John Wayne Casserole Recipe {Video}

John Wayne Casserole is an easy ground beef casserole that is filled with flavor! It has a biscuit base and is loaded with diced tomatoes, onions, cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning, and more cheese! This is one of our favorite easy ground beef casseroles to make for dinner.

John Wayne Casserole

This is truly one of our favorite ground beef comfort food dinners. When I have hamburger ground beef in the fridge that I need to use this is the recipe I work on. I love that you can customize it based on what you have in the house.

This casserole is similar to a beef fajita but in casserole form. I change up what I put in this casserole based on what we have available. This is one of those beef casserole dishes you can easily change based on what you and your family enjoys.

I love that it has a Bisquick baking mix base that turns out amazing. It is amazing all of the things you can make with Bisquick Mix. We have been making Bisquick Waffles, Bisquick Peach Cobbler, Pancake Muffins, and Bisquick beer bread just to name a few things.

We started buying giant boxes of Bisquick from Costco we have been using it so much. It is so versatile and always tastes amazing.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef
• Taco Seasoning
• Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
• Corn
• Bisquick Biscuit Mix
• Sour Cream
• Cream Cheese
• Cheddar Cheese
• Mayo
• Green Bell Peppers or red bell pepper

Ground Beef - You can easily change this from ground beef to ground turkey, ground chicken, or a meat alternative like Beyond Beef.

Taco Seasoning - I use 1 regular taco seasoning mix from the grocery store.

Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies - I used a mild version of Rotel but you can easily use spicy or other versions.

Bisquick Baking Mix - You can easily use gluten-free Bisquick if you are gluten intolerant.

Cheddar cheese - feel free to change out the cheddar cheese for Colby jack, mozzarella, pepper jack cheese or any mix of cheeses.

Onions - I didn't add onions into the recipe because I ran out. You can easily add in a cup of diced onions and cook the onions with the ground beef so they are soft.

We do not have potatoes, tater tots, or tomato slices in our John Wayne Casserole Recipe. I am not sure if the original John Wayne Casserole Recipe had these variations.

Equipment needed

Large Skillet

Large Spoon

Large Mixing Bowl - We are big fans of this glass batter bowl that has a handle. It makes it easy to mix ingredients and keeps the mixing bowl steady on the counter.

Hamburger Chopper - I love to use the hamburger mix and chop to break up ground beef while it is cooking. I honestly use this tool with a ton of recipes. It is one of my most used kitchen tools.

9 X 13 inch baking dish

Heat resistant potholders - A couple of years ago we had a fire scare when we didn't realize we had turned a burner on and a cloth potholder caught fire. Thankfully we walked by the kitchen and saw the smoke and were able to get it out ourselves. Since then we have only used these heat-resistant potholders.

Non-stick cooking spray - I use nonstick spray on the casserole dish to make it easier to serve and also on my hands when I am pushing the Bisquick dough into the casserole dish.

Spider Strainer - I love using a spider strainer to easily drain the ground beef

Baking Sheets - We are huge fans of these baking sheets with sides. They help contain any of the sour cream mixture that may ooze over the top of the dish as it cooks and the biscuit crust cooks.

Recipe Tips

Don't forget to pre-heat oven.

You can add in extra green chilies if you would like this dish to be spicier. I serve it to my husband's mom and know that I will get a ton of side-eye if I make it too spicy.

Feel free to add in diced red peppers

If you don't have biscuit mix you can easily make this with Pillsbury Grands biscuits spread on the bottom of the baking dish.  Just make sure to push them together so they fill the pan. You will want to bake them for half their normal baking time to get them set in the bottom of the casserole dish before adding in the beef mixture.

I highly suggest putting a baking sheet under your casserole dish in the oven. When the Bisquick dough bakes it pushes the other ingredients higher and higher in the dish and some of the toppings and/or casserole juices may spill over the side.

This recipe is featured in our cream cheese recipes collection

How to make John Wayne Casserole

Brown the beef and add taco seasoning and water. I use a Hamburger Chopper to break up the ground beef and mix in the packet taco seasoning.

Use a spider strainer to remove the ground beef from the pan and drain the fat and grease out before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Add in Rotel, canned corn, and cook together

While this is cooking combine Bisquick biscuit mix and water in a mixing bowl until a soft dough ball forms. Pat dough into the bottom of a greased casserole dish.

Top biscuit dough with the browned ground beef and veggies and spread it evenly over the dough.

In a separate bowl combine sour cream and mayonnaise together until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture over the brown ground beef

Top with cheddar cheese and bake! I highly suggest putting a baking sheet under the casserole dish to catch any drips or spills that may occur when this is baking. I fill my casserole dish to the top and it tends to drop over the side.

One thing to take into consideration is when the Bisquick dough bakes the other layers of ingredients inch up the sides of the casserole dish.

Allow the John Wayne Casserole to sit for a few minutes before serving.

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Chicken Casserole with Ritz Crackers

Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread

Stovetop Meatloaf

Lazy Lasagna

Spaghetti Stuffed Garlic Bread

Check out all of our Rotel Recipes and Bisquick Recipes 

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