Round Steak Casserole

I have been going through my cookbooks lately and have found some...odd, for lack of a better term, sounding recipes. You see, I have a couple of cookbooks that were given to me that are church cookbooks. You know, the ones that a church has all the ladies of the congregation share recipes and then they bind them together and sell them for $10.00 in the vestibule before and after services? Well, I received one from my step-aunts as a wedding present. They live in Iowa and it's from their home church. I also have one from the church I'm a member of in Pekin.

Anyway, some of the recipes in there are sooooo weird. There are some "casseroles" all these ingredients that sound like heart attacks in a 9x13 dish. Buttered white bread on the bottom topped with all kinds of cream of something soup topped with tater tots and mountains of cheese. Gross.

But, I'm trying to keep an open mind. And open arteries. So, I've been perusing through the cookbooks and trying to find recipes that initially sound disgusting, but after looking at the ingredients, might not be too terrible.

Which is where we get today's recipe. Round Steak Casserole. I'm not too much of a casserole person. Casseroles and I have had quite a few battles (where they rarely win), but when I looked at the ingredients and how it was cooked, I decided that this one actually sounded good. Plus, there was no buttered bread as a base.

Okay, let's start with ingredients.

You will need 1.5lbs of round steak (or any sirloin), 3 Tbsp. of butter, 1 medium onion (sliced up), salt and pepper, garlic salt, 2-3 potatoes (sliced), 3 carrots (sliced), and 2 C. of beef broth.

Okay, I need to confess something. I hate cooked carrots. I do. I hate how they taste. I love raw carrots, but once they are cooked, forget about it. Now, my family? They LOVE cooked carrots. Especially Evan. So, for his sake (and because I like him so much), I have left the carrots in the recipe. Otherwise, I'd totally substitute them for something else. Like mushrooms.


Please preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Then you are going to take your butter and start melting it. No, it is not frozen this time, thank you. I learned my lesson from my last recipe I posted.


Please make sure your youngest child is going through your cabinets while you cook and taking out every single trash bag and throwing them all over the kitchen. Thank you.


You are going to take your meat and cut it into 1 inch cubes. Can we please stop for a second and talk about what a beautiful fuchsia color this sirloin is? I bought it at Super Target when they were having this FANTASTIC meat sale. I am in love with it's marble-yness. Sigh.

Throw that meat into the melted butter and stir it around until it browns on both sides. No biggie if it doesn't cook all the way through, because it's going to be spending some time in the oven, so if it's too cooked now, it'll be kind of tough later.


Spoon the meat out with a slotted spoon and put it somewhere else for a minute. Keep that pan hot and leave those meaty juices, because you are now going to take your sliced onions and let them cook in the meaty, butter juice.

Look! Look at all that meat the onions are picking up! They are going to be delicious!!!


Do you have your sliced potatoes? Awesome. You don't have to slice them into circles. You could do wedges. Or squares. Or triangles. I chose circles. I like circles.


Do you have your whiny "I'm so hungry I'm wasting away to nothing" one year old crying next to you while you cook? Good. Is she still in her pajamas because you were too lazy to find her real clothes? Awesome.


What about your sliced carrots? You are doing great!


Now, find a dish to cook them in. I originally was going to use my 9x13, but it was WAY to big. So, I settled for my smaller one. I think it's 9x9. I'm not good with measurements though. Put half of the meat on the bottom.

Now add half of the carrots and onions. Very pretty.

Now add some potatoes. Half please. Now sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. I didn't measure them, I just sprinkled until I thought it looked nice. Repeat the layers one more time. (Meat, carrots,onions, potatoes, spice)


Now it's time for the beef broth. Where did this can come from?! It wasn't in the original picture of the ingredients! Well, I found it in my pantry. I was just going to dissolve beef bouillon cubes in warm water, but now I don't have to! Yeah me!

Pour the broth all over the casserole.

Now put the dish in the oven. You are going to cook it at 300 degrees for two hours. And please don't judge the splatters on my oven. Those onions were going crazy while they were sauteing.

And, presto! It's done! Some of my little potatoes were kind of crisp from sitting on top. So, I stirred it around and let them soak at the bottom for a minute.

I served this with cornbread as a side. Oh, and Evan decided that the juices would make a great gravy-esque sauce, so he decided to thicken them. He took one Tbsp. of cornstarch and mixed it with one Tbsp. of cold water. Then he separated the meat and veggies from the juices, and stirred his cornstarch mixture with the juices. Once it was the thicker consistency he wanted, he put the gravy-esque juices back in with the meat and it was fabulous.

Besides the cooked carrots, it was awesome. Both girls loved it. The meat was very tender. Also, I do believe that next time I will add some button mushrooms to it for added flavor. Plus, I just love me some mushrooms.