bacon and dates in a straightforward chicken salad. Very best I’ve ever tasted! placed on slider buns or crackers, they make excellent appetizers.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 5 |
| Yield: | 5 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion, sliced into thin rings
- 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
- 3 large potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 20 saltine crackers, crushed
- 1 pinch paprika, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet over medium heat. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, poultry seasoning, and thyme. Cook, stirring to crumble, until evenly browned. Drain, and transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish, or large casserole dish.
- Arrange 2 layers of sliced potato over the ground beef, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Melt butter in the skillet over medium heat, and saute the onions and mushrooms until tender. Spread over the top of the potatoes.
- Stir just enough water into the soup to make it pourable, and spoon over the top of the casserole, making sure to spread out evenly. Scatter the cracker crumbs over the top, and sprinkle with paprika. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake for about 1 hour in the preheated oven, until the potatoes are soft. Remove the aluminum foil, and return to the oven to brown the top, about 10 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 500 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 56 g |
| Cholesterol | 72 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 631 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 21 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It was really tasty but I left out the poultry seasoning and used savory & oregano. I love cumin & doubled the amount. I saw where another reader used cream of mushroom soup, so I used that also. I didn’t have fresh mushrooms so I used a 4.5oz jar of mushrooms, 2 large russets sliced thin on the mandolin and a light layer of Mexican cheese over the potatoes. Yummy!
This recipe was delicious! I didn’t have cream of chicken soup, so used cream of celery, and didn’t have poultry seasoning, so used Italian seasoning. It was so good, my husband had 4 helpings!!
I may not have used the exact same ingredients but that was in your opening statement. You said to use what I have on hand. Excellent idea. I used seasonings my family is used to. Thank you for the basic recipe.
I tried this empty wallet casserole but without the hamburger. I now have renamed it “Unemployed Casserole”, it goes well with a 12 pack to drown your sorrows in.
Love this recipe! Great for leftovers and lunch for the week!
The prep was also quite easy…now that I know what I am doing I could make this at the drop of a hat. I have to tweak it a bit, but my family totally enjoyed it. My granddaughter who tends to be a picky eater ate two helpings.
Didn’t particularly care for the Cream of Chicken soup with ground beef. If I make it again, I’ll use Campbell’s Beefy Mushroom soup instead.
Came out well
Use Cream of Mushroom instead of Chicken
Loved this dish. I followed the recipe and it turned out perfectly. Such a surprise how well the spices mix. So tasty!
I was struggling to figure out something different to cook using ground beef because I don’t usually cook with it. This meal was quick and easy. I altered the recipe as such: same seasonings as above but added lemon pepper and onion powder to meat 1st layer- potatoes thinly sliced 2nd layer- ground beef 3rd layer- mixed veggies and cream of celery mix (seasoned with lemon pepper and onion powder) 4th layer- french fried onions then repeat steps 1-4, baked for 45 mins-1 hr and my son said it is delicious!!! Thanks for the idea.
I gave it 2 stars only because it did give me some ideas. I made it the first time as listed and it was voted my entire family as strange and not good and please never make this again. My sons, said yuck.
Really liked this recipe! Made it exactly as written and it was delicious!
I’d have to tweak a little more My husband said it was ok. Don’t know if I’d make again
I wanted to try this mainly because the name gave me a chuckle for today. It was hard to rate mainly because the submitter said to use whatever is on hand, thus it changes the results each time; but I think it is a good “basic” to build on. I did not use cumin or mushrooms; added a small red bell pepper sliced thin, some leftover carrots, and a small bit of chopped celery that I needed to use up. Topped with panko instead of the crackers. This turned out very tasty and there is some leftover for lunch. Will keep this one handy for those “empty wallet” days and look forward to adding other leftovers. Thanks for sharing, JESLYNN.
I didn’t use the mushrooms since my husband doesn’t like. Also didn’t cook the onions before baking. The poultry seasoning was a bit much & too overpowering. The paprika I would have left off also. Not bad, but not a definite keeper.
this was simple and good! it was a great change to all of the holiday food we’ve been eating!
After tasting it in my head, I didn’t like the idea of cumin, poultry seasoning and thyme. So I used cumin, chili powder and oregano. I also added a layer of grated cheddar cheese between and on top of the layers of potatoes. To keep with the southwest flavors I seemed to be building, I added a can of diced green chiles to the cream of chicken soup. This was a great budget meal and we liked it quite a bit. Thanks Jeslynn!
I love this as a “base recipe” – if you use your imagination, and whatever happens to be in the cupboard, the possibilities are endless. I added a serrano pepper (seeds and all) to the sauteeing onions, along with garlic and more spices. I only used 1 can of soup but next time I’ll use 2. My family loved it and there was just a small bit leftover (and it made an excellent breakfast!). Also, be sure to spice up your ground beef as you brown it.
Yum! This was delicious…easy to make, not very expensive since you probably have most of the ingredients on hand, and lots of flavor! I love the crunchy cracker top mixed with the potatoes and everything else! Great recipe!
Tasty and fairly easy. Also as easy on the budget as it says. Made as written. Adding other veggies would be good but be sure to adjust the liquid up a little for fresh veggies.