Shipwreck casserole is a classic. This simple dinner is easy to put together in the slow cooker (no browning required) or baked in the oven, perfect for busy nights. Just layer the ingredients, cover, and let it cook slowly until it's meltingly tender and drives you crazy with the aromatic aroma!
Are you responsible for feeding a horde of hungry ghouls, princesses and pirates before they go out raiding, er . . . trick-or-treating this week? Are you working all day and wondering how to get a meal into their bellies before they head into the sugar overload zone? Are you a busy person wanting to feed yourself or your family a healthy meal on any given day? Have you got a slowcooker? Or oven? And five minutes you can squeeze out of your morning?
This casserole is for you.
Versions of this recipe, under many different names, have been passed around for decades. It’s been called Shipwreck Casserole, 7 Layer Casserole, Cowboy Casserole, Hobo Dinner, 7-in-1 Casserole. No matter what the name, the simplicity is what keeps people coming back to it. Layers of ground meat and vegetables soften and meld together with tomatoes during a long slow simmer in the slowcooker. No browning or stirring or fiddling required. The recipe is flexible and can be adapted to ingredients in your pantry. Try adding other vegetables, or a sprinkling of fresh or dried herbs to make it your own. The amounts listed here are just guidelines.
Why rely on processed or prepackaged food when you can feed your family an economical, whole-food, home-cooked meal you put together in minutes?
Shipwreck Casserole - Easy to Prep Ahead for a Quick Meal
Assemble the casserole in the morning and let it simmer all day in the slow cooker. To save time, slice the carrots, onions and garlic the night before. The potatoes can be washed and ready to slice in the morning, so they don’t discolour, or slice them into a bowl of water and keep them in the fridge overnight. Have the meat defrosted, and the chickpeas and tomatoes set next to the slowcooker with the can-opener ready, so if your eyes are still half shut when you stumble into the kitchen to put the ingredients into the slowcooker, you won't need to resort to cursing. It will take no time to put the casserole together before you head off to work.
The savoury aroma of Shipwreck Casserole as it cooks will drive your family crazy. It is a delicious smell that makes coming home at the end of a long day doubly rewarding.
Maybe a pirate made this from supplies that washed ashore in a long-ago shipwreck. Maybe it’s what you’d crave if you were stranded on a deserted island after a shipwreck. Or maybe it’s what you’ll feed your family to prevent the shipwreck that occurs if they eat too much candy on an empty stomach.
How to Layer a Shipwreck Casserole
Layer half the onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. (For oven baking, use a large casserole dish, small roaster or deep 9x13” baking dish.) Crumble the uncooked ground meat over the onions.
Thinly slice the garlic cloves and sprinkle them over the meat. Then layer over the sliced potatoes.
Add the carrot slices and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Layer the chickpeas or corn over the carrots.
Then layer with the remaining onion slices. Pour the tomatoes and their juice over all, spreading the pieces evenly over the top.
Cover and cook in the slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours. (If it's in there for an extra hour or two, it won't hurt it.)
If you don't have a slow cooker, cover tightly with a lid or foil, and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 2 to 3 (or more) hours. It's done after 2 hours, but is at its melting, flavourful best with an hour or two more than that.
Serves 6. (Leftovers are wonderful.)
Serve the casserole with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, or - to be really retro - with a good squirt of ketchup (I won’t tell, since that's how I prefer it, too).
It’s comfort food for a chilly pirate-and-ghoul-filled night.
* * * * *
Shipwreck Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 onions, sliced into rings
- 1 lb. (454gms) lean ground beef, chicken or turkey
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1-1½ lbs (450-700gms) potatoes, (about 3-4 cups, sliced unpeeled)
- ½ lb (250gms) carrots (about 2 cups, sliced)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- a sprinkle of pepper
- 1 can (398ml/14 oz.) chickpeas, corn, or other beans, drained (or 1½ cups/360ml frozen or cooked)
- 1 can (398ml/14 oz.) diced tomatoes with their liquid
Instructions
- Layer half the onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. (For oven baking, use a large casserole dish, small roaster or deep 9x13” baking dish.)
- Crumble the uncooked ground meat over the onions. Thinly slice the garlic cloves and sprinkle them over the meat.
- Layer the potato slices over the meat.
- Add the carrot slices and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
- Spread the chickpeas or corn over the carrots.
- Then layer with the remaining onion slices.
- Pour the tomatoes and their juice over all, spreading the pieces evenly over the top.
- Cover and cook in the slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours. (If it's in there for an extra hour or two, it won't hurt it.)
- If you don't have a slow cooker, cover tightly with a lid or foil, and bake in a preheated 350°F (180°C) oven for 2 to 3 (or more) hours. It's done after 2 hours, but is at its melting, flavourful best with an hour or two more than that.
- Serve the casserole with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, or - to be really retro - with a good squirt of ketchup (I won’t tell, since that's how I prefer it, too).Leftovers are wonderful.
