Category Archives: Food

Pregnant Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse is our tradition around here for New Year’s. The only issue for New Year’s 2019 was that I had just found out about baby #2’s existence & my mousse recipe has raw eggs. This does not bother me one bit on a ‘normal’ day, but I do eat more carefully for my little ones. Inspired by my last pregnancy when I made pregnant tiramisu, I knew I could find a way to make this dessert pregnant-friendly, too. Turns out it was pretty easy!

The basic ingredients for my mousse are chocolate, butter, and a basic (French) meringue – just egg whites & sugar whipped together. Thanks to the Great British Bake Off, I have learned there are actually 3 types of meringues: French, Swiss, and Italian. French meringue is the only one where if you don’t bake it the eggs stay raw. Therefore I figured if I used one of the other types of meringue to make my mousse, the results should be similar to the original recipe while being pregnancy safe. I was right!

I chose to use an Italian meringue to make my New Year’s treat. The results were pretty close to my original! The consistency and flavor are about the same – maybe a touch sweeter. I enjoyed it so much that I made it again when my cousin & her family came to visit us for a few days in the spring. It’s one of her favorite desserts.

This was my first experience with Italian meringue. I was initially concerned that I didn’t do it properly because there was a good bit of sugar crusted in the sauce pan, but the meringue did fluff up nicely and was plenty sweet enough. I should probably invest in a candy thermometer instead of using my all purpose food thermometer. I should also mention that’s the only thing about Italian meringue – you really do need a thermometer to tell you when the sugar mixture is at the correct temperature. I haven’t played with it enough to know of any ‘hacks’ that will let you know when it’s ready without one. To be honest, getting burned is one of my biggest fears so I don’t think I’ll be playing around too much with molten sugar!

I am really happy with how this recipe turned out, and will consider making this one when I make mousse to share from now on!

Baby #2 is just a few weeks away from coming out! Cupcake is so looking forward to finally holding her baby brother.

Pregnant Chocolate Mousse

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (one bag)
1/2 lb butter (one stick)

Combine sugar and water in a sauce pan. Heat over high heat until sugar syrup reaches 240°F on an instant read or candy thermometer. Brush down sides of sauce pan as necessary with a pastry brush dipped in water to minimize crusting.
Combine egg whites and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Set mixer to medium speed and mix until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.
Slowly drizzle hot sugar syrup into mixer bowl while it’s running. Increase speed to high and whip until meringue forms stiff peaks. Add vanilla while mixer is whipping.
Melt chocolate chips & butter in a hot water bath.
Gently fold melted chocolate mixture into meringue until smooth & uniform in color. Let it set in the fridge overnight either in individual servings or one large container. Serve on its own, or with fresh fruit.

Homemade Big Mac Copycat Sauce

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The other day, I was going to make my hubby’s famous salad for dinner when I realized that I did not have any 1,000 island dressing. It had been quite a while since we had fresh salad in this house, to be honest. Baby boy really hasn’t wanted many fresh veggies.

Baby boy Blueberry due in September!

I knew that 1,000 island dressing is basically what we Hispanics call ‘mayokechu’ (mayonnaise + ketchup) plus some other seasonings, so I looked up a homemade recipe. The only thing is that I didn’t exactly have all the ingredients on hand for this recipe, either. So I improvised. I made a dressing & it came out delicious and tasting familiar – and not just because I was going for 1,000 island. When my husband tried it, he pinpointed why.

He said, “this tastes just like Big Mac sauce.”

Aha, yes! Big Macs are something Blueberry definitely does enjoy, so I’ve had more than a couple this pregnancy. The dressing tasted great in the salad, but once we made that Big Mac connection, I knew burgers for dinner were definitely in our near future.

Sure enough, a few days later we put the leftover dressing/sauce on some homemade Big Macs.

I didn’t seek out trying to make a Big Mac copycat sauce, so I don’t know if my recipe is similar to any others out there. I do know that whenever I’ve feeling like adding something more ‘special’ to burgers at home, I will be making this now! And I know it would taste great on cheeseburger lasagna rolls, too!

Homemade Big Mac Copycat Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp ketchup
1 sandwich slice of pickle, or 1 pickle spear, or about 5-6 pickle chips finely diced
1 tablespoon finely diced onion (I use red onion just like the original recipe, but use whatever you have!)
1 small garlic clove minced or pressed.
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste (a pinch or more)

Dice/mince ingredients if necessary.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Stir & taste for salt.
Use it as a burger sauce, salad dressing, or more!

