If You Have Potatoes And Ground Beef, You're Halfway To A Hearty Comfort Meal

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A delicious, filling meal doesn't have to have 30 different ingredients. As a matter of fact, sometimes the simplest dishes are the most satisfying, like transformed instant ramen, chicken and rice, or a crispy grilled cheese. What's even more rewarding about a simple meal is that it's typically easy to keep the ingredients on hand for those nights when you have no idea what to make for dinner. These meals also tend to be hearty crowd-pleasers, as well as economical. If you happen to have some potatoes and ground beef, you have about half the ingredients needed for a filling casserole. The other ingredients are condensed cream soup (mushroom is a popular choice), a bit of milk to thin it out, and a heap of cheese.

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Easy 5 Ingredient Meat and Potato Casserole #drewcooks #easyrecipe #meatandpotatoes #casserole

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As basic as this dish is to make, the potatoes must be sliced as close to the same size as possible so they cook evenly (no one wants a bite of raw potato). You might want to whip out your mandoline if your knife skills aren't up to the task. No mandoline? Consider this mid-priced model from OXO.

A casserole this basic obviously leaves the door open for tons of customizations to suit your own taste buds (and those of your family's). For example, you might not have potatoes, but frozen hash browns (both the cubed and shredded varieties) are easy to keep on hand and can certainly work as the base of this dish (though you'll want to thaw them first).

For the protein element, use whatever ground meat you have on hand, like turkey or even chicken. To elevate this cozy casserole, you might also try Italian sausage, mild or hot. The TikTok video uses cream of mushroom soup, but that can be an acquired taste, so feel free to use cream of chicken or another condensed soup, like Campbell's Cheddar Cheese or Garlic Parmesan with Herbs. The cheese is also swappable, and we can't really think of any kind that wouldn't taste good with this dish.

Finally, add-ins. No one is going to stop you if you want to saute some onions and garlic with your ground meat or sprinkle on some fresh herbs, like parsley or green onion, at the end. Up the nutritional value with more vegetables, like green beans, and play around with seasonings, like paprika, chili powder, or Italian seasoning.