Daily Favorites: Cheeseburger Casserole

 

I was really pleased with this one. 

After my success with the bunless, broiled chili cheese dogs, I started thinking how I would do a cheeseburger version. 

Instead of making a beef patty, I went the crumbled route so that I could stretch it out with veggies. Onions and peppers seemed like the way to go, as they are my answer to every question. Could have gone bell pepper, but I went for the poblano instead. 

I wanted to create a cheeseburger flavor so I seasoned as if I was doing a burger, adding smoked paprika for some grill-like smokiness, and added worcestershire, bbq sauce, and mustard until it tasted like a burger. From there it gets topped with cheese and broiled, before being served with sour cream and pickles. 

Ingredients
93% lean beef, onion, charred poblano

Seasoning
salt, pepper, smoked paprika, burger seasoning

Sauce
worcestershire, bbq sauce, mustard

Topping
cheddar cheese broiled, served with sour cream and pickles

- - -

This was a large portion of meat, roughly half a pound, but it was 93% lean, so I'm estimating 350 calories there. Because of the sauce, it tasted very juicy, a good way of getting around the classic 80% lean guideline for juicy burgers.

The cheese adds 150. 

Between the poblano, sour cream and sauce, that all adds about 100. So we're right at 600 for this. Very tasting and more satisfying to eat, than just a small burger on bun that I can finish in 5 bites. 

- - -

So obviously, we're saving cals by cutting out the bun. But I didn't want to fall into a trap of the fatty salad (where because you have lettuce you think it's okay to load it up with bacon, cheese, croutons and high-cal dressing). So I specifically didn't make this in a casserole dish where you feel like you have to cover it in cheese from end to end. Didn't add bacon or cream cheese or any binders like egg or flour or anything that would add unnecessary calories. If you search cheeseburger casserole, you'll find a ton of recipes that have pasta or eggs or all kinds of stuff, which defeats the whole point of taking out the bun to save the calories. 

In the plate above, I actually put down a layer of sour cream underneath the meat that pretty much got absorbed into the meat by the time it came out of the broiler. I ended up adding more sour cream as a topping after the broiler which was good. Just that bit of acid and creaminess helps, as do the pickles.

Pretty pleased to be making complete dishes from concept to plate, thinking through the vegetables that will work, the seasoning and sauce from scratch, adding elements of contrasting textures, as well as salt, fat, acid, heat. All the while, it's healthy enough for every day, tasty, and quick enough to make on a lunch break.