22 Healthy Ground Beef Casseroles for a Cozy Dinner

Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole
Photo: Jason Donnelly

These healthy ground beef casseroles have something for everyone, whether you're craving a filling shepherd's pie or a comforting veggie-packed hotdish. There are plenty of healthy ground beef recipes for those who love a spicy kick—like enchiladas and taco shepherd's pie—plus lasagna, ravioli and more. Recipes like our Skillet Beef Potpie with Buttermilk Biscuits and Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole are delicious, filling dinners that will have you scraping your plate.

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Cabbage Roll Casserole

Cabbage Roll Casserole
Brie Passano

This casserole has all the elements of cabbage rolls—ground beef, onion and rice cooked in tomato sauce—and skips the fuss of rolling. The cabbage is chopped instead and layered with the saucy filling, then topped with cheese, for a satisfying and easy casserole. Feel free to substitute other ground meats, such as turkey, for the ground beef—this recipe would also be great with a vegetarian meat substitute.

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Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole

Cheesy Ground Beef & Cauliflower Casserole
Jason Donnelly

Ground beef and cauliflower combine to create a hearty weeknight casserole that both kids and adults will love. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

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Spaghetti Squash Casserole

a casserole in a white skillet

Strands of tender squash replace pasta for a more flavorful version of spaghetti pie casserole. Not to mention, spaghetti squash is a low-carb alternative to pasta and saves more than 150 calories per serving compared to a traditional recipe. A sprinkling of nutty fontina cheese melts into a gooey topping.

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Skillet Beef Potpie with Buttermilk Biscuits

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Using an oven-safe skillet (like cast iron) allows you to take this healthy homemade potpie from stovetop to oven without dirtying extra pans. A quick drop-biscuit topping made with white whole-wheat flour adds 2 grams of fiber per serving and cuts the sodium in half compared to using refrigerated biscuit dough.

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Broccoli, Beef & Tater Tot Hotdish

tater tot hot dish

Hotdish may be a Minnesota tradition but everyone, everywhere, should add this cheesy casserole to their fall dinner rotation.

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Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
Fred Hardy

Fresh herbs, Worcestershire sauce and ground pepper carry the flavor in this quick-cooking shepherd's pie with a sweet potato topping. Ground beef adds a rich, savory flavor, but ground turkey or ground meat substitute would work well too.

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Skillet Ravioli Lasagna

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This easy inside-out ravioli lasagna is the ultimate weeknight comfort food—no layering or mixing bowls required. Feel free to swap in ground turkey for the beef. Look for fresh mozzarella balls (also called "pearls") in the specialty cheese section of your grocery store.

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Shepherd's Pie with Cauliflower Topping

Shepherd's Pie with Cauliflower Topping

In this easy shepherd's pie recipe, we keep the carbs in check by using creamy mashed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes. The ground beef filling is cooked in the same skillet used for baking the pie, making assembly (and cleanup) a breeze.

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Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole

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This veggie-packed beef enchilada casserole is mild, so put out the hot sauce and chopped jalapeños if you're feeding heat-seekers. The quick and easy dinner recipe makes extra cheese sauce—save it to make One-Pot Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower & Brussels Sprouts later in the week or serve it with steamed vegetables, such as broccoli, for an easy side dish.

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Easy Lasagna

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This classic beef lasagna recipe is easy to make and will be ready to eat in just over an hour.

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Tater Tot Casserole with Beef, Corn & Zucchini

Skillet Beef, Corn & Zucchini Tater Tot Casserole
Jason Donnelly

Casseroles can be for summer too! We packed this one with peak-season vegetables—corn, zucchini and tomatoes—then topped it with crispy potato puffs and gooey melted cheese, making it a dinner winner.

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Taco Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

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Revamp traditional shepherd's pie with this Tex-Mex take on the classic comfort food with taco seasoning, black beans and a little jalapeño. The flavor- and veggie-packed filling gets topped with cilantro-lime sweet potatoes for a satisfying and healthy dinner recipe.

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Firehouse Enchiladas

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Our take on this popular Mexican dish certainly does not disappoint. Packed with protein and easy to make, this recipe is the perfect dinner solution.

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Mexican Beef Bake with Cilantro-Lime Cream

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This hearty casserole features ground beef, beans and pasta baked in a flavorful Mexican-inspired sauce and topped with cheese and sour cream. Kids will love it!

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Easy Cauliflower Shepherd's Pie

Easy Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie
Brie Passano

With lots of veggie shortcuts and a cauliflower-mash topping instead of spuds, you can have this comfort-food staple in a fraction of the usual time—and save carbs too! Cook the veggies from frozen; no need to thaw them. Swap ground turkey for the beef if you prefer.

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Cheesy Ground Beef & Broccoli Casserole

cheesy ground beef broccoli casserole
Christine Ma

This cheesy ground beef and broccoli casserole is comfort food the whole family can get behind. It's assembled and baked all in one skillet and finished in 30 minutes, making it the perfect weeknight meal.

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Italian Shepherd's Pie

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The mashed potatoes and cheese topper make this beef, sausage and veggie pie stick-to-the-ribs delicious. Serve it with fresh fruit for dessert, and your meal is complete.

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Cheesy Meatball Casserole

cheesy meatball casserole
Jen Causey

This cheesy meatball casserole is a family favorite, with basil adding flavor to the meatballs and grated onion adding moisture. Melted mozzarella cheese tames the spice, but feel free to cut back or eliminate the crushed red pepper if you prefer a milder dish.

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Broccoli, Beef & Potato Hotdish

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This easy casserole, full of ground beef, roasted broccoli and topped with hash browns, was inspired by the classic Minnesota Tater Tot hotdish. Roasting the broccoli before adding it to the casserole gives the whole dish a much more complex and exciting flavor, but it's by no means necessary.

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Creamy Hamburger Noodle Casserole

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The EatingWell Test Kitchen takes lean ground beef and combines it with whole-grain bulgur, egg noodles and a creamy tomato sauce in a baked casserole topped with Cheddar. With less fat and calories than the original skillet meal, this dish is sure to become a new family favorite.

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Skillet Lasagna

skillet lasagna
William Dickey

This skillet lasagna takes the hard work of layering the noodles, filling and cheese out of the picture and turns lasagna into a super-easy weeknight meal.

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One-Skillet Pastitsio

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Pastitsio is a classic Greek baked pasta dish made with ground beef and bechamel. Our version has all the flavors and the comforting feel of the classic but is made in one skillet (less cleanup!) and is healthier for you, using whole-grain pasta, lean meat and low-fat dairy.

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