Okay, this recipe is for you, all you Mad Men fans out there…the show is FINALLY coming back and we need to be ready! This was an era where the men wore skinny ties and fitted suits and Brylcream in their hair, and the women wore pencil skirts and sheath dresses and pillbox hats. There was lots of smoking and martinis and “Sugar Shack” by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs was the #1 Billboard song. And much as I watch that show and absolutely covet the gloves and the poufy skirts, the reality is that during the actual Mad Men era I looked like this.
Yep, there I am in my sheath dress and my black oxford shoes. At least I HAD shoes, which is more than I can say for my brother. At least we are rocking extremely cool matching outfits. And we are totally color coordinated with the sofa, so there’s that.
At any rate, since I completely missed the entire gorgeous Mad Men grown-up clothing era, I am consoling myself with this vintage 1960′s era casserole. Beef stroganoff…but in casserole form, and tasting every single bit as scrumptious as its more elegant traditional version, and a snap to make on a night where you might be wanting something quick and easy because you have to be ready to watch Mad Men. (I’m a little excited that it’s coming back, since it’s been off the air for about 100 years at this point.)
Okay, so here’s what you need: some ground beef, a chopped onion, some cottage cheese and cream cheese, some tomato sauce, and of course egg noodles…the nice wide kind please. I like the version with a little curl to them. The cottage and cream cheese is going to give the casserole that nice little tang that the regular version usually gets from sour cream, along with a gorgeous creamy sauce. The beef gets browned with the onion, and then you mix in the tomato sauce and the cheeses until it is creamy and wonderful. Stir in the noodles and the pour the whole thing into a casserole dish. Sprinkle it with some shredded cheddar (gotta give a shout-out to my favorite Cabot cheddar here!) and pop it in the oven.
About thirty minutes later you will have a cheesy stroganoff casserole that has a hint of tomato, a creamy little tang to it, and tummies will be growling all over your house. I don’t know how they ate this sort of thing back in the 60′s and still fit into their sheath dresses, but I’ve got me some Spanx, so I figure I am good to go. Welcome back, Mad Men!
Ingredients
Directions
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Mad Men really does make that era look so damn debonair! However, back then these casseroles were probably made with cream of something disgustingness. Let’s NOT bring that back.
Totally agree on the cream of….yikers!
Hi Kate, Im new here and i must say…i LOVE what im seeing and reading. You got me at bacon on your right bar of the page.
Hi Sharon and welcome – I’m always happy to meet a fellow bacon fan!!
Stroganoff casserole looks yummy.
Noticed you have garlic as an ingredient but not placed in directions but I’m assuming that you put the chopped garlic in with the onion and ground chuck and saute all together.
ColleenB.
Yeesh! Yes I did and I will fix…thank goodness for eagle-eyed readers.
After reading your food blog and marveling at your talents for over a year, I FINALLY made something! The beef stroganoff casserole was delicious. Looking forward to poking around and seeing what I’ll attempt next.
Hurray!! Looking forward to hearing what you make next.
Now don’t be hatin’ on the Cream of…It has its place. Can’t beat Cream of Mushroom Soup in a Tuna Casserole — throw in grated extra sharp cheddar (go Cabot!), a little garlic, a little sherry, some capers, some olives, top with grated Parm, and even the I hate tuna casserole crowd loves it. I know. Put the gorgeous golden crispy topped casserole on the table only to have one of the guests announce that he hates the stuff. Just taste it, I said. He did. “Hey, this rocks!” As a fellow add a little of this and a litttle of that cook, you know this is true.
I love casseroles with those wide egg noodles anyway, and I love Stroganoff, so this is a good one.
That is true – I have a chicken tortilla soup recipe that does feature cream of chicken soup, so it has its place! (And that tuna casserole sounds like a classic!)
This looks good. I think I’d find a way to sneak in some mushrooms, sour cream & a dash of good ol’ Worcestershire Sauce. BTW, I agree w/ ruthie… cream of … has its place in an occasional recipe. I miss the small-town potlucks where nothing was healthy but everything was good.
