Monday Meals: Manly Casserole

When you think casseroles you probably think church potlucks, family reunions, and manliness. Yes, you read that correctly: manliness. The Cool Dads Cook Crew firmly believe we can make anything manly, or at least we think we can.

Every Tuesday night the Arkansas Test Kitchen goes to their church small group where everyone brings a dish to pass (yes, like a church pot luck). There was Mexican Chicken Casserole, Cheese Broccoli Casserole, and then there was the Manly Casserole.

Manly Casserole

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
8 servings of instant mashed potatoes, prepared
A-1 steak sauce (optional)
steak seasoning (optional)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
bread crumbs (optional)

1. Prepare mashed potatoes according to package directions
2. Heat oil in skillet and saute onion until soft
3. Add ground beef to onion mixture, season with steak seasoning of your choice and brown.
6. Once the ground beef is browned, drain off the grease.
7. Place 1/3 of the mashed potatoes on the bottom of a greased 9"x13" casserole dish

8. Top the mashed potatoes with grated cheese
9. Top the grated cheese with 1/2 of the ground beef mixture
10. Top the beef layer with another 1/3 of the mashed potatoes

11. Top potato layer with crumbled bacon
12. Top bacon with the second half of the ground beef
13. Top ground beef layer with the remaining mashed potatoes
14. Top with bread crumbs

15. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until warmed through.

We hope we've changed your perception of casseroles after this extremely manly dish. Warning: may inspire you to tackle other manly feats; exercise caution when eating this casserole.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew