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Some Old-Fashioned Dishes Are Worth Bringing Back

A cheesy, creamy ground-beef skillet casserole straight off an old recipe card — five pantry ingredients and one cast-iron pan.

By Hana MoriSeptember 9, 20267 min readComfort Food Jump to recipe ↓
Some Old-Fashioned Dishes Are Worth Bringing Back

Some old-fashioned dishes are worth bringing back. This beef casserole comes from a recipe card with just five lines on it — ground beef, cream of mushroom, sour cream, cheese and salt — and it still disappears from the table faster than anything else we make.

The original recipe card

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 tsp salt

We've kept the card's spirit and added a few small upgrades: onion and garlic for depth, a splash of Worcestershire, and egg noodles stirred through so it's a full meal in one pan.

Cast iron makes it better

Browning the beef and baking in the same cast-iron skillet gives you crispy, caramelised cheese edges — the best part.

Easy swaps

Use ground turkey instead of beef, cream of chicken instead of mushroom, or swap the noodles for cooked rice or a layer of mashed potatoes. Serve with a simple green salad to balance the richness.

Make ahead

Assemble up to the cheese topping, cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Add 10 minutes to the baking time when cooking from cold.

The recipe

Old-Fashioned Cheesy Beef Skillet Casserole

Prep15 min
Cook35 min
Serves6
LevelEasy

Ingredients

Tap to tick off as you go.

  • 450 g (1 lb) ground beef
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can (300 g) condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 240 ml (1 cup) sour cream
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
  • 225 g egg noodles, cooked and drained
  • 120 g (1 cup) shredded cheddar, plus 60 g extra for the top
  • Chopped parsley, to finish

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
  2. In a 30 cm cast-iron skillet, brown the beef with the onion over medium-high heat for 7–8 minutes. Add garlic for the last minute and drain excess fat.
  3. Stir in the soup, sour cream, Worcestershire, salt and pepper until creamy.
  4. Fold in the cooked noodles and 1 cup of cheese.
  5. Smooth the top, scatter with the remaining cheese and bake 20–25 minutes until bubbling and golden at the edges.
  6. Rest 5 minutes, sprinkle with parsley and serve straight from the skillet.