cooking the quinoa in a pot and cooking the ground beef on a cast-iron skillet with ghee, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and salt & pepper. While those are cooking, thinly chop the bell pepper and tomato. Once the ground beef is cooked through, place it in a casserole baking dish and sauté the chopped tomatoes and peppers in that same skillet with the beef fat juices for about 10 minutes. Add the quinoa, sautéed peppers & tomatoes, and the cream cheese into the casserole dish, season with salt and pepper, and combine well. I used the everything flavor of Monty’s cultured cashew cream cheese for this and it added a delicious taste and creaminess without the dairy.
Next, crumble the crackers (I used Simple Mills fine ground sea salt crackers to make it gluten free) on top of this dish and then top with shredded cheese. Place the baking dish in the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and, while this is baking, chop the romaine and pickles into small pieces and slice the avocado. Remove the dish from the oven and top with the romaine, pickles, and avocado. Serve as is or top with hot sauce, mustard, or ketchup, as you would your standard cheeseburger!
ingredients:
- Ground beef (1lb)
- Bell pepper (1)
- Tomato (1)
- Romaine lettuce (1 head)
- Avocado (1)
- Cream cheese (1/4 cup)
- Cheddar cheese – shredded (1/4 cup)
- Crackers – crumbled (1 cup)
- Bread & butter pickles (1 cup)
- Quinoa (1 cup)
- Ghee (1 teaspoon)
- Red pepper flakes (1/2 teaspoon)
- Cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
- Salt
- Pepper
instructions:
How to cook
- Rinse the quinoa and add it into a pot with ½ teaspoon of ghee on medium heat and toast the seeds for about 1 minute
- Add in 2 cups of water to the pot and cook, with the lid on, until it reaches a boil and then lower to a simmer until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water
- On a hot skillet, add ½ teaspoon of ghee and, once melted, add in the ground beef
- Season with red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper and use a spoon or spatula to crumble the ground beef it into small pieces while it is cooking until all pieces are fully cooked through
- While the quinoa and ground beef are cooking, dice the bell pepper and tomato into small pieces
- Remove the ground beef from the skillet and set aside
- Using the same skillet with remaining juices from the ground beef, sauté the tomato and bell pepper for about 10 minutes on low-medium heat
- In a casserole baking dish, combine the quinoa, ground beef, bell peppers, tomato, and cream cheese
- Season this mixture with salt and pepper and combine well before spreading it out along the dish
- Top this mixture with the crumbled crackers and the shredded cheddar cheese
- Place the dish in the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to fully melt
- While the dish is baking, chop the romaine and pickles into thin pieces and slice the avocado
- Remove the dish from the oven and top with the romaine, pickles, and avocado
- Serve and enjoy as is or top with additional hot sauce, ketchup, or mustard
- Gluten free (depending on crackers)
- Soy Free
- Nut Free