This high protein creamy ground beef noodle casserole is rich, cozy, and packed with flavor, but gets a boost from cottage cheese that makes it extra satisfying without feeling heavy.
A nostalgic, family-friendly ground beef noodle casserole that uses cottage cheese to make a genuinely high-protein dinner—without tasting like “health food.” Each serving has 18g of protein!
It’s like a homemade version of Hamburger Helper—cheap, familiar, kid-friendly and comforting, but this one is secretly high protein which makes it more healthy!
Love easy ground beef dinners? Try our Korean Ground Beef Noodles or Korean Beef Cottage Cheese Protein Bowl next.
My mom was in the depths of motherhood—five kids, a husband traveling a lot for work, and dinner was starting to feel like a burden. Then my grandma called and said, “I have this casserole recipe for you. It’s super easy and cheap to make!”
My mom needed both, and this casserole has been in our family ever since.
Over the years, we’ve figured out how to make it even better: cottage cheese makes the filling extra creamy while adding protein, without making this taste remotely like “health food.”
Recipe The Secret to Why our Ground Beef Casserole is an Internet Sensation
Cottage cheese is the secret to making this classic casserole higher in protein and creamy! I hate the dry, flavorless egg noodle casserole recipes online. They are bland and a total waste of money. But adding cottage cheese in just the right proportion to the ground beef takes it from bland to grand! Not to mention, the added protein keeps you fuller longer and is a healthier option than sour cream or those weird mayo versions.
Why You’ll Love This Creamy Beef Noodle Casserole
- Extra creamy: Cottage cheese creates a rich, creamy filling without canned soup.
- Protein-packed: Ground beef, cottage cheese and shredded cheese make it especially satisfying.
- Family-friendly: Familiar noodles, seasoned beef and melted cheese make this an easy one for kids.
- Budget-friendly: It’s made with simple, inexpensive grocery-store ingredients.
- Great for busy nights: Prep is
This viral beef broth bowl is loaded with crispy caramelized ground beef, fluffy rice and a creamy coconut curry broth with gochujang, ginger and lime. It’s an easy dinner packed with sweet, savory and spicy flavor, plus cool cucumber and fresh cilantro to balance all that richness.
I kept seeing broth bowls everywhere and finally had to know if they were actually worth the hype. Spoiler: they absolutely are! The crispy beef soaking up that creamy broth is what got me.
QUICK LOOK
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: About 15 minutes
- Servings: 4
- Difficulty: Easy
- Budget Friendly: Yes! Ground beef, rice and pantry staples keep this pretty affordable.
- Perfect For: Quick weeknight dinners, meal prep or trying the latest viral recipe!
Why You’ll Love This Beef Broth Bowl
- What It Is: Crispy ground beef + rice + creamy coconut curry broth
- Flavor: Savory, slightly sweet, creamy and a little spicy
- Why It’s Different: Gochujang gives the broth extra savory depth and heat
- Best Part: Those caramelized crispy bits of beef soaking up the broth
- Finish With: Cucumber, cilantro, sesame oil and plenty of fresh lime
What Is a Beef Broth Bowl?
A beef broth bowl is somewhere between a rice bowl and soup. Fluffy rice and seasoned beef are added to a bowl with fresh toppings, then hot flavorful broth is ladled around everything.
The version that’s gone viral adds another level with crispy ground beef and a creamy coconut curry broth. Every spoonful gets a little rice, caramelized beef and broth—and suddenly it makes perfect sense why everyone is making them!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Crispy Beef
- Canola Oil: Helps the beef get a good sear without burning.
- Ground Beef: Ground chuck works too. You want enough fat for flavor and caramelization without making the broth greasy.
- Fresh Ginger + Garlic: Fresh aromatics add loads of flavor to the beef.
- Cornstarch: Helps the sauce thicken and cling to the beef.
- Soy Sauce: The salty, savory base of the beef sauce.
- Beef Broth: Adds moisture and deeper beef flavor.
- Brown
These slow cooker pork chops might win the award for ugliest dinner on Oh Sweet Basil 😂, but they’re also ridiculously easy, inexpensive and surprisingly delicious! Boneless pork chops soak in a simple buttermilk marinade, then cook low and slow until fall-apart tender.
With just 3 ingredients and minutes of hands-on prep, this is exactly the kind of dinner you need on a busy night.
And I’m telling you—don’t judge this one by its looks. Pile that tender pork over creamy mashed potatoes and you’ll understand why we keep making it!
no canned soup + no searing + inexpensive + practically zero prep
Quick Look
- Why You’ll Love It: Fall-apart tender pork with almost no work
- Ingredients: Just 3
- Prep: About 5 minutes + marinating
- Cook Time: 6-7 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH
- Best For: Busy weeknights and inexpensive family dinners
- Serve It With: Mashed potatoes + gravy
Why You’ll Love These Slow Cooker Pork Chops
- Only 3 ingredients: Pork chops, buttermilk and seasoning. That’s it!
- Ridiculously easy: No browning, no chopping and almost no hands-on prep.
