This is the BEST cheesy keto cheeseburger casserole you'll ever make, with a secret cheat's cheese sauce.
It's delicious healthy comfort food that tastes just like a cheeseburger, just without the hamburger bun and the french fries.
This easy keto cheeseburger casserole recipe is quick to make with plenty of shredded cheddar cheese, bacon, cream cheese, and ground beef.
Every bite has flavored meat, fried bacon pieces, garlic, and a creamy cheese sauce that you can't get enough of.
Jump to:
- What is a cheeseburger casserole?
- What are the layers in a keto hamburger casserole?
- What is a cheat's cheese sauce?
- Ingredients
- How to make keto cheeseburger casserole
- How to store cheeseburger casserole
- How to defrost
- Substitutions
- How to make low-fat cheeseburger
- Expert recipe tips
- Keto beef recipe FAQs
- Best keto side dishes to serve with beef
- More keto ground beef recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- People also ask
- 💬 Comments
Top tip: This recipe also inspired me to make a cheat's Big Mac salad too. So if you are craving your regular take out or fast food, save your time and save your money and make a homemade burger salad instead.
What is a cheeseburger casserole?
A keto cheeseburger casserole has all your favorite flavors of a regular cheeseburger but without the traditional carbs, hamburger buns, and fries.
So you can enjoy the traditional cheeseburger taste but stay within your macros and stay on track with your low-carb diet or keto diet.
It is a family-friendly dinner that is also keto-friendly and perfect for meal prep. It can be frozen and can be made ahead.
What are the layers in a keto hamburger casserole?
There are only two simple layers to your low-carb burger casserole and they can both be made in under 10 minutes and then baked in a casserole dish.
The first is a layer of ground beef, onion, garlic, and cream cheese.
The second layer is my secret cheat's cheese sauce poured over the top.
You can add regular cheeseburger toppings such as yellow mustard, gherkins, and pickles, all topped off with a shredded cheese crust.
What is a cheat's cheese sauce?
This is known as the cheat's version of the cheeseburger casserole because there is no complicated cheese sauce to make.
In fact, my secret cheat's cheese sauce is such a simple recipe, you throw everything together in a small mixing bowl and pour it over the cooked ground beef. It couldn't get any easier.
What I love about cheesy keto bacon cheeseburger casserole, is that you can prepare the quick and easy family dinner while you are waiting for your oven to heat to the required temperature.
Sprinkle with shredded cheese, then pop the delicious family casserole in the preheated oven.
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients to make the keto cheeseburger casserole recipe. Everything can be found in most local grocery stores.
All quantities, ingredients, and detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
Ground Beef Layer
- Onion - quartered and sliced. You can use onion powder or dried onion flakes also.
- Crushed garlic - minced garlic, or even garlic powder will do.
- Ground beef - or another meat (see below). Lower fat ground beef (lean beef) is best.
- Cream cheese
- Bacon - chopped bacon, sliced, cubed, crumbled bacon,or cooked bacon
- Salt and pepper - add seasoning to taste
Cheat's Cheese Sauce
- Eggs - medium-size is best but you can use the egg conversion charts if you have different sized eggs on hand
- Heavy cream - heavy whipping cream, pouring cream
- Cheese - use any variety of cheese below
- Mustard - choose mustard without any added sugars. Dijon mustard is nice in a low-carb cheeseburger casserole.
- Gherkins or chopped pickles - sliced, cubed, chopped.
- Salt and pepper - add seasoning to taste
- Extra cheese - to sprinkle over and make a crunchy cheese topping.
How to make keto cheeseburger casserole
There are two easy layers to the easy cheeseburger casserole recipe. In between each layer is where you can go crazy adding all the favorite fillings you like to eat in a regular cheeseburger. Gherkins? Bacon? More cheese?
STEP 1: The ground beef layer
Fry the bacon pieces in your frying pan or cast iron skillet with a little olive oil until cooked then remove and set aside.
With the bacon grease left in the frying pan, fry (saute) the chopped onion, crushed garlic, and ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir through the cream cheese.