Notes
Guten Appetit!
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monika case
This was one of Bobs favorite dishes and I still make it. I add a little rice and have never made it with chickpeas. Sounds so good Love Auntie M
Margaret
I love how food memories connect us so strongly to people. Now I will think of him, too, when I make it. It's one of those super-simple yet timeless dishes, isn't it?
sue
Monika, what is the Serbian name for this dish? I grew up with it being layered and baked. First thin sliced onions, thin sliced potatoes, then ground beef (browned), then kidney beans, then rice (uncooked) and then tomato sauce/beef bullion pored over and covered. (salt and pepper each layer.)
A Canadian Foodie
Looks YUMMY!
Similar, in some ways, to the Serbian Moussaka that I have learned to make for my husband that is on my site.
🙂
Valerie
Margaret
Oh, my - I checked out your Serbian Moussaka, and it looks like my type of comfort food. Heavenly. My mom always made scalloped potatoes almost like that (but with no meat) using only lots of heavy cream as the liquid. It cooked and thickened to custardy perfection. I love how the Serbians add the cream and egg to their potato-meat mixture, too. Me thinks that is a must-try recipe for our household this coming winter!
Lynne
I'm allergic to onion & garlic what other veggies can I use in place of those? Thanks for your help.
Margaret
Hi Lynne, Using chopped-up fennel bulbs is a good substitute for onions - they turn kind of sweet when cooked, very similar to onions. For two years when my husband had Lyme disease, he was allergic to garlic, too, and I found that using anchovies to replace garlic in recipes really worked well. I'd buy anchovy fillets in jars, so I could just take out as many as I needed, and would chop them up finely, replacing each garlic clove called for with one anchovy fillet. It doesn't taste like garlic in the dish, but it also doesn't make a recipe taste 'fishy'. Anchovies add a similar umami flavour and complexity to a recipe, like garlic does. You could never tell there were anchovies in the dish, and they always tasted better than without them in it. Good luck in the kitchen!
Margo
This one of my favorite recipes. I add a layer of rutabaga and put ketchup on it. It reminds me of pasties from the UP of Michingan where we used to live.
Margaret
Rutabaga would add a lovely earthy/sweet flavour - I'll have to give that a try, too. I love how easy and tasty this casserole is. Thanks for stopping by!
Baby Kato
We really enjoyed this quick and easy to make meal. I made it exactly as written and let it cook away in the slow cooker for 8 hours. I did use black eyed peas in place of the chickpeas which I couldn't find in the pantry. They worked well with the rest of the vegetables. Perfection, flavorful, tender and very tasty. Thank you for sharing another recipe that my husband & I enjoyed.
Margaret
I'm glad you enjoyed the casserole. I love that it's so easy to customize with whatever is in the cupboards. The slow cooker is a lifesaver for those busy days, and coming home to the smell of dinner cooking is such a treat, isn't it? Now if only there was an appliance to clean the kitchen for us, too!
John
Shouldn't the ground meat be pre-cooked if it is going in the slow cooker? Other than that love the recipe. Haven't seen this with chickpeas. Looking forward to trying it. Thanks for sharing.
Margaret
Hi John,
Nope - the beauty of this recipe is that the meat goes in raw - it's so quick and easy! The meat is well-cooked by the time the casserole is finished. I've made it many times this way and it's always worked perfectly. Hope you enjoy it! Happy cooking!
Laura
Found it ok but blah. Garlic and salt and pepper isn't enough. Next time would add some oregano and Worcestershire sauce. Maybe even a bit of tomato paste to thicken it up.
Margaret
The beauty about cooking is that we can customize recipes to our own taste. Our family really likes this casserole just as it is, with the simple comfort-food flavours of the ingredients shining through, although I do like to eat it with a good squirt of ketchup, which gives it enough of a flavour boost for me (I know - ketchup! But it seems to fit with the retro-food theme of this dish). I find it reminds me of the simple, homey but delicious, dishes of my farm childhood. But you're right in that adding some seasonings would definitely make it even better. And I can see that some kind of heat, like a bit of hot sauce or cayenne, would also be a good variation. Have fun with creativity in the kitchen!
Sandi
Is there a way to freeze this and then toss in the oven or slow cooker?
Margaret
I'm not sure how well it would freeze. The raw potatoes would get an undesirable texture when frozen, and carrots lose their texture, too. You could freeze the cooked casserole and then reheat it, though.
Kim B.
The name of this casserole really threw me off. I guess I must have been a "picky eater" in grade school, so when they said it was Shipwreck, well, I might have thought it had fish in it( I was only 6 or 7). After that, I went home for lunch with my mom!
Now I am willing to try this recipe, in the oven, if possible. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Margaret
LOL, I can see how as a kid, you might be turned off the name of this casserole - it really isn't one to inspire drooling! Hopefully the taste of the dish will convert you now 😋. It's simple stick-to-your ribs comfort food (and a bonus because it's so easy!)