This Philly Cheese Steak Casserole is such an easy delicious dinner! Full of the Philly Cheese Steak flavor you love, but baked up in a delicious noodle casserole!
This super simple casserole recipe started off as a riff on some delicious Philly Cheese Steak pizza I ate at Chuck E. Cheese’s during my kid’s birthday party.
Yup. For real.
Since then it has become a crazy viral recipe.
This really simple casserole that can be done in 40 minutes has been viewed millions of times and has so many five star reviews.
“This has become a standard in our household. It’s our go-to when we want to cook for friends or family and everyone always loves it!” – John
Philly Cheese Steak Casserole Ingredients
This easy dinner is made with simple ingredients, which is one of the reasons it is so loved.
- Pasta
- Beef Stock
- Butter
- Garlic
- Ground Beef
- Cream Cheese
- Onion
- Green Pepper
- Mozzarella
- Provolone
How to Make Philly Cheese Steak Casserole
- Cook the noodles: To deepen the flavor in this recipe, we are cooking the noodles in beef stock. Be sure to reserve a cup of that starchy cooking stock before draining the noodles.
- Cook the ground beef: In an oven proof skillet, cook the ground beef.
- Sauté the vegetables: Add the onion and bell pepper to the ground beef and sauté to soften.
- Drain the excess grease: Very carefully, drain the excess grease from your skillet. I like to do this using the lid of skillet, and putting it just slightly ajar and tipping the skillet over my sink into a jar. The lid keeps the contents in the skillet, but that little crack lets out the grease.
- Add cream cheese and noodles: Stir in some cream cheese, the cooked noodles, and the reserved cooking liquid.
- Top with cheese and bake: Add a little bit of provolone to the top of your skillet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Why Reserve Pasta Water
Reserving pasta water is a great trick in cooking. Right before you drain the noodles you dip a glass measuring cup into the liquid and pull out 1/2 cup or more. The water (or in this case the water and beef stock mix) is full of starchiness from the noodles.
When you add starchy pasta water to a casserole like this, it helps pull the entire dish together in the most amazing way. I like using this trick in my Broccoli Pasta too.
Why Use Beef Stock
The beef stock is one of my favorite parts about this recipe. Cooking the noodles in the stock is a great way to deepen the flavor. With so few ingredients, this is an important one.
If you aren’t used to cooking your noodles in stock, I highly recommend it. It is something I do in a few recipes, like this Chicken Noodle Casserole, and it is a game changer.
PRO TIP: If you are budget conscious, buy stock base. It is a powder you buy near the stock, and mixing it with boiling water gives you stock. It is not the same caliber as actual stock, but it will definitely get the job done.
Storing Leftovers
Left overs can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
I would not recommend freezing this recipe. Since it is such a quick stove top recipe, I think it is worth it to just make it from scratch.
Other Great Recipes
If you are looking for more easy dinners, you have come to the right place, friends!
Other big hits are:
- Beef and Broccoli Only 25 minutes on the stove top!
- Chicken Spaghetti My kids LOVE this easy recipe.
- Turkey Meatloaf Easy to make, and the best tasting meatloaf ever.
If you make this recipe or any of my others, please come back and let me know what you think! I love hearing from you!
Philly Cheese Steak Casserole
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound small shells
- 32 ounces beef stock + 32 ounces water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 6 slices provolone cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the beef stock with 32 ounces of water and cook the shells in it according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water.
- In an oven proof skillet (see note for alternative), melt the butter, cook the garlic clove for thirty seconds, then add the bell pepper and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the ground beef, season with salt and pepper, and cook through. Drain the grease, then return to heat and stir in the cream cheese until melted.
- Stir in the reserved cooking liquid from the noodles, the noodles, and the shredded mozzarella.
- Top with sliced provolone. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the provolone is completely melted.
Notes
Cheryl Newton says
Hello, Lisa! This looks like another winner. Simple, plenty of cheese and bell pepper. So, totally counts as a vegetable serving. But, 1 question: Is there perhaps a step missing between 4 & 5? The recipe jumps from cooking the ground beef to placing the provolone slices on top of the casserole before it goes in the oven. Thanks!
Gah! Thank you Cheryl! What would I do without readers like you looking out for my hot mess self??
Cheryl Newton says
Thanks for clearing that up so quickly, Lisa!
Mary says
I made this my family loved it it’s a winner the only thing I did different was I added mushrooms
I’m so happy you guys liked it!
Lorraine Booker says
I added mushrooms also, I thought it was a brilliant idea….. Plus extra vegs for the kidos????????????
So happy you liked it!
Cathy in WV says
After adding fresh mushrooms, which I love, I would suggest maybe not using as much (if any) of the reserved liquid. It’s a great recipe and I’ll definitely be making it again. Thank you for! ????
So glad you liked it Cathy!
Kalyn says
Do you drain the grease from the meat?
I did not.
Smash Ogre says
I made this last night and I highly recommend draining the beef if you’re using anything less than ground sirloin. mine was cheesy good but greasy.
Chuck Peters says
I like it greasy not overly greasy but greasy, to each his own.
Mona says
I do drain grease. Actually I soak it up with paper towel.
Denise says
Read #5 again
Lana says
What size small shells, are they salad shells or the ones that are smaller than salad shells.
Thank you.
They are the medium ones. Not the tiny ones and not the ones that you use to make stuffed shells. But truly, other types of pasta like elbow noodles would work great in this.
Patsy says
Absolutely delicious!!! Will make again!!!Thnx for sharing!!!! ❤️ 🤗
So glad you liked it Patsy!
Angela says
Ok so I am from the south explaining why I added cream of mushroom soup and a can of water which broth would have been better. My family loved it and I am baking it again right now. Thanks for this amazing recipe.
Pam Oladko says
Delicious and truly simply to make.
So glad you liked it, Pam!
Karen Rice says
Thanks Cheryl. I had the same confusion.
Tammy S Redding says
Is the cream cheese added to the cooked meat, vegetables, drained noodles, and shredded mozzarella cheese? Then place sliced provolone cheese on top and bake 20 to 25 minutes until melted.
Oh boy. I haven’t had this many recipe mistakes in a long time. It’s fixed now!
Mercedes Olsen says
Hello, Lisa! I’m curious, is there a percentage of fat we should look for in the ground beef? Have you tried this recipe with thinly sliced beef, like what’s used in a cheesesteak? I wonder if that would require a particular cut of beef and how it may change the prep and cooking time.
I haven’t tried this recipe with thinly sliced beef, but I did in this Philly Cheesesteak Mac N Cheese, so you could kind of merge the two recipes!
Sunaina says
hello Lisa…. your philly cheese steak casserole looks so delicious and sounds so ymmm, i can’t wait make it and taste it.. thanks for sharing this post, am also read your posts and recipe but this is one of my favorite recipe…!
Sandy@RE says
So easy for casual entertaining! Love this recipe!
alyssa brantley says
What a fun twist! :)
Julianne Bayer says
Growing up I ALWAYS wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese, the closest one was an hour away. Finally as a 31 year old I got to go for the first time when I made a cake for my friend’s son’s 6th birthday. I was in charge of her 3 year old that day and I think I had more fun than he did!
Tanya Schroeder says
Wow! This is a winner for sure! And I had no idea Chuck E Cheese redid their menu!
Karen Howard says
Thanks for this recipe! I am going to try it with broken up Steakums & Potato cubes instead.