Pour the cooked ground beef layer into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the cooked bacon pieces over.
Add some sliced pickles/gherkins (pickled in vinegar, check for added sugars). You can omit these if you are a gherkin hater, or only place them on half the low-carb bacon cheeseburger casserole if your children don't like pickles/gherkins.
STEP 2: The cheese sauce layer
Now it's time to make the easy cheese sauce. Mix together the fresh eggs, heavy cream, shredded cheese, and spices together in a medium bowl.
Pour the cheat's cheese sauce over the hearty beef layer, then add plenty of grated/shredded cheese to make a super cheesy crust. This is what makes the low-carb cheeseburger casserole taste so amazing.
STEP 3: Bake
Place the cheeseburger casserole into the preheated oven at 180C/350F on the middle shelf (wire rack).
Bake for 15 minutes until the shredded cheese is golden, crunchy, and crispy.
How to store cheeseburger casserole
This is the perfect keto dinner for meal prep. You can make a double batch and freeze it in individual portions for a quick and easy keto freezer meal.
Once cooked, remove the casserole dish from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool down.
Using a sharp knife, cut the keto hamburger casserole into squares then place each individual portion into a meal prep container (airtight container). Label with the date.
To store the whole casserole, wrap the baking dish in plastic wrap, then wrap it in aluminum foil, before storing it in the freezer.
Place the airtight food storage container (or plastic food storage bag) in the refrigerator for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to defrost
Remove the keto cheeseburger casserole from the freezer and leave it covered on the kitchen bench for 2-4 hours, or microwave using the defrost setting.
To reheat, place in the oven for 20 minutes, or in the microwave using the reheat function.
Make sure there are no cold spots and it is thoroughly heated.
Substitutions
There are quite a few different ingredients you can substitute in this keto cheeseburger casserole if you need to.
You can use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of beef in the ground beef mixture. I'm a huge fan of bacon, but you can leave it out or use turkey bacon instead.
For the sauce, you can add a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce or chili sauce (such as tobacco) for a little more flavor. It's safe to enjoy these sauces on the keto diet.
How to make low-fat cheeseburger
- Use 90% lean ground beef.
- Drain any excess fat from the ground beef mixture before pouring it into the casserole dish to bake.
- Use low-fat cream cheese.
- You can add some cauliflower rice to one of the layers of this lean ground beef casserole. Cauliflower rice is a low-carb vegetable that will bulk up your dinner but without any added carbs.
Expert recipe tips
This recipe is so simple, it has to be seen to be believed.
You make the two easy layers and throw them into your baking dish then bake in the oven.
But if you're running out of time, you can simply throw the keto cheeseburger casserole recipe all together and omit the first step of browning and cooking the beef.
Yes, that's right. I sometimes mix the raw ground beef, diced onion, crushed garlic, and cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl.
Place it all into the prepared casserole dish, add your favourite burger fillings then cover the ground meat layer with my cheat's cheese sauce and extra cheddar cheese.
If you do have time to cook the beef first, the bacon cheeseburger casserole only requires 15 minutes of cooking time for the sauce and cheese to bake and create a crunchy cheesy topping.
If you are using raw beef, cook for 40 minutes to ensure all the meat is thoroughly cooked through the centre of the casserole dish.
Keto beef recipe FAQs
If you don’t see your question in this list, please leave it in the comments.
There are only 3.4 grams net carbs in each serving of this easy keto cheeseburger casserole.
A typical cheeseburger with a bun is not keto-friendly because of the bread. Bunless cheeseburgers can be both gluten-free recipes and low-carb.
Missing the bun? Simply make this delicious keto hamburger bun (it won't fall apart on you!)
This depends on the type of pickles you are talking about. Always read the ingredients and do not eat pickles that have sugar listed. Dill pickles are usually keto-friendly, but sweet ones or bread and butter ones are not.
Yes, you can use ground chicken, ground pork, ground turkey, and even ground lamb, depending on which meat you prefer, instead of ground beef.
The heavy cream makes the sauce creamy and easy to pour.
