Impossible Cheeseburger Pie Recipe

I was reminiscing about favorite childhood casserole recipes with a friend, laughing about some of the wacky names. I told her about Spinach Fandango and she countered with Impossible Cheeseburger Pie. So good that it's “impossible” it's that easy.

Always a sucker for easy ground beef recipes, I had to try it. It became an instant classic in our house. My two boys race to the table when I make it.

I tweaked the recipe a bit, making my version without Bisquick. All you need is flour, baking powder, butter, eggs, and milk for a quick biscuit mix and bake that in a pie plate with seasoned ground beef, onions, and melty cheddar cheese. Serve it up with ketchup and pickles for cheeseburger taste in an easy-to-make pie format.

The Back Story on Impossible Pie

The "Impossible Pies" were a trend popularized by Bisquick in the 1970s. They were pies that were "impossibly easy" because they don't require a crust to be made. You mix together all the ingredients and bake them in a pie plate and a crust forms during the cooking process.

General Mills, who now owns Bisquick and Betty Crocker, has since changed the name to "Impossibly Easy Pies" to eliminate confusion, but lots of folks still refer to these as Impossible Pies.

What's in this Cheeseburger Pie Recipe?

This recipe contains ground beef, all purpose flour, shredded cheddar cheese, eggs, fresh diced onion, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, baking powder, butter and milk. Easy so far!

I like to select a 90% or leaner ground beef for this recipe. I don't drain off the fat because that means I'd be draining off the extra flavors. Selecting 90% lean or more (this was a 93% lean beef when I shot these photos) is my go-to for casseroles like this.

How to make Impossible Cheeseburger Pie without Bisquick

The original version of this recipe obviously called for Bisquick. But, you know me, I prefer to put in a little bit of effort in the name of better flavor and less processed ingredients.

Bisquick is essentially a simple biscuit mix made into a shelf-stable product. To make my own Bisquick, I combine flour, baking powder and salt. Then I add butter to the dry ingredients and cut it in with a pastry cutter.

When I say "cutting it in" I mean, taking the pastry cutter and busting up the butter until it's in a ton of little gravely pearl-sized pieces. Making the butter small like that helps create a tender but slightly crisped crust.

If you want to skip the pastry cutter and make things even easier, just toss the dry ingredients and butter into your food processor and let it whirl a few times until the butter comes to that same gravely pearl-sized consistency.

Next, I add in the wet ingredients and stir until it's all fully combined. It's okay if it's a little lumpy.

If you're not into the DIY biscuit mix method, just skip the ½ cup of flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder and salt and substitute in ½ cup of Bisquick and follow the rest of the recipe as written.

Add the prepared biscuit mixture to the ground beef in the pie plate and then top it with cheese.

One important note about cheese. I highly recommend grating your own for this situation. You'll get the best melty factor when you grate the cheese at home. The pre-grated / pre-shredded stuff is convenient, but it's treated with potato starch to prevent clumping in the package. That starch messes with the melting and turns what could be a beautiful cheese topping into a less appetizing stringy topping.

What to Serve with Cheeseburger Pie

A non-negotiable condiment for this dish is ketchup. That certainly helps make this recipe a winner with my kids. Pickles are also appropriate to add. I have seen other people top their pie with fresh avocado slices, tomatoes and even bacon. If it works on burgers, it works on this pie.

More Favorite Family Recipes

• Ginger Dressing Recipe
• Spaghetti Pie
• Caesar Salad Recipe

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