Cowboy Casserole
Cowboy Casserole is a filling dinner made with seasoned ground beef, cheese and corn in a cream sauce topped with crispy round tater tots. A comforting fave!
A Filling Family-Friendly Casserole
This cowboy casserole has a fun name and is easy to make! if you’re curious as to where the name came from, I’m not quite sure. But, my best guess is that it’s because it is a hearty and filling enough meal to satisfy even a hungry cowboy after a long day of work. Like most casseroles, it looks like a pile of slop, right? Ha! But those tend to be the ones with the best taste in my opinion!
Frequently Asked Questions:
You can fully assemble the casserole without adding the crispy crowns, cover it tightly, and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, remove it from the fridge, add the crispy crowns on top, and bake as directed, adding a few extra minutes, if needed, since it’s starting cold.
If you want to prep it even further ahead, you can assemble and freeze the casserole (again, without the crispy crowns) for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, add the crispy crowns, and bake as directed until hot and bubbly with a golden, crispy topping.
You can add chopped bell peppers or mushrooms when you are cooking the beef.
If you like a touch of heat in your casseroles, that’s totally possible. You can add chopped up jalapeños, cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes.
It can be done but you will be doing most of the cooking ahead of time and popping it into the crock pot and top with the hash rounds. Start by browning the ground beef with the onion and seasonings on the stovetop, then stir in the cheese, corn, cream of chicken, sour cream, and milk. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker and spread it evenly.
Top with the frozen crispy crowns or tater tots, cover, and cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1½-2 hours, until heated through. Keep in mind that the crispy crowns will be much softer in the slow cooker since there’s no dry heat to crisp them. I
If you prefer a crunchy topping, you can finish the crispy crowns under the oven broiler for a few minutes before serving, or bake them separately and add them on top just before serving. Just make sure you have an oven safe crock pot insert that can handle that high heat.
Sure. Instead of the seasonings used- chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper, you can just use one packet of taco seasoning. I like using Homemade Taco Seasoning too.
A casserole can be a whole meal in itself, but you can absolutely serve it with some of your favorite sides. A big, green salad is my favorite option, or toss together a vegetable of your choice (the microwaveable steam veggies are an easy side!)
You can keep any leftover casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can freeze leftovers in a freezer safe container for up to 3-4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat when needed.
Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)
- ground beef – you could use ground pork, ground chicken, ground turkey or a meat substitute like Beyond meat.
- yellow onion – don’t like onion? Leave it out.
- garlic – I always prefer fresh garlic but I do sometimes use the jared stuff fin a pinch. Use what works best for you.
- chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, coarse kosher salt, black pepper, ground cumin, and paprika – If you don’t like one or more of the seasonings here, just leave it out or replace with ones you prefer.
- colby jack cheese – You can use any cheese you love for the dish. I think Pepper Jack would be nice for a kick of heat!
- corn – You can use canned or frozen corn. If you don’t care for corn, you can substitute it with a can of beans or just leave it out.
- cream of chicken – you can use cream of mushroom in place of the cream of chicken. As always, I love using Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup, or if you need to swap it out, a good Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup is a nice alternative.
- sour cream – You can use any brand. I prefer the full-fat since it adds to the creaminess of the dish. You do not taste the sour cream as a separate ingredient in this but if you’re absolutely worried about it, you could, maybe, use mayonnaise since that is less tangy. The sour cream is really just helping with the overall creaminess. Or you could substitute the sour cream and milk with about ½ cup heavy cream.
- Milk – you can use a milk substitute like almond milk if you necessary.
- frozen crispy rounds – You can use any brand of crispy rounds (or crowns as some brands call them). They are just round, disc shaped tater tots. I have been preferring these to tater tots lately because I think they cook more evenly than the tater tots sometimes do but you could use tater tots. I would go with the mini ones if you can find them. They are called lots of different things: Tater Crowns, Tater Round, Crispy Rounds – just get the round flat tater tots (whatever your store calls them.)
How To Make Cowboy Casserole:
Preheat the oven to 400° F. To a large skillet, add the ground beef and onion. Cook and crumble over medium heat until fully cooked and the juices run clear. Drain any excess grease and put back into the skillet (you can turn off the heat at this point.)
To the skillet, add the garlic and dried seasonings. Stir until combined.
Add half of the cheese, corn, cream of chicken, sour cream, and milk. Stir until combined.
Transfer the meat mixture to a 9×13-inch baking dish. Top with the remaining shredded cheese and then evenly top with the crispy rounds (you will use about 54 of the crispy rounds)
Bake uncovered on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, or until the crispy rounds are golden brown.
NOTE: If you want to get them extra crispy, you can place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. DO NOT WALK AWAY while anything is under the broiler. Stand by and check constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn because it can burn very fast under the broiler if you aren’t careful. Top with cilantro, is using.
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Cowboy Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese (divided use)
- 15.25 ounce can corn, drained
- 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup milk
- 30 ounce bag frozen crispy rounds (about 54 crispy rounds will be used from the bag, see notes below)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro or parsley (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- To a large skillet, add 1 pound lean ground beef and 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion the ground beef and onion. Cook and crumble over medium heat until fully cooked and the juices run clear. Drain any excess grease and put back into the skillet (you can turn off the heat at this point.)
- To the skillet, add 1 Tablespoon minced garlic, 2 teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Stir until combined.
- Add 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese, 15.25 ounce can corn, drained, 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup milk . Stir until combined.
- Transfer the meat mixture to a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Top with the remaining one cup shredded colby jack cheese and then evenly top with frozen crispy crowns (you will use about 54 of the crispy rounds)
- Bake uncovered on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, or until the crispy rounds are golden brown.
- NOTE: If you want to get them extra crispy, you can place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. DO NOT WALK AWAY while anything is under the broiler. Stand by and check constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn because it can burn very fast under the broiler if you aren’t careful.
- Top with 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro or parsley, if using then serve!
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- Crispy rounds are just disc shaped tater tots. I find they cook a lot more evenly and get a bit crispier than the bigger barrel-shaped tater tots but you can use regular tater tots if you can’t find these. The mini tater tots might work best. Different stores might call them different things: Tater Crowns, Tater Round, Crispy Rounds, etc. Just look for the flat, round, dish shaped tater tots.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Can I use regular hash browns?
You mean like the shredded kind? I haven’t tested that out
Looks very interesting but are you talking about crispy rounds like Tostitos ? the picture looks almost like potatoes , ?
I explain what they are in great detail in the recipe card and above in the post and there is also an ingredient photo above in the post. 🙂
Will definitely be making this! We have only ever had success with all your recipes, thank you!!
Hope you love it Cherie! Thanks so much for the sweet comment!