The best cheese for a cheeseburger is cheddar cheese, American cheese, Swiss cheese, Jack cheese, Monterrey Jack, and even vegan cheese can be used (as long as the cheese melts).
You can cook bacon in the air fryer or on a large skillet on medium-high heat with a little olive oil until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper to stop soggy bacon.
You can use sour cream instead of cream cheese, and here are the 10 best swaps for cream cheese.
Best keto side dishes to serve with beef
Forget French fries with your keto cheeseburger casserole, try these low-carb and keto side dishes instead. Spaghetti squash is a light and buttery side dish the whole family will love alongside any keto casserole.
There are so many delicious low-carb and keto side dishes to serve with keto ground beef recipes. Beef is a family-friendly dinner and so you need to choose easy healthy side dishes that the whole family will love.
Here are some of my favorite keto beef side dishes.
- Cheesy keto garlic bread
- Easy mashed cauliflower
- The best low-carb bread, pasta, and potato substitutes
- Low-carb keto almond flour bread
- Baked cheesy broccoli and cauliflower
In addition to the side dishes above, I love to serve this dish with a huge side salad and homemade 1-minute mayo or the Big Mac salad dressing.
More keto ground beef recipes
For more healthy recipes the whole family will love, these keto recipes are a few ideas for tonight.
Each recipe is gluten-free and perfect for a low-carb diet or keto diet.
- Keto cheeseburger pizza (mozzarella pizza crust)
- Sloppy Joes (1-minute muffins)
- 15 Best keto ground beef recipes
- Keto Instant Pot chili (with ground beef)
📖 Recipe
Please rate this recipe.
Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole Recipe
Recipe Video
Calculate ingredients
Ingredients
Ground Beef Layer
- 1 onion quartered and sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced crushed
- 750 g (1.65 lb) ground/minced beef
- 60 g (2 oz) cream cheese full fat
- 3 slices bacon diced
- +/- salt and pepper to taste
Cheats Cheese Sauce
- 3 eggs - medium
- 125 ml (½ cup) heavy whipping cream
- 100 g (1 cup) shredded/grated cheese
- 2 tablespoon mustard
- 2 dill gherkin pickles sliced
- +/- salt and pepper to taste
- 50 g (½ cup) shredded/grated cheese to sprinkle over
Equipment
Instructions
Ground Beef Layer
- Fry the bacon pieces until cooked then remove and set aside.
- Fry the onion, garlic and beef until thoroughly cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir through the cream cheese.
- Pour the beef layer into the baking dish. Sprinkle the bacon pieces over.
Cheats Cheese Sauce
- Mix the eggs, cream, shredded/grated cheese, mustard, salt and pepper together. Pour the cheese sauce over the beef and bacon.
- Place slices of gherkins/pickles all over the top then cover with the remaining shredded/grated cheese.
- Bake at 180C/350F for 15 minutes until the cheese is golden and crispy. Serve with salad and 1-minute mayonnaise.
5-INGREDIENTS COOKBOOK
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YOUR HOLIDAY PANTRY & GIFT GUIDES
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Approximate nutrition information is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. For the most accurate nutritional data, use the actual ingredients and brands you used in your preferred nutrition calculator.
People also ask
Can you have tomato ketchup on the keto diet?
Regular ketchup (tomato sauce) has too much sugar for the ketogenic diet. Instead you can buy (or make) sugar-free ketchup which is fewer grams of net carbs.
What is keto taco casserole?
A taco casserole has layers of tortilla chips, refried beans, ground beef, and plenty of cheese. It's a great meal prep recipe the entire family loves (and even picky eaters eat).
The best thing about a juicy bacon cheeseburger casserole is that with a few simple swaps, you can make a keto taco casserole. Add some tomato paste, chili powder, taco seasoning, and cover with the remaining cheese.
What are the best low-carb casseroles for a busy weeknight?
When you want to enjoy delicious recipes but don't have time to cook mid-week, a frozen low-carb casserole is perfect for meal planning. You can freeze a whole casserole or individual portions.