Let me know how it comes out if you change it up a little!
Hi, Kate:
I made your Beef Stroganoff Casserole last night – for family plus one unexpected guest. It was a hit. I added a small can of sliced mushrooms – I usually use fresh but didn’t have any. It worked out well. Everything I’ve made from your blog has turned out great, Kate!
I’m so glad! This stroganoff is one of my faves (maybe even more than the traditional kind!)
p.s.: I’d love to win the cookbook!
made this for dinner tonight and loved it. 3 kids loved it. red seal chef hubby loved it. then we all agreed we love Kate! thanks for saving dinner! keep up the great work! it’s most appreciated!
I’m so glad! Love that you loved it, and that you told me so!
I made this on Monday for dinner- it was delicious! I changed it a bit and added more garlic (bc we love garlic at our house!), sautéed mushrooms and added more tomato sauce and cottage cheese bc it just didn’t look saucy enough! Oh, and I may have added an extra handful or two of the Cabot cheddar (love that stuff!). Great for dinner with a fresh green salad and better for lunch the next day!
Those all sound like fabulous additions…and hurray for leftovers!
Throw in that garlic Kate!
I’m assuming you’ll be throwing it in towards the back half of the ground beef/onion saute time. LOVE the cottage cheese idea. Great protein addition!
Yes, if you are adding garlic that’s exactly where it should go!
This was a huge hit with my family. I used ground turkey instead of beef and I forgot the garlic so I just added a little garlic salt and it was perfect! Even my super picky 3 year old son ate it with no arguing!
So glad I found this… I will put in my ‘must make again’ file!
I’m so glad! And I’m a great fan of improvisational cooking – your changes sound like they worked out wonderfully (I know three year olds are the toughest audience!)
Hi Kate! This sounds yummy! Found it on Pinterest. Think I’ll make it tonight but my BF doesn’t like cottage cheese. Could I sub in sour cream? If so, would it be the same amount as cottage cheese that you have listed?
Thanks! (I’ve never made beef stroganoff before).
Hi Whitney, and sorry for taking so long to respond – your comment got caught in cyber-space! I think you probably made this long ago but just in case…you could try sour cream, but sometimes it breaks down in high heat so I can’t totally vouch for it. If cottage cheese is definitely out of the running, a better bet might be creme fraiche, which tends to hold up better. If you do try it, let me know how it comes out?
I found your recipe and blog on Pinterest. I tried this tonight and it was a hit with me and my wife! Super-easy to make. I doubled the recipe as we normally eat larger portions and like to have leftovers.
Hi Ryan – glad you made it over here from Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest!) So glad you liked this one, and I’m totally with you on the leftovers…Ieftovers-for-lunch is one of my faves.
im gunna try this tonight my family dont do cottage cheese so were gunna try it wit ricotta cheese an toss in some mushrooms they all said its sounds so good ill let u know how it turns out
Great – hope they loved it!
Can you say DELICIOUS? This has a permanent place in my recipe file and is a family favorite here. It is really so delicious, a classic American-style comfort dish, perfect for cold weather dinners. I grew up eating casseroles and I’m glad to be able to re-create that casual homey-style of retro cooking using real-food ingredients. y spouse will not eat anything involving a can of soup or processed cheese, and after years of eating organic “whole foods”-type meals, my palate has changed so that I’m almost as bad as him (almost…I’ll still attack some Ro-Tel dip like nobody’s business), so I was thrilled to stumble on this recipe. I never write in or make comments or reviews on anything, but I just wanted to say thank you! I also love the rest of your site (especially the pan-roasted artichokes,…yum).
P.S. my friend Melissa says her mom used to make a similar casserole when she was young & called it “Johnny Marzetti”.
Well, I’m so glad you left this comment – I loved reading all this! And Johnny Marzetti? Love it.