This chili cheese tater tot casserole recipe is what dreams are made of! My whole family loves when I serve this for dinner and I love how simple it is to toss together on busy weeknights. 

You guys ready to hear my deepest and darkest secret? The one that I never share with anyone ever, unless they ask nicely?

It’s my super secret chili recipe. I’m not sure you guys can handle it, but I put that super secret chili in this over the top chili cheese tater tot casserole, so brace yourselves.

I mean, let’s talk about the casserole for a minute before I tell you abut the chili. This is like chili cheese fries that you get to call dinner. It’s like that casserole your mom used to make for you in the 80s, but about a million times better. You’re going to fall head over heels in love with this one!
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This easy lo mein recipe is packed full of bacon for a fun twist on a classic Chinese dish. My whole family gobbles up this lo mein recipe.

I have a bit of a problem.

I’m trying really hard to limit the amount of dining out we do around here, both for our budget and for our health. The problem, though, is my local Asian joint. It’s so good and we’re all pretty addicted to it. When the kids ask to stop by there for lunch, how am I supposed to say no? Impossible.
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This  corn chowder recipe has an unexpected surprise hiding inside – plenty of beans! They make this corn chowder even more filling and hearty.

One of the first recipes I made on this blog that really took off and got people excited was my recipe for chicken corn chowder.  It’s 5 years old now and still a super popular recipe on my site. People seem to love it and I can totally understand why. Sweet corn belongs in soup, my friends.

So, when I started working with Hurst Beans last year and came across their simple recipe for corn chowder, I knew that I’d have to share it here as well. This makes a great vegetarian option (though I do sneak some bacon on top, because bacon) and is every bit as filling and delicious as my original chicken corn chowder recipe. If you’re making this as a vegetarian dish, leave out the packet of ham seasoning that comes in the package of beans. If you’re not looking for a vegetarian option, add it. I love those little packets that Hurst’s includes in their beans. They add such great savory flavor to the beans!

I love all of the fiber the beans bring to this soup. It fills you right up and keeps you full, but it still feels like a nice, light soup. Utter perfection!
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This Cuban sandwich recipe is one of my favorite ways to use pork shoulder! You can roast the pork just for these sandwiches, or you can just use leftover pulled pork!

Alright, guys. It appears that I have a problem.

I am utterly obsessed with pulled pork. It seems like every get-together we have, I’m serving pulled pork.

No one is even complaining because my pulled pork recipe is so freakin’ good.  It’s topped with pickle slaw. What’s not to love?

I decide to bust myself outta my pulled pork rut, though. Time to change things up. Put away the barbecue sauce. Time to get your Cuban on.
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King Ranch Chicken Casserole is a cheesy casserole full of chicken, onions, peppers, and lots of Mexican flavors! We love this King Ranch Casserole in our house and I bet you will too!

I’m a total Midwesterner, you guys. It comes out most in my food choices.

Ranch dressing: goes on everything!

Corn: for every meal!

Casseroles: every night of the week!
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Are you ready for some football?

How about some football food?

I don’t know about you guys, but I personally am always ready for football food. I mean, have you seem some of my favorite recipes? Jalapeno Popper Dip Flatbread. Crockpot Pulled Pork. French Onion Soup Burgers. They’re all basically made to be eaten on game day.

I teamed up with Persil® ProClean™ 2in1  laundry detergent to bring you the messiest food I could think of for the big game this year. Why messy? Because Persil isn’t scared to clean up the tough messes. In fact, Persil begs for the tough messes. It eats tough messes like candy. <—Okay, I’m getting carried away. But, this stuff rocks, is what I’m trying to say. It just got my daughter’s shirt clean after spaghetti night. That’s saying something. 😉

I have a teenage boy who eats pizza every day he possibly can and manages to get it all over himself. I have an 11 year old girl who once went sledding down a hill of dirt on her butt, because there was no snow and she couldn’t find her sled (probably because it was summer).
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These slow cooker French dip sandwiches will just melt in your mouth! They’re so easy to toss together in the morning and you’ll come home to a delicious smelling house and the most amazing French dip sandwich ever!

Alright, friends who work from home. Let’s talk about the slow cooker.

How? How do you survive it? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I super love how easy it is to toss things in there in the morning. I love what comes out of it at dinner time. It’s the in-between that I can’t deal with.

An hour after it’s started, I’m drooling. My house smells so good all day long and it’s pure torture.

