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Home » Main Dishes » Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

April 11, 2020 by Joanie Simon Leave a Comment

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie is impossibly easy because it forms its own crust as it bakes! This savory, crustless dinner pie is filled with ground beef, savory onions and an easy homemade version of Bisquick biscuit mix and topped with melty cheddar cheese.

A slice of Impossible Cheeseburger Pie on a plate with a fork and a side of ketchup
An easy weeknight dinner that my kids love

What is an Impossible Pie?

The Impossible Pies were 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.

Betty Crocker has since changed the name to Impossibly Easy Pies to eliminate confusion, but die hards still refer to these as Impossible Pies.

No need to make a pie crust for a pie? Impossible!

The Impossible Cheeseburger Pie cooked and out of the oven with a slice missing and a slice on a plate with ketchup
Impossible Cheeseburger Pie or Pac Man?

What’s in Impossible Cheeseburger Pie?

I like to lay out all of my ingredients before I start cooking. 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!

an overhead view of the ingredients to make Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
Everything you need to make Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

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.

overhead view of a pan of browned ground beef and onions as a part of the recipe process
Cook the meat with the onions until nicely browned

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 1/2 cup of flour and 1 tsp baking powder and salt and substitute in 1/2 cup of Bisquick and follow the rest of the recipe as written.

Mixing together the homemade biscuit mix for Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
It’s easy to make your own biscuit mix

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

Sprinkling fresh grated cheddar cheese onto the Impossible Cheeseburger Pie before its baked
Sprinkle on the 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 Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

A non-negotiable condiment for Impossible Cheeseburger Pie 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.

Remember, it’s Cheeseburger Pie, so what you put on a cheeseburger will work on Impossible Cheeseburger Pie.

A slice of Impossible Cheeseburger Pie on a plate with a fork and a side of ketchup
My kids require ketchup to be served with this family favorite (and I do, too!)
A slice of Impossible Cheeseburger Pie on a plate with a fork and a side of ketchup with other plates in the background
Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

Other Impossible Pies

Many of the Impossible pies are sweet, but this one is savory. Check out these other awesome Impossible Pies.

  • Lemon Impossible Pie
  • Impossible Coconut Pie
  • Cheddar Corn Impossible Pie
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The Impossible Cheeseburger Pie cooked and out of the oven with a slice missing and a slice on a plate with ketchup

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

  • Author: Joanie Simon
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Cook Time: 35
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 8 slices 1x
  • Category: entree
  • Method: baked
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie is impossibly easy because it forms its own crust as it bakes! This savory, crustless dinner pie is filled with ground beef, savory onions and an easy homemade version of Bisquick biscuit mix and topped with melty cheddar cheese.


Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef (90% lean or leaner)
  • 1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
  • 1 tsp garlic salt or Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbs Butter
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 6 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375F
  • Combine 1 lb ground beef, 1/2 diced onion, 1 tsp garlic salt, and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce in a large skillet or saucepan over medium high heat and sauté, breaking up the beef into smaller pieces as it cooks.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally for approximately 8 minutes until the beef is cooked and browned and the onion is softened. Once cooked, set to the side.
  • To make the biscuit mixture, in a mixing bowl, combine the 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt and mix to combine. To the dry ingredients, add 2 Tbs of butter and using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the butter is broken up into small gravely pearl-sized pieces.  
  • Add the 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of milk to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and butter mixture and stir using a fork or a whisk until fully incorporated.  This mixture will be a little lumpy.
  • Put the cooked ground beef mixture into a 9” pie plate and then pour the biscuit mixture over the top of the beef to fill the pie plate.
  • Sprinkle 6oz of shredded cheddar cheese over the top of the pie.  
  • Place the pie in the oven uncovered at 375F and bake for 25 minutes.  The pie should be cooked through and bubbling around the edges.  The cheese will be melted on top and slightly browned.
  • Allow the pie to rest about 5 minutes before slicing.
  • Enjoy hot with your favorite hamburger condiments.

Keywords: cheeseburger pie, impossible pie, beef, ground beef, onions, cheddar, cheese, biscuit, Bisquick

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Filed Under: Beef, Casseroles, Main Dishes

Joanie Simon is a food photographer and stylist and family recipe keeper. In addition to The Dinner Bell, Joanie shares photography education at The Bite Shot on YouTube.

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