Big Mac Casserole

Big Mac Casserole a.k.a. Cheeseburger Casserole is a delicious and easy meal made with lean ground beef, special sauce, cheese, and pickles. I then top the dish with tater tots and more cheese and bake it until the tater tots are all nice and crispy. Add some shredded lettuce on top, more pickles, and Big Mac sauce and enjoy!

Big Mac Casserole Recipe

I love making casseroles because they are so easy. I add a bunch of tasty ingredients to a baking dish and let the flavors meld together. Normally, I make casseroles with rice or pasta, but I remember seeing Molly Yeh make a casserole and she topped it with Tater Tots. She called this dish “Hot Dish” and it is popular in the Midwest. Honestly, it is brilliant. Who doesn’t love crispy tater tots, especially on top of something cheesy?

There are many different types of casseroles to make, but I was inspired to make this Big Mac casserole because I was craving a big burger. Big Macs are a type of cheeseburger made popular by McDonalds. It includes two beef patties, pickles, cheese, lettuce, special sauce, and a sesame seed bun.

For my Big Mac”special sauce” I used a combination of Thousand Island dressing and Wahlburger’s Burger sauce. If you want to make a homemade sauce check out my Cheeseburger Bowl recipe which includes a homemade sauce.

Big Mac Hotdish

Pickles are one of the most important ingredients in this big mac hotdish. I used bread and butter pickles because I love the slightly sweet taste. It is similar to pickle relish but I think it tastes better. I got a jar of “bread and butter” pickles and I just diced up about 1/2 of a cup. I mixed in most of them into the beef after the beef cooked, and I used the rest as a topping.

This hamburger hotdish is also loaded with cheese. I used two types of cheese in the meat. Cheddar is for flavor, and mozzarella is so that it gets extra melty. I recommend using cheddar cheese in a block and then shredding it yourself. I tried this recipe originally using pre shredded cheese and the cheese just did not melt right. It still tastes good, but if you want a good cheese pull, be sure to shred your own cheese. 

I like to use lean ground beef in this recipe. If you use fattier meat, don’t forget to drain the meat. In my opinion, the leaner meat tastes great in this recipe because it ends up getting combined with burger sauce and a lot of cheese. All of the toppings give this dish so many flavors that you do not need to use fatty meat.

When I bake this I always cook this for at least 10 minutes longer than I normally cook tater tots. The steam from the bottom of this casserole add a lot of moisture to the oven so the Tater Tots take longer to cook. You should cook this until the tots are dark golden brown or else the dish may come out too mushy for your liking.

How to make Big Mac Casserole

INGREDIENTS  

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 Yellow Onion diced small
• 2 cloves Garlic finely minced
• 1 lb Lean ground Beef I used 96/4
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup Bread and Butter Pickles diced small
• 1/3 cup Thousand Island Dressing plus a little more to drizzle on top
• 1-2 cups Cheddar Cheese (see note below) or a combination of mozzarella, monterey jack, and cheddar cheese
• 16 oz Frozen Tater Tots
• 2 cups Shredded Lettuce

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat your oven to 400F
• Heat your olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add in your diced onions and cook them for about 10 minutes, stirring them often so that they do not burn. You want them to be golden brown before you add in your meat.
• When the onions are starting to brown, add in your garlic and stir often.
• Once the onion is golden brown, add in your beef, salt, and pepper.
• Once the meat is just about cooked, turn off the heat and add in 1/3 of a cup of thousand island dressing, a 1/3 of a cup of your diced pickles, and half of your cheese. Mix until fully combined.
• Add the meat mixture to the bottom of a 10.5 x 7.5 baking dish. Pat down the meat and then add a light layer of cheese on top followed by your Tater Tots and the rest of your cheese.
• Bake until the Tater Tots are golden brown on top. The Tots take longer to cook than usual because of the steam coming up from the meat. Cook them about ten minutes longer than you normally would but keep your eye on them so that they do not completely burn.
• Remove from the oven and top with shredded lettuce, the rest of the pickles, and more thousand island dressing or burger sauce.

NOTES

I recommend using cheddar cheese in a block and then shredding it yourself. I tried this recipe originally using pre shredded cheese and the cheese just did not melt right. It still tastes good, but if you want a good cheese pull, be sure to shred your own cheese.