I’m, like, supposed to concentrate on work? While there is this saucy beef cooking away and the most heavenly smells are just wafting out of the kitchen? Seems unreasonable to me.
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It’s almost here, you guys! Easter!

Now, I’m basically only excited for Easter because of the food. Those peanut butter eggs? If I don’t eat at least one entire six-pack of those on Easter Day, I’m depressed for the rest of the year. Can’t stop, won’t stop. I need my peanut butter eggs.

You know what else I need? Ham, y’all. I love me some ham.

I mean, first of all, it’s so salty and delicious. Second of all, there are always leftovers.
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I love having a big bowl of leftover pulled pork in the fridge, because it can be put to so many uses! This enchilada skillet is one of my favorite ways to use it up and it’s ready in less than 20 minutes!

Let’s talk about what it’s like to be a hermit, shall we?

I mean, I go to the grocery store just about every day, so maybe I don’t completely qualify, but mostly, I’m just home. Home in my office. Home in my kitchen. Home on my couch. Home home home. I’m not complaining. In fact, I live for being home.

My kids are homeschooled, which means that they are often hermits as well. Lately, though? Nope.
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I’m not sure what’s going on with me lately, but I’m somewhat obsessed with one dish dinners.

Is it the clean up? Is it the fact that they tend to be ready in less than 30 minutes? Is it just because I always include cheese and therefore the food is always delicious?

Who knows!

The other day I was really craving some BBQ Chicken Pizza. Usually we’re a pepperoni household. I have kids. Kids like pepperoni.

Every now and then, though, I like to get creative with my pizza. Like this Pulled Pork Macaroni and Cheese Pizza. Or my Mexican Chicken Flatbread. Those are some good pizzas. (Flatbread is pizza with another name in my book.)
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My whole family gets excited when they see this cheeseburger casserole recipe on the menu for the week! We love this version of homemade hamburger helper with all the flavors of a juicy cheeseburger.

You know, my kids get awfully bossy around lunch time every day.

Everything is fine, they’re doing school (we’re homeschoolers), they’re leaving me alone, I’m getting some work done. Life is good.

And then they both come barging into my office and, before they even say a word, I know what they want. Food. Lots of it. Right this minute.

I can only fend them off for so long before I’m forced to come up with some sort of lunch plan. We do my Dorito chicken casserole more than I should admit. My pizza rolls are a total staple. This chili mac recipe is always a hit. Of course, I always try to have some homemade brownies on hand for dessert.
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Y’all know how I feel about Mexican food, right? I mean, it’s been well documented. I make fried tacos as often as possible. My carnitas are requested anytime someone is coming to dinner. This King Ranch casserole is a favorite comfort food.

The thing is, all of those are somewhat…fattening. Which, don’t get me wrong, I love a good fattening meal just as much as the next guy, which is also well documented on this blog. But, it’s Spring, you guys! It’s time to lighten things up just a bit! I have a pool being dug right now. It’s time to get serious about swimsuit season.

I teamed up with LouAna Coconut Oil to bring you a new recipe and I knew I wanted to keep it on the lighter side. This Chicken Fajita Pasta is surprisingly light for a pasta dish! I love it and I think you will too.

LouAna coconut oil has zero grams of transfat and cholesterol, which makes it a great switch from traditional oils or butter. And no. Your food won’t taste like coconut if you cook or bake with coconut oil! It just makes things a bit healthier.

For this recipe, I kept things light with chicken breast. I added tons of bell peppers and onions to add flavor and freshness. The chicken and veggie are cooked in coconut oil. The sauce is just a smidge of sour cream (use light, if you prefer!) combined with salsa and then everything is topped with a handful of cheddar. This is an easy dinner that my whole family gobbled up. Of course, the 11 year old picked around the onions, but that’s fine. More for me!

I used regular pasta here, because I’m not the biggest fan of whole wheat. If you are, go ahead and use whole wheat here.

So, I dare ya…make the switch! See if you miss the butter or vegetable oil the next time you’re cooking up a batch of veggies on the stove or baking a batch of muffins. Coconut oil is a great swap and making the switch is as easy as can be!