My Favorite Hispanic Recipes

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Hola amigos! Today marks the end of Hispanic Heritage Month. I hope you’ve had a good one!

Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite Hispanic influenced recipes NOT from this blog. Some are traditional recipes & some are more like Tex-Mex or fusion like.

Food brings people together & introducing people to new flavors is a great way to introduce them to new cultures.

¡Buen provecho!

Mexican Corn Dip from Well Plated – It’s like elote, but in dip form & not too heavy because of a few sneaky swaps! I made it for my mother in law, who loves all things corn, for her birthday & the whole family loved it.
Black Bean Avocado Salad from Nancy C. – I make this often! Y’all know how I feel about tomatoes & this salsa-like salad checks all of the flavor boxes WITHOUT any tomatoes!
Vaca Frita from Fabulous Fare Sisters – Vaca Frita is my favorite thing to order at Cuban restaurants, but you can totally make it at home! I’m making this tonight with some white rice & maduros.
White Chicken Enchiladas from Joyful Momma’s Kitchen – Green chile & I are BFFs. This recipe, while not super authentically Mexican, delivers on the green chile front! This is one of the first foods I cooked for my husband while we were dating <3. It’s still a favorite!
Churro Truffles from Pizzazzerie – For when you want that churro flavor without the choux pastry & deep frying.
Merenguitos (Cuban meringue cookies) from Three Guys From Miami – This blog includes 2 authentic Cuban merenguitos recipes. Personally I only ever use the first one – sugar & NO cream of tartar. I love merenguitos that are super crunchy on the outside but still just the tiniest bit chewy on the inside. Yummmm!

What are your favorites from around the internet?

Roasted Red Pepper Pico De Gallo

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Confession time: I love pico de gallo.

If you know me, that might come as a surprise, seeing as how I HATE tomatoes.

Ok, wait, double confession time: I love the taste of pico de gallo, but I avoid eating the chunks for tomato reasons. It’s one of those times in my life that I really wish I liked tomatoes, because that limey cilantroy oniony juice is just wonderful. I usually dunk my chips in it like you’d dunk biscotti in coffee, or pour some of the juice on fajitas & tacos.

Obviously since the main ingredient is tomato I’ve never made my own pico before. If only there was something I could substitute for tomato while still capturing the essence of pico de gallo…

I don’t even remember how, but I got the idea to try pico with red peppers instead of tomatoes. Guys, it came out AWESOME. It even LOOKS like pico de gallo.

Roasted red peppers have their own distinct taste, so this doesn’t taste quite like traditional pico de gallo (which means rooster’s beak just FYI – no one knows why we call it that). You can definitely taste the peppers, but you also get that limey cilantroy oniony flavor I was searching for. The roasted red peppers are soft & liquidy enough to be the perfect replacement to the offensive tomatoes.

By the way, I roasted the red peppers in the crock pot! I got the method from COOKtheSTORY. The skin comes right off. For tricky spots I just hold the skin down on the cutting board with one hand & use the other hand to slide my thumb up the skin, separating the fleshy pepper. I’m sure jarred roasted peppers would work just as well for this recipe if making your own isn’t your thing!

I put a whole jalapeño in this, but it wasn’t spicy like at all. The heat in a pepper mostly comes from the pith/ribs, so thoroughly removing these parts drastically cuts the heat while still giving you the yummy flavor. If you like it hot, feel free to keep it all in or add some more!

I can tell you from experience that this stuff is awesome on tacos and chips. What else would you put it on?

Roasted Red Pepper Pico De Gallo

5 roasted & peeled red peppers, diced
1/2 red onion, minced
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeño, minced (seeded & ribs removed for less heat)
1/2 lime for juice
1 clove of garlic, pressed or minced
1 tsp Cuban seasoning (or just some cumin, garlic powder, & black pepper)
salt to taste

Add all ingredients to a bowl & stir to thoroughly combine.
Refrigerate for 3 hours. Stir again & taste for salt. Add more if necessary.
Serve & enjoy!

Cuban Seasoning Mix

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We all have those smells that take us back to our childhood homes. Sometimes it’s something like perfume or something in nature like trees or flowers. A lot of the time I believe it’s food. This seasoning smells like home to me.

