Cheeseburger Lasagna Rolls

Everyone has to play ‘Pantry Roulette’ with dinner every now and then. Whether it’s a budget thing, an expiration date thing, or a grocery shopping thing. This recipe was born from the last.

We needed something for dinner, but I would not be able to go grocery shopping for a few more days. I didn’t want to just serve grilled cheese sandwiches – I wanted something with at least some semblance of vegetables! So I put my thinking cap on to see what I could come up with.

The only green thing I had in the fridge was pickles. I know pickles don’t really count as a vegetable, but I decided to roll with it (no pun intended!). I also had half a block of cream cheese I needed to use up. And then I remembered that in the pantry I had a few lasagna noodles left. Hmm…

I wrote ‘cheeseburger lasagna rolls’ on our dinner menu for Saturday night. My husband came up to me & asked, “Are those 3 separate things?” Very funny, babe.

Even though we ended up getting a free meal from my parents on the night in question (gracias Mami y Papi!), I left ‘cheeseburger lasagna rolls’ on the menu to make another night.

I briefly searched for similar recipes, but I was not satisfied with any of them. None of them that I saw suggested cream cheese, & almost all of them had ketchup. No thanks. I decided that I would just try to use my previous white lasagna making knowledge & just give it a go.

When I smelled the delicious filling, I knew I had a winner.

This recipe is relatively simple. I browned the ground beef with my favorite burger seasoning & then drained it. Pro tip: I never pay more for lean ground beef. I just make sure to drain it! Yes, I yield a little less than the poundage you bought from the fat being rendered out & discarded. But I don’t end up paying a premium for ground top cuts. Recently, Aldi had 73/27 on sale for less than $2/lb. Can you say score???

Once the beef is browned & drained, I added diced onions & pickles, cream cheese, and mustard. This is the filling. At this point it totally smells like a burger. The cream cheese in place of ricotta helps that. I rolled it up in the cooked lasagna noodles (I had exactly 4 left!) & laid them in a loaf pan. The loaf pan is perfect for this amount. If you double the recipe, an 8×8 or 9×9 should work well. If you make a dozen, then a traditional lasagna pan it is!

I topped the rolls with mayo & shredded cheddar cheese. My husband has totally opened my eyes to mayo on burgers & I can never look back. But if that’s not your thing, I think that whatever your usual burger sauce is will work. Even ketchup. The point is to both add to the burger feeling & also prevent the noodles from drying out.

I think next time I will experiment with adding other burger toppings. Bacon, anyone?

Skeptical hubby ended up loving these! According to him they taste just like a McDonald’s cheeseburger. He said, “These are really good, thanks! You can quote me in your post if you want.”