Chicken Fajita Pasta

Yield: serves 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound campanelle pasta (or any small shape)
• 1 pound chicken breasts
• 3 bell peppers, any color
• 1 small onion
• 2 tablesoons LouAna coocnut oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons fajita seasoning
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup prepared salsa
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• 2 tablespoons diced cilantro

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While cooking pasta, dice the chicken, peppers, and onion into bite-sized pieces.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to the skillet and let melt.
4. Add the chicken to skillet and sprinkle with the fajita seasoning. Cook, stirring often, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add remaining tablespoon of coconut oil to skillet and melt. Add peppers and onions to skillet and cook until tender-crisp, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
6. Return chicken to skillet. Add in the cooked pasta, sour cream, salsa, and cheese and stir well to combine.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

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This vegetarian sweet potato puff casserole is absolutely bursting with fresh veggies!

Spring is finally (FINALLY) in the air. It’s warming up. Birds are chirping outside my window right now. The neighbors are mowing their grass, because they are in the midst of some vicious competition with each other to see who can mow the most often and currently we’re at every other day and holding, but I have real fear that it’s going to become a daily thing. And also, the sun is shining and flowers are juuuuuuust beginning to think about blooming.

So, Spring. Finally.

This time of year is so full of possibilities and excitement and I just love it. I love the way grass clipping smell, which is good. Because did you read the part about my neighbors? I really love the way the produce at the grocery store starts looking more fresh and flavorful while the prices simultaneously start going down, down, down. It’s like magic.

This Spring, I’ve teamed up with Alexia Foods to bring you a recipe that is bursting with all those fresh veggies! And, since I’m me, I knew I had to do this in casserole form. I love casseroles. It’s been well documented, as seen in my cheeseburger casserole, chicken parmesan meatball casserole, Doritos chicken casserole, and my jiffy corn casserole!

This time around though, I wanted a childhood classic casserole. With a twist.  A sweet potato twist! Because mama loves her some of those Alexia sweet potato puffs! They’re delightfully crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, just the way they’re meant to be.

The sweet potato adds the perfect earthiness to this dish! I love how light it is for a casserole recipe! No canned soups or any other weird ingredients either! I wanted to keep it simple and natural, just like Alexia does!

This sweet potato puff casserole is super versatile too. I started with 7 cups of freshly chopped vegggies and you can switch them around and swap them out for whatever you have on hand and love most. Some other vegetables that would work great here are green beans, zucchini, and peas.You can even trade in a cup or two of veggies for some cooked, shredded chicken if you wanted to up the protein factor.

I hope you love this lightened up casserole as much as my family does. (Okay, so not my daughter. She hates all veggies, as 11 years do.)

Vegetarian Sweet Potato Puff Casserole

Yield: serves 4-6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped asparagus
• 1 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1 cup chopped bell peppers
• 1 cup frozen or fresh corn
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar
• 2 cups Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs, frozen

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the skillet.
3. Dump all of the vegetables into the skillet and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Season with salt.
4. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
5. Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat and let melt.
6. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly.
7. Slowly whisk in the vegetable broth and continue whisking until mixture has thickened to the consistency of a gravy.
8. Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream.
9. Pour sauce over vegetables and stir to combine. Pour mixture into 8x8 baking dish.
10. Top with shredded cheddar and sweet potato puffs.
11. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Lately I have been all about the one-dish dinners! I love a quick skillet meal. It makes life so easy and the clean up is minimal.

I’m also pretty in love with Asian flavors lately. Now, I won’t claim to be making anything super authentic here. I live in the middle of the United States, surrounded my corn fields. That said, my version of stir fry is pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. But I don’t have to say so! My family does it for me, by way of asking for this stir fry alllll the dang time. The stir fry sauce is killer, you guys. And so easy!

Anyway, I started this meal out with a pork sirloin from Smithfield. I’ve been working with them for about a year now to bring you creative and easy recipes featuring their marinated fresh pork. Sometimes those packages of pork can be intimidating. They’re a fairly large hunk of meat and that immediately makes people think they’re for special occasions or for days when you have hours to spend in the kitchen. Well, I’m here to prove to you that this is not the case!

This pork stir fry starts with a Peppercorn & Garlic Pork Sirloin and is ready in less than 30 minutes! They key is slicing the meat thinly and then cooking it. I made you a video so you can see just how simple this recipe actually is!

The stir fry sauce is a little sweet and a little sour, from a combination of vinegar and honey with the soy sauce. I also added in plenty of fresh garlic!