Easy chili keto casserole (chili dog casserole), zucchini and bacon casserole, and keto breakfast casserole with bacon are a great way to get a delicious meal on the table when life gets busy.
Michele
What size pan is being used? It's definitely NOT a 9x9 because the pictures clearly show a rectangular pan.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Ahh, that was for the video, but when I make it at home, I use a 9x9 pan.
BexG
Forgot to rate it.
Rubi
I actually made for the first time and it was so delicia it wasn’t greasy or anything . My husband and I are the whole casserole! Thank you for your recipe
Anna
What size casserole dish did you use?
Serena Williams
It's super nasty lol not as good as it sounds. Very greasy.
Tom L
Honest review:. For me, this was not great. I didn't fully understand the cream and egg mixture... It kind of came out soft and custard like which didn't really go well with the ground beef in terms of texture. The cream cheese was lost and did not add much. Also, not enough cheese, and not enough bacon, which was also lost because it was buried. Don't mean to be the sour puss, but felt that the reviews here were almost entirely five star, do needed a balanced voice. I do like the concept. I may retool this. Would put the ground beef below, layer with a cream cheese/sour cream/green onion layer, maybe another ground beef layer, then melted cheese, topped with bacon. Something like that I guess, adding in some olive oil to the ground beef to make the macros keto friendly.
Xtina
Can you freeze this?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes! Freeze as individual portions so you have a healthy low-carb freezer ready meal for an emergency! It will stop the takeouts and save $$$. Yay.
Rita
But do you freeze it after you cook it in the oven? Or can you prepare it completely except for baking it, and then freeze it?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I freeze it after it is completely cooked and then cooled.
Linda schmidt
Can you cut this in half
Marsha
This came out great!! I think it's best to brown your meat ahead of time and try and get it in small crumbles vs bigger chunks. Personally I didn't notice any egg taste (like some of the reviews commented). I used Yancy's Fancy pepperoni cheese in the cheese mixture then used plain cheddar on top, only because I ran out. Will definitely make again and try other cheese versions than cheddar. On nights when I use plain cheddar I'm thinking of trying to incorporate a hot sauce. A burger chain here in the U.S. has a great one so I may try to copy. Or a version that has mushrooms and blue cheese. I didn't add the bacon as I'm not a big fan but on this I think it would be good. Didn't take more than the 15 minutes to cook, The serving is a little large for me unless you serve it with something light like a salad. So might try to cut into a little smaller pieces. And I'd say this would be great for picky eaters/children. They could probably even choose what toppings they wanted. I bet you could even make in individual serving dishes and everyone could create their own 'burger' Thanks for another great recipe Libby.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Great idea - individual cheeseburger casseroles in little ramekin dishes ... I love this!
Fuailelagi
This was a hit with my family! Thanks so much 🙂
Ian
What's the serving size for the macros above?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Recipe states "serves 6".
long may
What kind of grated cheese to use? and I am the only one in the house that is eating a Keto diet and want to be sure that I don’t waste what if fix
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I use cheddar, Edma or Colby. But any solid cheese grated/shredded will work.
Ronald Isaacs
I made one and ate it for lunch at work for a week
Wren
I used the Mexican cheese grated. It’s Colby , Monterrey jack and cheddar. Delicious!
Tammy June Combs
I made this tonight with a side salad per your recommendation 🙂 Thanks so much! My pickiest eater ate some and said it would be good to make it again! I had to substitute onion powder for the onion - I think he doesn't like the crunch.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
YAY!!! This makes me smile when a picky kids find a new recipe here 🙂 Well done Tammy.
Jenn
I used 0 carb dill relish instead of dicing pickles. Makes it even easier!
Kendra Capalbo
I apologize if someone else already asked this question but I was wondering what ratio fat the ground beef is that you used to calculate the nutritional information. Looking forward to trying this!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I tend to use 80/20 ground/minced beef in most recipes but for this one, I think I selected 85/15 so there isn't so much fat in the casserole.
Amanda & Jerry NeSmith
My husband and me just made this recipe and couldn't determine portion until after we had already divided out our meal although this meal was very flavorful . Was a bit runny but that was from the fat grease and our cheese sauce didn't thicken any oh well the casserole was delicious!