For me, Cuban seasoning should be heavy on two spices: garlic & cumin. Cumin, comino en Español, was brought to Cuba by the Spanish. It is native to the Middle East. In researching, I learned that cumin is mentioned in the Bible! (See Isaiah 28:25-27)

I rarely ever measure out spices when I’m in the kitchen & usually just sprinkle away at my heart’s content. However, I am a big fan of these “all in one” type seasoning mixes. I make my own chili powder with this recipe I found on Pinterest! Since I appreciate that recipe so much, I sat down & developed my own Cuban mix to share during Hispanic Heritage Month.

This is different from the Sazón packets you see in stores. Those are fantastic! They typically have achiote/annato for coloring & contain cilantro. This is not a copy-cat of that, but can be used pretty much the same way.

I’m using about 2 tbsp of this stuff on some chicken thighs for dinner tonight. You can use it on any protein, or even meatless dishes!

Cuban Seasoning Mix

Makes about 8 tbsp

2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika

Mix all spices thoroughly in a bowl. Store seasoning mix in a dry place.

For scaling up/down: 1 tbsp = 3 tsp, 4 tbsp = 1/4 cup

Pastelitos De Guayaba

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In South Florida pretty much all of the grocery stores with a bakery have an assortment of Hispanic pastries/baked goods. Empanadas, arepas, and of course, pastelitos.

Pastelitos are Cuban pastries with various fillings. They can be sweet or savory. Today I’m sharing with you the king of all sweet pastelitos – pastelito de guayaba.

This pastelito is filled with guava paste, which is a very sweet, very thick guava reduction. It is absolutely one of my favorite things. I’ve briefly shared about it before in a couple of recipes.

In this recipe, guava paste is the star. Pastelitos de guayaba (the Spanish word for guava, as you may have guessed) come in two forms – con queso y sin queso. The combination of guava paste & cheese is truly wonderful. Any cheese will do, but for pastelitos it’s cream cheese. The two flavors melt and marry beautifully in the puff pastry. If cheese isn’t your thing, that’s OK. Just stick with the guava.

Thanks to the wonder that is frozen puff pastry, this recipe is ridiculously simple. I don’t make it often because it’s kind of a calorie bomb, but it’s worth every single one.

To make a dozen pastelitos, cut the guava paste brick into 12 slices. I usually cut in into quarters & then each quarter into 3 pieces. Then lay the guava slices on to the puff pastry sheet, using the folds as natural dividers. For this batch I put cream cheese on half of them.

Top with the other sheet of puff pastry, cut into 12 squares that each contain a guava slice, & score the top. Then brush with an egg wash to get that nice golden color.

These pastries are so flaky and delicious. Cuban people would call this breakfast, but this makes a great dessert, too. Basically good for any occasion, any time of day! Pastelitos are delicious warm or cold, but you definitely want them to cool for a few minutes after coming out of the oven. Hot guava = lava. Hey, that rhymes! These can be a little messy between the flaky crust and warm, gooey guava. You’ll definitely be licking your fingers!

Now that I don’t live in South Florida anymore I might be making these more often. If your local grocery store bakery doesn’t offer pastelitos, now you know how to make your own!

¡Buen provecho!

Pastelitos De Guayaba

Makes 1 dozen pastries

1 package frozen puff pastry
1 brick of guava paste (approx. 14 oz)
cream cheese (optional)
1 egg for wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. You want it thawed enough to unfold without cracking, but not soft.
Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Cut guava paste into 12 slices. Place 4 slices per pastry sheet fold to get your 12 servings. If adding cream cheese, place 1 tbsp (or slice of the same length as guava slice) on top of guava.
Unfold the second puff pastry sheet and place it over the one with the guava paste. Cut into 12 squares and score the tops of each.
Brush egg wash on each square. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Can be enjoyed warm or cold.

Nutritional info (with cream cheese): 307 cal, 44 g carbs, 13.5g fat, 4 g protein

Classic Cuban Flan

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Deciding what recipe to share with you this week for Hispanic Heritage Month inspired me to make something that I have not made in ages: flan.

What is flan? Flan is a delicious cooked custard. There really is nothing like it in my opinion. It can be very hard to describe. When done correctly, the texture is light and dense at the same time while being totally smooth; truly one of a kind. The caramel on top is just as important as the custard. Flan can be many different flavors. This here is the OG flan.

Every Latin country has their own flan recipe. Actually, it probably even varies family to family! This is my family’s recipe.

