It's game day and you need to cook some food, right? Are you making healthy, earthy, organic food on this particular day? No. Pretty sure no one is. It's time for meats and cheeses and junk food. This is the truth. I've never eaten one healthy thing on Super Bowl Sunday. So we're going indulgent with my Super Bowl Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole and you're going to love every meaty, cheesy, bacony bite of this one.
A Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole True to Itself
Burger on the bottom, then cheese, bacon, pickles, tomatoes and bread. Is that not the very definition of a bacon cheeseburger? You are going to love this recipe. Seriously. It covers every craving you're hungry Super Bowl guests will have on game day. It's great for a group of people because it's completely serve yourself. And you can customize the toppings to your liking.
You Can Prep Ahead for this Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole
When I tested this recipe, I didn't chop any toppings so I know this also tastes good on its own. If you don't have the time or extra money, you'll be just fine serving this without toppings. However, when I filmed for this video, I went the extra mile with three chopped toppings: plum tomatoes, pickles, and scallions. To me, it took the recipe to the next level. I also know that game day is a busy day in the kitchen so here are a few things you can do the day before to help make game-day cooking a little easier.
Prep List for the Day Before the Super Bowl:
Our lives are busy and I totally get that you don't have all morning on game day to prep for this. So why not chop a few things the day before? Here are some day-ahead prep suggestions to make things easier:
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- Dice the tomatoes and put in small serving dish.
- Dice the dill pickles and put in small serving dish.
- Chop the scallions and out in small serving dish.
- Cook the bacon, let cool and chop. Refrigerate overnight. Microwave 10-15 seconds before adding to the casserole at the end of the cooking process.
- Shred your cheeses (or just use the already-shredded bagged cheese). I like shredding my own cheese, but this is a personal choice.
- Finely dice the onion and refrigerate overnight. Cook that on game day when you're cooking the beef.
- You could even make the beef mixture the day ahead. Just keep it in a bowl in your fridge. Take out 15 minutes before cooking.
More Super Bowl Recipes You Should Consider
If you are looking for more Super Bowl food ideas, I have an awesome Super Bowl White Queso Dip with Crispy Crumbled Beef which also include a great homemade guacamole recipe. Or you could try my Super Bowl Meatloaf Bites w/Mashed Potatoes & Gravy. Finally, if you want to see a bunch of ideas all at once, you can take a peek at my Super Bowl Sunday Food video which gives you an overview of game-day-friendly ideas to feed a crowd.
Super Bowl Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 portions 1x
Description
Super Bowl Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole is everything you’ll want for your game day entrée. Awesome flavor – total crowd pleaser.
Ingredients
- 7-8 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 cup finely diced onion (approx. 1 medium onion)
- 5 cups French bread cubes (½ of a French baguette)
- 1 cup shredded orange cheddar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (to cook onions)
- Light sprinkling of salt and pepper for onions
For the cheese sauce:
- 1 cup shredded parmesan
- 2 cups shredded white cheddar (sharp)
- 2 egg yolks
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk, warmed in the microwave
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (white or black)
For the beef mixture:
- 3 pounds of ground beef (80/20 or 85/15 blend)
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Optional toppings:
- 3 plum tomatoes, diced
- 2-3 Dill pickles, diced
- 3-4 scallion stalks, chopped
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Instructions
NOTE: There is a full instructional video showing all the step-by-steps for this above.
- It’s best to cook the bacon at the beginning of the process since it doesn’t require much effort and you can get yourself organized while it’s cooking. Set bacon aside on a paper towel lined paper plate for later. You can refrigerate if you like.
- Shred the sharp white cheddar cheese and the parmesan cheese. If you are using bags of already shredded cheese you don’t need to anything.
- Separate two egg yolks by cracking the egg and transferring the egg back and forth between the shells and letting the white part fall away. You’ll need two small ramekins or bowls for this. You can save the egg whites to scramble at breakfast if you like.
- For the cheese sauce: warm the milk in the microwave a minute or two. On low-to-medium heat, melt the butter in a medium-sized pot, then add the flour and mix until well combined. Cook for 4 minutes or so – you’ll want to cook off that raw flour taste. It’s done when it starts to smell nutty. Add the milk to the pot and whisk a minute or two. It will take a few minutes for the milk, flour and butter to heat and start to thicken. Stir a few times while that’s happening. When it starts to barely come to a slight boil add the salt and pepper and stir. Add the cheeses and stir. Turn the heat off and let the cheese melt on its on for a minute. One final stir – now put it on the back burner to cool for 20 minutes before adding the egg yolks.
- Finely dice one medium onion.
- You’ll need half of a French baguette to get 5 cups of bread cubes. Cut the French bread loaf in half. Then cut the half in half. Slice each half in half like you are making a sandwich. Cut the halves into thick strips, then into one-inch cubes. Set aside on a plate or small sheet pan. My video shows this well.
- Put the ground beef in a large mixing bowl and add the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix together with gloved hands until it’s well combined.
- Heat two large pans on your stove top.
- In one pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat and add the diced onions, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes and stir a few times until onions are slightly browned.
- In the other pan add the ground beef on medium heat. You will need to chop the beef with a large wooden spoon or spatula continually while cooking the beef. It needs to be in small pieces – so keep chopping and mixing as it cooks. Should take about 8-10 minutes to cook.
- When the beef is almost done you should carefully drain most of the fat with a large spoon and a bowl. Do this carefully – it is very hot. My video shows this well. Leave a small amount of fat in the pan.
- Add the cooked onions to the beef mixture and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and give it a minute.
- Once your cheese sauce has cooled down a bit – add the two egg yolks and mix until well combined. Egg yolks are not only a good binder, they will add a richness and creaminess to the sauce that takes it to the next level.
- Time to assemble the casserole: Add the cooked ground beef to a 9x13 baking dish and spread out evenly. Pour the cheese sauce over the top of the beef, and be sure to scrape the pot to get it all. Spread out the sauce evenly over the top of the beef using a spatula. Take the French bread cubes and place them, crust side facing up, on top of the cheese sauce. Depending on the size of your bread cubes should be approximately 8 cubes going across the long way of the pan and 5 or 6 going down short side. My video shows this well.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
- While it’s cooking, chop the bacon into small pieces. We don’t want it too tiny like bacon bits. Chop into pieces to scatter on top of the casserole.
- Shred the orange cheddar. You can used the bagged stuff too if you’d like.
- You can do what you want for toppings or do nothing. It’s up to you. Tomatoes, pickles and scallions work really well here. I chopped all three to spoon on top of the casserole. People can serve themselves. See above blog post for a list of prep you can do a day ahead so less work on game day. 🙂
- At the 30-minute mark, take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle the orange cheddar on top of the casserole. Try to put it in between the bread cubes (don’t cover the bread, it’s a nice presentation). Same with the bacon, add to the top of the casserole in between the bread cubes. If you refrigerated the bacon, then chopped it – I would microwave it for 5-10 seconds, then sprinkle on top of casserole.
- Put back in the oven for a couple of minutes just to melt the cheese. Remove from oven. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.
- If using, serve the diced tomatoes, pickles and chopped scallions on the side and let people serve themselves. Enjoy!
Ben
Even watching this make me so hungry, that look so yummy
Stacey
Thank you!! 🙂