Kelly Seybold
what is the portion size?
A
Just to make it clear because the photos of stuff that you might need is confusing.pre- Shredded cheese isn’t keto because they add cornstarch to it to stop clumping
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Check your brands, the one I buy doesn't have added cornstarch. The nutrition panel for the pre-shredded cheese I buy has 0.5g carbs per 100g. Ye-ha!
Daniel
Obviously drain the grease before you put it all together but this dish is seriously one of the best for Keto! The one thing I did Different that I loved Is that I took It out a couple of mins before, switched the oven to broil and did that for a couple of minutes to get a nice crispy crust on the top. So good!
Sidney
I know that keto is supposed to include extra fat, but putting it all together raw would leave it in a puddle of grease, even with very lean meat.
I'd have to cook and drain the meat first.
It does sound good that way.
Barbara
What size baking dish do you use? I was not sure if it was like a lasagna pan or 8 or 9” square.
Diane
The image of the dish above shows it as a 9 x 9.
Pamela
Meh... to each their own. I do have certain casseroles that I make with raw ground beef and they can get a tad greasy but if you go with leaner beef it's still good. IMO anyway Haha. I enjoy the flavour though. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea!
Joyce
I made this a few times and it always comes out true. It's delicious. Awesome recipe.
DeAnn
How many servings is this recipe?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Serves 6. The serving for each recipe is to be found just above the ingredient list. You can also dial up how many servings you would like to make, and the ingredients will magically recalculate for you.
samantha
how much is a serving? I see where you said you can change but how much is just one serving? maybe I am missing something lol, its been that kind of day.
Marnie
Such a great dish! Absolutely love love love this! Thank you for the great site - I tell everyone I know about it!!!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Wow Marnie, what a sweetheart 🙂
Sharon
Made this for the first time tonight, excellent! I read the comments before I started so I knew to beat the eggs well and drain the beef. Thank you to everyone who commented! I didn't use pickles, instead I put a few dots of sweet relish on top of the beef/bacon layer then spread them out a bit. Not so keto friendly but there isn't much in a portion and it's much quicker than dealing with pickles. Hubby asked me what I thought of it as he went for seconds. I quite enjoyed this and he did too! I had much more beef than called for, I used all 3 eggs and beat them well before the whipping cream and yellow mustard went in.There was no eggy taste. I will definitely make this again!
Rebecca
So the comments about it turning into an omlette scare me. I dont want to notice the egg at all. Also, what about mayo in place of the cream or half cream half mayo? Won’t need egg if you just use mayo am I right? Anyone do this?
Auntie Mel
I made this last night. I used two eggs, and a half cup of half and half, and one pound of beef. The egg was not noticeable, and it was delicious.
Dana
Make sure you mix it well. The forst time i did it i beat the egg before adding the rest of the ingredients. Came out like a cheese sauce. 2nd time it was a bit eggie and i realized i half mixed. Now i know!
Jamie Mullendore
Oh my goodness!!! I just made this for the family and we are IN LOVE!!! So easy, so yummy. We really likes it with a drizzle of sugar free ketchup. Thank you so much!
Kevin H.
I'm not sure what I did wrong. I'll eat almost anything, but I thought this was awful. I love pickles but I really regret putting them in there, the top tasted more like egg than cheese. I've ate it a couple days now because i hate wasting food, but I think the main killer for me is the topping, it just does not taste good.
Regardless, thank you for the recipe, as I try more things on my Keto journey.
Nadine - Texas, USA
I've made this a few times. My husband and I are keto, but, just like other reviewers, it's a whole family favorite! Our kids love it and even ask for it. It tastes exactly like a cheeseburger. Thanks for a great recipe.
Cat Stuart
Just made a double batch for our weekly meals and they are NOT going to last! This is awesome!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
This is praise indeed! Thank you.