I made my family’s classic Cuban flan the old fashioned way – in the pressure cooker.

classic Cuban flan pressure cooker flanera Mrs. Dessert Monster

Hisssssssss

We’ve never made it any other way. There are other recipes out there for making it in the oven. This recipe is staying true to my roots & embracing the scary pressure cooker. There really isn’t anything to be scared of. I bought this one like 10 years ago & it has a sensor that WILL NOT allow you to open it if it’s still pressurized. It’s pretty fail safe. The hissing sound it makes really takes me back to my childhood. I introduced Cupcake to that sound today – she wasn’t a huge fan. Yet.

You CAN make this recipe using an InstaPot, or so I have read. I have zero experience using one, so I’m not sure what the conversion would be. It took me many years to embrace the CrockPot, so I think it’ll be another while before I can embrace the InstaPot.

The other item you need to make this recipe the traditional way is a flanera.

I just bought this one off Amazon (not affiliate link, just sharing!). It’s actually a little sad I didn’t already have one, but I really haven’t made flan in ages! Siglos, as my mom said. The locking lid prevents water from getting in to it. Again, there are other recipes that omit this equipment, even using a pressure cooker or InstaPot. For me, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I’m not messing with success & proven results!

This recipe and this cooking method is a part of my heritage. Sure, there are other times I totally embrace different ways of making classic recipes. Or even just outright buy my favorite Cuban foods. No one I know makes their own croquetas anymore, thanks to Goya. But this flan is special. And special equipment aside, it’s pretty simple to make.

Back when I did make this flan more often, I quickly jotted down my mom’s recipe one day. You can totally tell English is my heart language, even though Spanish was my first language. Since it’s been a while I called her to clarify & wrote down the instructions more clearly for all of us.

Classic Cuban Flan

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
~1 cup milk
5 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar

Pour sweetened condensed milk into a large mixing bowl. Take the now empty can of sweetened condensed milk & fill it with milk (it’s approximately 1 cup, but doing it this way ensures you have equal parts by volume milk & sweetened condensed milk).
Add eggs & vanilla to bowl. Mix thoroughly using electric mixer or by hand with a whisk. Set aside.
To make caramel, pour 1 cup of sugar into medium saucepan. Melt until a light golden liquid caramel forms. Carefully pour caramel into flanera, using oven mitts to turn the flanera to cover the sides with caramel.
Strain the egg custard mix into the flanera with caramel. Close the latches.
Place flanera into pressure cooker. Fill with water until just below lid of flanera (this was less than 2 cups for me, just to give you an idea). Do not fill too high. Close pressure cooker properly. TIP FROM MY MAMI: when using an electric stove top, you may want to use a metal or foil ring to prevent flanera from being in direct contact with the heating element. I have a gas stove so I did not do this step.
Turn the stove on medium heat. When the pressure cooker begins to hiss, cook for 30 more minutes, then turn off heat. Allow pressure cooker to fully depressurize before opening. I usually leave it for about an hour. Take flanera out & put into fridge for 1-4 hours.
When ready to serve, open flanera. Take your serving dish, invert it over flanera & flip flan out. You want a serving dish with some sort of edge so you don’t lose all that precious caramel! Cut into slices & spoon residual caramel over top.

Nutritional info, based on 12 servings: 200 calories, 32 g sugar, 5.8 g protein, 5.1 g fat

Vegan Mini Carrot Muffins

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Whole wheat? No refined sugar? Vegan?!?

Don’t worry, I’m not going all ‘crunchy’ on you. I’m just a mama trying to get her toddler to eat veggies.

I think I fed Cupcake too many carrots when she was a baby, because one day around 11 months old she just started rejecting them. She loves peas, but hates carrots. Go figure.

I, on the other hand, love carrots. So I started looking for a way I could get Cupcake to eat them that wasn’t straight up carrot cake. I came across this recipe by Ambitious Kitchen & decided to give it a try. I was going for the vegan option to try & get a little flax in there, but planned on using regular whole milk. I also chose to make mini muffins instead so they’d be a good size for Cupcake. I have a 48-ct mini muffin pan & it’s just the best!

The thing about baking when you have a toddler around is that you are very distracted. Meaning I just straight up forgot to add the milk. Any milk. Which is ironic because the recipe I was following was a sponsored post by Almond Breeze. So I accidentally made them totally vegan, and they were still totally delicious.

In my opinion, the carrots are moist enough not to need the milk & the mini size means they’re still a good texture. I don’t think I would try a regular sized muffin like this, though. Also, the OP’s note about these tasting better sitting after in an airtight container overnight is true. They are good straight off of the cooling rack, but they are GREAT after a night in the fridge.

