Pantry Sausage Bake Casserole

When you’re too busy/lazy to go grocery shopping early in the weekend and you start running out of prepared food, it is an interesting game to see what you can make out of pantry and freezer items. Earlier I had made a Taco Bake Casserole with the last pound of ground beef I found in the freezer (happy it thaws pretty quickly in a bowl of hot water). The recipe called for half a box of elbow noodles, but I was making it from memory and just made the whole box, then realized I had way too much and divided it. So when food got gobbled up again before the shopping trip took place, I was left with another meal to make but no thawed meat to use.

We have a bajillion pounds of hog sausage (well not that much but hubby had a very successful hog hunting trip earlier this season) so we thawed a pack of that (again, thankfully it thaws quickly in a pan of hot water). Hubby grilled the sausage, but you can boil it too. Then I adapted the Taco Bake and added some more pantry goodies to make a new casserole, that I am naming the Pantry Sausage Bake Casserole.

I chopped up the cooked sausage into bite-size pieces and added it to the extra elbow noodles I had cooked the previous day in a large bowl. Then I dumped a can of tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, a can of corn, and a can of black beans.  And mixed. And enjoyed how yummy it all looked together.  Then I poured the mixture into a casserole dish, sprinkled with cheese, and baked for 20 minutes at 425 degrees F.

Pretty easy peasy as the longest step is really getting the meat cooked. We used the sausage since we were out of ground beef, and even though this would be much faster with ground beef, I think it tastes much more fun with the sausage.

Verdict? I think it is a winner.

So here’s the recipe in a more organized format should you wish to make it as well.

Ingredients for Pantry Sausage Bake Casserole:

• 1 pound of sausage (or ground beef), thawed
• Half a box of elbow noodles.
• Can of tomatoes
• Can of tomato sauce
• Can of corn (drained)
• Can of black beans
• Shredded cheese

Directions for Pantry Sausage Bake Casserole:

1. Cook your meat. You can boil the sausage, or grill it, until it reaches the appropriate temperature level according to your meat thermometer. Slice the sausage into bite-size pieces. (If using ground beef, just brown it in a pan and add some taco seasoning.)
2. Boil water, then add the elbow noodles and boil for 7 minutes. Drain.
3. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked meat, elbow noodles, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, canned corn, canned black beans. Mix well.
5. Pour into casserole dish and sprinkle with cheese.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. Then enjoy.