Valerie
I double the recipe but I dont know if its me or what but every time i make this, it takes about an hour to fully cook, do you have that same issue when you double the recipe?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Are you using a casserole dish that is too small so the casserole is too thick/tall? The beef is already cooked before you add it to the casserole dish so all you are cooking is the cheese sauce and to ensure the flavour is infused throughout the keto cheeseburger casserole. It should take no longer than 25 minutes. Let's see if we can figure out what is going wrong here.
Natalie
I made these with pickled jalapeños and it turned out amazing! Definitely going to be part of my meal prep option.
Kyle
I know it seems obvious to long time cooks, but if you need to drain beef after cooking, you need to put it in the recipe.Never take for granted what people may or may not know about cooking when writing out a recipe.
Jules L
my daughter has been doing keto for some time now. She had a procedure done yesterday and I wanted to fix dinner for her so I made this and I gave some to my dad and to my son and to my granddaughter who do not do keto and we all loved it!! I'm making it for my daughter again this week?
Rachel
If freezing this would you bake it first and then freeze or just cook the meat and put everything in the pan and freeze that way? I’ve made this multiple times but I’m stocking my freezer now with a new baby coming 😉
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I would bake it first then freeze. Slice into individual portions too, for an easy quick meal. All the best for your new arrival 🙂 xxx
Jill
Just put this in oven to bake but noticed when I put the cheat sauce on top it just sunk into beef mix I couldn't spread it like the video? Anyone else done this? Did I do something wrong? Thanks
Theresa Starr
I don't have any gherkins on hand... do you think pickle relish would taste the same?
Auntie Mel
do the pickles however you liked. I used sliced bread and butter pickles
Linn-Mare
I want to make this now and I've run out of mustard 🙁 will that make a huge difference if I don't add it?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
You can probably omit it without a hugely detrimental effect.
Emma
Just made this for my non keto cheeseburger loving partner and he loved it!! 10/10, so delish. Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Vicki
I made this today and I cooked off about 1/2 lb of riced cauliflower and right before I added the cream cheese to the pan, I added the cauliflower in and mixed all the beef ingredients together with it and the cream cheese. This gave a nice added veggie for those who want a "one pot" meal!
Nikki
Oh awesome, thanks for a great idea!!
Mandi
That's what I thought about doing, glad to know it worked!
Jennifer Travis
Oh and btw, our favorite toppers are classic burger toppings ie; tomato, extra pickles, shredded lettuce, mustard, yet also so awesome with salsa and sour cream!
Jennifer Travis
OMG! I have a household of 9. 3 of us are Keto. EVERYONE in the house asks for this recipe on the regular! I add a little heavy cream into the ground beef with the cream cheese and make the recipe for 16 servings (have dad, hubby and 18 yo son in the house.) I like to carmalize the onion and garlic in bacon grease as well. This recipe is an easy "go to" that pleases anyone in the house as well as a great idea when we have extra company. This is probably our favorite keto recipe to date!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
WOW - this is the best recipe review for this recipe - ever!!!
Jennifer Travis
Thanks lol! We are greatful for the recipe! It is absolutely amazing!
Tess Kimble
As I got very excited on this recipe, I soon realized that this is only 1.6 lbs of beef and it serves 6 people? is this correct or is my calculations off?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes, that is correct. Serve with plenty of non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens or a side salad. If you are from the US you may be used to larger serving sizes that are the norm. Once you live low-carb or keto for a while, your appetite will drop back and the healthy fats keep you sustained for longer.
gen
Tried this and it tasted great. I think the mustard in the cheats cheese sauce gives the dish that cheeseburger punch. Has anyone else tried cooking it without the first step as Libby described?
Kara
Fantastic! I love it. I would add extra bacon next time, and jalapeños instead of pickles (or maybe a little of both). I also love the idea of adding mushrooms!
Jennifer Travis
Jalapenos are SO good with this! But what are jalapenos NOT good with?! Lol ?
Barbara McLennan
Cream cheese is listed in the ingredients for the beef layer, but not in the directions. What do you do with it?
Barbara McLennan
Sorry, I found it after I reread the recipe 🙂
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
In the beef layer instructions, it reads "stir through the cream cheese". Simply stir it through to make the beef a little creamy and lush!