Lovin' to Cook: Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

As a kid, growing up, I always wondered why it was called Impossible Cheeseburger Pie.  Was it impossible to make?  No, that couldn't be the case because my mom made it all the time.  Was it impossible to eat?  No, that couldn't be it either because it was quite tasty and I didn't really make a mess or anything when I ate it.

It wasn't until I was desperate for a meal idea one day and was searching for ideas that I realized the real name of one of my favorite dishes as a kid: Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie.  Now that’s more like it!  Impossibly easy!  That’s exactly what I needed after a hectic day of work and limited time to prepare dinner.

The real recipe can be found on the Betty Crocker website but if you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to find it, here’s the recipe that I use along with some of my embellishments and tips.

R ecipe	Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup) ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)		½ cup Bisquick mix 1 cup milk 2 eggs
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown ground beef and onions.  Drain grease and stir in salt.  Spread mixture in a lightly greased 9-inch glass pie plate and sprinkle with cheese. In a small bowl, stir the remaining ingredients (I use a small whisk) until blended.  Pour the mixture into the pie plate – it will seep all through the ground beef mixture. Bake 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Don’t have an onion?  Don’t fret!  I totally forgot to buy an onion one time and made this dish without it.  It still was tasty.  Another time when I once again forgot the onion I sprinkled in some minced onion from my spice rack and it gave it a nice flavor.

Don’t be afraid to add spices to the meat and onion mixture.  My husband likes food packed with a punch so a lot of times I’ll throw in a pinch of crushed red peppers, some garlic salt or other spices I have on hand.  He never knows what to expect!

I once made this with bacon added into the ground beef/onion mixture.  I cooked the bacon separately, let the grease drip off and then crumbled it into the ground beef after I’d put it in the dish but before I add the cheese and Bisquick mixture.

Don’t be afraid to make this one your own.  Be adventurous.  I've learned that the best way to learn how to cook is to take the recipes that are easy and familiar and just start embellishing.