If they are going to recommend draining the meat on paper towels just use 85% lean ground beef. It will add more flavor. Also an alternative might be to use a mix of 50/50 ground beef and ground pork. Pork can really add a lot of flavor.
Reading all the comments I was apprehensive of trying this recipe but I did and I loved it but my wife said "it was just okay" and since I am the cook; I look to please her so I will not try it again all though I thought it was excellent. I used a can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce only one bunch of scallions and no Bulgar. I couldn't find it in the local grocery so i didn't use it and I thought the dish had a ton of flavor. I thought it a good spin on lasagna! My wife thought that it needed something crunchy like tortillas in it.. and that might be good but I was fine with the way it was! Try it for yourself and see if you like it!!
Yum! Modified the recipe to fit what was in hand but turned out great! Okay so what I made from the recipe barely qualifies as being the same dish but it turned out great so I thought I would share my adjustments. I wanted to use what was already in the house so I used an onion whole wheat couscous instead of bulgur a can of crushed Italian tomatoes and just Sharp cheddar (w/out the cottage cheese). When cooking the meat I added Italian spices and crushed red pepper and then just shredded a cup of cheddar and mixed it into the sour cream. It worked fine and added lots of cheesy flavor though the "sauce" might not have been as creamy. It turned out great and was very flavorful and tasty. So moral of the story is adaptation of this recipe works fine. Go for it!
I didn't have any bulgar so I left it out but added mushrooms and peas. I also used ground kangaroo instead of beef (as I'm in Australia and kangaroo is far lower fat than beef but tastes about the same). To add a little extra flavour I used a jar of premade pasta sauce instead of tomato sauce and it was amazing! I'll definitely make this again!
This recipe has way too much sodium. The bulgar is too hard to make.
I followed the recipe exactly and was disappointed. It was almost tasteless and certainly would have benefited from some spices. Stu in Chattanooga
Thanks for sharing this recipe I truly enjoyed it. My family thought it was fantastic.
3.00 I don't think so. I searched for ground beef recipes on a budget your site came up saying something along the lines of under 3.00 All I can really say is that this recipe would cost way over 3.00 unless all I needed to buy was the ground beef.
Good Concept Overall Product a Little Blah This casserole was OK but certainly nothing special. I made it pretty much as written adding only extra garlic powder to the sauce. My whole family ate it without a single whine so that definitely counts for something. I think as written it's a little blah for the time and dishes that it takes to prepare so I'm not sure that I will make it again. However I love the concept of adding bulgar to the beef though (no one could tell I even asked my husband after dinner if he noticed and he didn't) so I will use the idea of this recipe in the future. I'm thinking I might try doing something similar with marinara sauce instead and maybe a little more cheese in the filling to make it more lasagna-like. Pros: Healthy and the whole family ate without complaint Cons: Nothing special prep time
