Potato and Ground Beef Casserole (with spinach)

This Potato and Ground Beef Casserole (with spinach) really is a complete meal in one dish. With meat (ground beef), potatoes, veggies, and dairy, you will love that you don't have to make anything else for dinner but this! But you will especially love that you don't have to peel your potatoes for this recipe...

“Whaaaat?” you say. Yep, it's true. But we do things the way we do because it's how we've always done them; the way we were taught. For example, I was recently at some friends’ for dinner and they were baking their potatoes in foil, so I asked them why they did it that way. I never bake my potatoes in foil.

🥘 Ingredient Notes

Ground beef and spinach are such a great combo, especially with cottage cheese. I love it in my lasagna so why not in another casserole? But it's really the Swiss cheese that's the crowning glory, elevating this casserole to an entirely new level. Yum! For this hamburger and potato casserole recipe, you'll also need:

• Potatoes. I use red potatoes for this casserole because they keep their shape and texture a little better than russet potatoes. Another reason I like using red potatoes is that you do not need to peel them first and they look nice!
• Butter. I use unsalted butter because I can control the salt in the recipe. The salt content in salted butter varies from brand to brand.
• Extra-lean ground beef. Extra-lean ground beef has a lot less fat and won't make the casserole 'greasy', as regular ground beef would.
• Cottage cheese.
• Swiss cheese. I recommend you use freshly grated Swiss cheese, as pre-shredded can have anti-caking agents
• Spinach. I use frozen spinach because it's economical and convenient.

📖 Variations

• Ground beef - you can use regular or lean ground beef, but drain it well (it will also increase the calorie count and fat content)
• Spinach - you could substitute fresh baby spinach instead of frozen (use a whole 10 oz bag)
• Potatoes - you could use any type of potato for this recipe, but russet potatoes are a good substitute for red potatoes

Why you don't need to peel potatoes

If you are peeling your potatoes, unless you really enjoy extra work, you can stop now. It's the most nutrient-filled part of the potato so why would you want to peel all those nutrients away and add more unnecessary waste to the environment? Potato peels contain more iron than the flesh of the potatoes and they're also a good source of fiber, vitamin B, and vitamin C.

I don't know about you, but I really hate peeling potatoes. Maybe it was the endless buckets I peeled at my grandparent's farm when I was a kid. Or the zillion I peeled that summer I worked at the fly-in fishing camp. But I'm guessing I'm not alone in my loathing of this task.  You can read more about why you don't need to peel your potatoes HERE and  HERE.

🥔Why you don't need to wrap your potatoes in foil

Getting back to wrapping your potatoes in foil... Dr. Potato, from the Idaho Potato Foundation says, "No." Wrapping a potato in foil prior to baking traps the potato’s natural moisture, so you're actually steaming your potato instead of baking it! The result is a soggy baked potato, not the fluffy baker, with the crispy skin, that most of us prefer.

Then there's also the misconception that wrapping potatoes in foil speeds up the baking process; but on the contrary, since the foil itself has to be heated before the potato begins to bake, cooking time actually slightly increases. Not only do you get better baked potatoes when you bake them unwrapped, but you also save money (and the environment.) You should only wrap potatoes in foil AFTER baking and only if you need to keep them warm for a few minutes. You can read more about that HERE.

Now all that potato slicing doesn't seem so bad when you don't have to peel them, does it?  I really love casseroles, but I don't make enough of them, mostly because it's really hard to find a good casserole recipe. But sliced potato casseroles are just so delicious! This ground beef and potato casserole has a similar texture to scalloped potatoes, which I also love. But sometimes you need to switch things up. And this casserole does an amazing job of that!

Storing

This ground beef and potato casserole recipe can be stored for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge and reheated in the microwave or oven.

TO REHEAT:

I love using this casserole reheating technique for any pasta casserole- it prevents the casserole from drying out.

1. Ideally, you want to keep it at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour before you put it in the oven.
2. Then heat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C, tightly seal your casserole dish with aluminum foil (shiny side in) and put it in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until it's warmed through. *you can remove the foil and broil it for the final 2 minutes if you desire.
3. You can use an instant-read thermometer (affiliate link) to make sure it's done (165 degrees F/75 degrees C).

I do NOT recommend freezing it.

❔ Recipe FAQs