This is definitely not the first casserole we’ve made that involves ground beef, but it is the one that’s most reminiscent of an actual hamburger… or cheeseburger, in this case. It might not have the bun, but it has all of the best things about a delicious juicy cheeseburger, right up to the side of potatoes. This Cheeseburger Casserole is super family-friendly, both in the fact that your kids will gobble it up and that it’s quick and easy to put together, even when you’re at your busiest.

This idea comes from a chef named Tim Clowers and I thought the format was so genius that 12 Tomatoes had to try it out for ourselves. It starts with two baked potatoes. You can cook these in the oven or in the microwave, whatever you prefer, but once they’re tender and cool enough to handle, you’ll slice them into rounds and line them up in the bottom of a baking dish.

From there, you’ll work on the beef mixture. After browning up some ground beef in a pan (and seasoning it with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt and pepper), you’ll go on to sauté some onions and bell pepper until they’re just tender. That’s the heart of this casserole but it’s not all that it has going on. While the original recipe uses cream of mushroom soup to tie everything together, we’ve used cheddar soup instead. It still unifies those meat and veggies but it does it with a lot more cheesy flavor.

The cheesiness, of course, does not end there. (This is a casserole after all.) There’s a generous blanket of cheddar to top it all off so that when you pull this out of the oven, you get a hot and melty mixture of beef, cheddar, and potato in every bite.