Vegan Mini Carrot Muffin - Mrs. Dessert Monster

Cupcake agrees!

Don’t skimp on the carrots – 1 cup finely shredded! Shredding carrots by hand with a box grater is a pain in the arm (gotcha!) but these are totally worth it. If you are wondering if you need a 3rd carrot to make that cup – you do. I usually use 2 large carrots & then end up shredding a 3rd smaller one.

Full disclosure: I add non-vegan mini chocolate chips to mine. But there are vegan chocolate chips out there, or you can add another mix in such as nuts, raisins, or coconut flakes.

I told you I wasn’t going ‘crunchy’ on you! 🙂

Vegan Mini Carrot Muffins

Makes 4 dozen mini muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup packed finely shredded carrots (about 2-3 carrots)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water, mixed)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mix-in of your choice, such as mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins, or coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
Whisk together dry ingredients (first 5) in a medium bowl.
By hand or with an electric mixer set on low, combine carrots, maple syrup, olive oil, applesauce, flax egg, & vanilla.
Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture & stir until you no longer see dry flour. Gently stir in desired mix-in.
Divide batter evenly between muffin cups – less than a tablespoon in each. Bake until they pass the toothpick test, about 12 minutes. Once cool, transfer to airtight container & keep in the fridge. They’re good once cooled, but GREAT after a night in the fridge!

Blueberry & White Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

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Tomorrow is Mother’s Day & what do all mothers love? Brunch!

That’s what we’re doing at my house, anyway. Brunch with the extended family. And these scones are on the menu!

I got this scone recipe from my dear friend Beth, who gives me so many great recipes, who got it from the book Ten Dollar Dinners. However, I have adapted it some. I never have buttermilk powder on hand & have not come across another recipe that calls for it yet. Therefore I just always use lemon juice. I also in general almost always use salted butter for everything, so that’s what I use in this recipe, too. With a few other twists & tweaks, I bring you this recipe.

I’ve never made scones any other way, so this cream method is all I know. I hear it is much easier than another method which requires cutting butter into flour. I make it extra easy on myself by letting my KitchenAid mixer do most of the work. The key is just not to let it over mix.

Mix on low until it’s just starting to come together.

Blueberry & white chocolate chips has become our favorite flavor combo for scones around here. The white chocolate chips take the scones from “blueberries are healthy, right?” to “oh, this is basically dessert”. But they are too good to pass up for a celebratory brunch. I think that’s why I like to make 24 mini scones out of this recipe instead of 16 larger ones. So I can eat two. (or 5!)

I am very much looking forward to a fun brunch tomorrow morning with our moms &, of course, with my little Cupcake!

She enjoyed sampling them this morning 🙂

Blueberry & White Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

Makes 16-24 scones depending on size

2 cups flour, plus more for work surface
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup heavy cream, plus 2 tbsp
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper & set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment.
Whisk the 1 cup of heavy cream, lemon juice, butter, & vanilla in a liquid measuring cup. Pour into the mixer bowl & turn the mixer on low. Mix until the dough is just starting to come together.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface & knead for about 1 minute; just until the dough is smooth. Divide the dough into 2-3 equal parts (2 parts = 16 scones, 3 parts = 24 mini scones). Shape & flatten into circles that are about 3/4 inch thick.
Add the blueberries & white chocolate chips to the center of each circle. Fold in the edges to cover completely, then reshape the circle. Cut into 8 wedges & place on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the 2 tbsp of cream. Bake for 12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cheeseburger Lasagna Rolls

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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.”

Cheeseburger Lasagna Rolls

Makes 4 rolls

4 lasagna noodles
1/2 lb ground beef
your favorite burger seasoning
4 oz cream cheese
1 small onion (or 1/2 a medium onion), finely chopped
4 sliced of pickles (or 1/4 cup of dill chips), finely chopped
1 tsp mustard
mayo (or your favorite burger sauce!)
shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a loaf pan & spread a little mayo (or burger sauce) on the bottom.
Boil lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Drain & let cool.
While noodles are boiling, brown the ground beef & season with burger seasoning. Drain.
Add to the beef pan pickles, onion, cream cheese, & mustard. Heat on low while stirring until cream cheese is melted & mixture is uniform.
Divide the mixture in 4 & roll up into cooked lasagna noodles. Arrange in loaf pan seam side down.
Spread mayo over the top of the noodles. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes until cheese is slightly browned on the edges. Enjoy!