- Fall-apart tender: The pork cooks until it’s tender enough to shred with a fork.
- Budget-friendly: Simple ingredients turn inexpensive pork chops into a filling family dinner.
- Perfect with mashed potatoes: Add our easy gravy and you’ve got serious comfort food with hardly any work.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You only need 3 ingredients for this recipe! Here’s a quick overview; measurements are in the recipe card below.
- Boneless Center Cut Pork Loin Chops: Lean, affordable and easy to shred once they’re slow cooked until tender.
- Buttermilk: Our secret ingredient! It marinates the pork before cooking and adds a subtle tangy flavor.
- Kinder’s Buttery Steakhouse Seasoning: An easy shortcut that adds all the savory flavor without measuring a bunch of individual spices.
Can I Use a Different Seasoning?
We love Kinder’s Buttery Steakhouse Seasoning because it
These beef broth bowls are loaded with crispy Korean ground beef, fluffy rice and fresh cucumber surrounded by a creamy coconut broth. Ready in about 30 minutes, they’re an easy way to turn ground beef into a seriously flavor-packed dinner without spending hours making broth.
And yes, we finally jumped on the viral broth bowl trend!
But you know we couldn’t just make the same beef broth bowl everyone else is making. We took the sweet and savory flavors from our ridiculously popular Korean Ground Beef and gave them the broth bowl treatment.
The crispy caramelized beef with that creamy, spicy coconut broth? GOOD. GRIEF.
QUICK LOOK
- Time: About 30 minutes
- Protein: Ground beef
- Broth: Creamy coconut gochujang
- Base: Steamed rice
- Flavor: Sweet, savory, creamy and slightly spicy
Why You’ll Love These Beef Broth Bowls
- Crispy, caramelized beef: Letting the ground beef sit against the hot skillet before breaking it apart creates those deeply browned crispy bits that make these bowls so good.
- That broth! Coconut milk, gochujang, ginger, garlic and lime create a broth that’s creamy, savory and just spicy enough.
- Fresh + rich: Cool cucumber, cilantro and lime balance the rich coconut broth and beef.
- One skillet: The broth is made right in the skillet after the beef so all those browned bits become part of the flavor.
- Our Korean beef twist: We borrowed the sweet and savory flavors from one of our most popular ground beef recipes and turned it into something completely new.
What Is a Beef Broth Bowl?
A beef broth bowl is basically the delicious middle ground between a rice bowl and soup.
Rice, seasoned beef and vegetables are arranged in a bowl, then hot flavorful broth is ladled around everything rather than completely covering it.
You still get all the different textures—the fluffy rice, crispy beef and crunchy cucumber—but you can get a little of that incredible broth in every bite.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Korean Ground Beef
- Canola Oil: Helps the beef get a good sear without burning.
-
My go-to recipe for Chicken Enchilada Soup is everything I want in a weeknight dinner—easy, hearty, and packed with flavor. Made with shredded chicken, black beans, corn, enchilada sauce, and warm Mexican spices, it has all the delicious flavors of chicken enchiladas in a comforting bowl of soup.
I love using rotisserie chicken to make this recipe even faster. With simple pantry ingredients and just 30 minutes from start to finish, it’s the kind of comforting meal the whole family gets excited about.
My picky 10-year-old is about ready to do me in with the whining and complaining every time he asks, “What’s for dinner?” Thankfully, this Chicken Enchilada Soup is on his very short list of dinners he can eat without complaining, so we make it often. Not only for our sanity, but because it’s so dang delicious!
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Enchilada Soup
- All the enchilada flavor, none of the rolling: You get that bold red enchilada flavor in an easy, hearty bowl of soup.
- Ready in 30 minutes: Rotisserie chicken and pantry staples make this a seriously fast dinner.
- A broth with BIG flavor: Sautéing and blending the vegetables with enchilada sauce creates a smooth, rich soup base that tastes like it simmered much longer.
- Picky-eater approved: This is one of the few dinners my pickiest kid happily eats without complaining!
- One pot, easy cleanup: Everything comes together right on the stovetop for a low-fuss weeknight meal.
- Made for toppings: Load each bowl with cheese, avocado, sour cream, tortilla strips, cilantro, jalapeños, or a squeeze of fresh lime.
- Great for leftovers: The flavors get even better as the soup sits, and leftovers freeze beautifully for another easy dinner.
Ingredients You’ll Need
One of the best things about this chicken enchilada soup recipe is that it’s made with simple pantry staples and easy-to-find ingredients. Together they create a hearty soup loaded with bold enchilada flavor.
- Olive Oil: Used to sauté the vegetables and build flavor at the start of the soup.
- Onion: Adds savory depth and creates the flavor foundation for the broth.
- Celery Stalks: Provides subtle flavor and extra texture.
- Carrot: Adds natural sweetness and balances the spices.
- Red Bell Pepper: Adds color, sweetness, and a mild pepper flavor.
- Garlic: Brings bold, savory flavor to every spoonful.
- Red Enchilada Sauce: The star ingredient that gives the soup its classic enchilada flavor.
- C