Description
Hobo Casserole is a classic American comfort food dish featuring layers of seasoned ground beef with peppers and onions, thinly sliced russet potatoes, a creamy mixture of condensed soups and evaporated milk, sharp cheddar cheese, and crispy fried onions on top. Baked until golden and bubbling, this hearty one-dish meal serves 10 and is perfect for family dinners, potlucks, and meal prep.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ground beef
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup diced onion (that’s half a big one)
- ½ cup diced red bell pepper
- ½ cup diced green bell pepper
- 2 pounds russet potatoes – don’t even think about using other kinds
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (you’re gonna split this up)
- 1 cup fried onions
- Pan spray
Instructions
Turn your oven to 350°F. Spray that 9×13 pan like your life depends on it. Baked cheese is a nightmare to scrub off.
Throw the ground beef in your big skillet on medium-high. Break it up as it cooks. When it’s all brown and there’s no pink, add the salt and pepper. Takes like 7 or 8 minutes.
Dump in the onion and peppers. Cook them with the beef for a few minutes till the onion goes clear. The peppers should still have some bite. Pour off all that grease into a can, then turn off the burner.
Peel your potatoes and slice them thin. Like ⅛-inch if you can. Just try to keep them all about the same. Toss each slice into a bowl of cold water. This keeps them from going brown and washes off some starch.
Grab your medium bowl and dump in the milk and both soup cans. Whisk it till there’s no lumps. Keep going if you see any.
Drain the potatoes. Now here’s the part that sucks but you gotta do it – dry every single slice with paper towels. All of them. Wet potatoes make this watery and gross. Once they’re dry, lay half of them in your pan. They can overlap some.
Time to layer this thing. Spread half the beef on the potatoes. Pour half the sauce over it – you might need to push it around with a spoon. Throw on 1½ cups of cheese. Do it again with everything that’s left: potatoes, beef, sauce, cheese.
Sprinkle the fried onions all over. These are honestly the best part so don’t leave them off. Cover the pan tight with foil.
Stick it in for 75-80 minutes. Poke a fork all the way to the bottom to check if the potatoes are soft. Check the temp in the middle too – needs to hit 165°F. When it’s done, pull the foil off (careful, steam’s hot), then broil it on high for a minute or two till the top’s golden.
Walk away for 10 minutes. Yeah it smells amazing but if you cut into it now it’ll be all soupy and runny.
Notes
- Test it right: Stick your fork all the way down, not just the top. Sometimes the bottom takes way longer. Mine’s taken an hour and twenty minutes before on really humid days.
- Wrong potatoes will wreck it: Red potatoes and Yukon Golds are too waxy. They leak water everywhere while they cook. You end up with soup. Just use russets.
- Bag cheese is fine: Yeah fresh tastes slightly better. But bagged cheese works totally fine for this and saves you ten minutes of grating.
- Extra crunchy top: Put the fried onions on in the last 15 minutes instead of at the start. Way crispier.
- Browning too much? Lay some foil on top loosely and keep baking.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes + Rest Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American