Go forth and stir fry all the things! You won’t regret it for a second. Serve this with my sausage egg rolls and some steamed rice! If you’re looking for more quick pork recipes, check out my pork enchilada skillet or my pork Milanese with cream cheese noodles!

Easy Pork Stir Fry

Yield: serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• Smithfield Peppercorn & Garlic Pork Sirloin
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 2 cups chopped bell peppers
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons chili paste
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon hoisin
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions:

1. Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to the skillet to heat.
2. Slice the pork thin and add to the skillet. Cook, stirring often, about 6 minutes or until cooked through. Remove to a plate and set aside.
3. Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Stir in the broccoli and peppers and let cook for 5 minutes or until tender-crisp, stirring often.
4. Add in ginger and chili paste and stir well. Cook for one minute.
5. Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, honey, hoisin, and garlic in a small bowl. Add to pan and stir to coat. Cook 3 minutes, stirring often.
6. Return pork to the pan and cook for 2 minutes will stirring.
7. Serve immediately.

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These low carb meatballs are bursting with flavor from buffalo sauce and ranch dressing! We love these buffalo chicken meatballs and I think you will too!

So, I’ve been on another low carb kick and it’s been going really well. When I do low carb, I end up eating a ton of meat and veggies and I actually feel really good and healthy. I never get that bloated “I ate too much dinner” feeling that I normally get when I’m eating carbs. It’s just so much easier to eat a healthy amount of food when your food is packed with protein. The higher fat content helps a lot too!

The thing is, I’m the only one in my house eating low carb. The rest of the family still wants their dinner to taste like they’re used to. They don’t want any strange ingredients or substitutions, so it can be tricky sometimes.

Meatballs is the one food that I’ve just downright mastered at making low carb. Low carb meatballs are so easy and they’re always a crowd pleaser!

These buffalo chicken meatballs are baked, so there’s no worry about frying anything. They’re juicy and moist and my kids love them on sandwich buns. I eat mine with a fork to keep it low carb.

I keep these fairly mild for the kiddos. Then everyone can drizzle on extra hot sauce and ranch as they see fit. It’s a good compromise! I’ve been on a major spice kick lately, so extra Frank’s on mine please!

By my calculations, these clock in at around 1 gram net carbs per meatballs. Your mileage may vary, depending on the brands you use and how large your make your meatballs, of course.

Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Per meatball: 153 cal, 11 grams fat, 2 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, NET CARBS: 1 gram

Yield: 9 meabtalls

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup prepared ranch dressing, plus more for serving
• 1/4 cup hot sauce, plus more for serving
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add all of the ingredients to a medium bowl and mix well with your hands.
3. Form mixture into 9 evenly sized meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
5. Serve with extra hot sauce and ranch dressing, as desired.

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I’ve mentioned before that it’s not often my family eats the same dish with any regularity. I mean, how could we, really, when I’m constantly creating new recipes for this blog and my clients? We can only eat so much food, you know?

So, a few of the recipes that are on repeat for dinner in this house are my fried tacos, my Dorito chicken casserole, and my grape jelly meatballs. For dessert, our repeats are Nutella brownies, butter pecan cake, and chocolate glazed donuts.

But this one right here? This pasta recipe that is loaded with crispy bacon, crunchy broccoli, and copious amounts of melty mozzarella cheese? This is probably the one we repeat the most. Every single person in my family gets excited when they see me pulling the ingredients out. Which, did I mention, there are only four ingredients to be pulled out? Mm hmm.
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My marinated flank steak is cooked indoors on the stove and finished in the oven, making it perfect for a quick dinner! The flank steak marinade is full of citrus flavor from the orange and lime juice!

Soooo, let’s talk about guilty pleasures, shall we?

My husband, kids, and I lived in Nebraska for basically all of 2014. We hated it. We missed our family back here in Illinois, my husband’s job was not quite what we had anticipated, we had no friends, life was just rough. And then we discovered a hibachi restaurant that we all fell madly and deeply in love with. I’m not saying that restaurant made us enjoy Nebraska, but it definitely made us hate it a little less.

We started going almost weekly. Which, if you’ve ever been to a hibachi joint, you can imagine how that was on the budget. Not good, you guys. It was very not good on the budget.

Then we moved home and had to move on from our love of hibachi. There are a couple of joints here, but none of them as good as the Nebraska hibachi. Go figure.

Of course, we replaced that obsession with a new restaurant near my husband’s current job. A Brazillian grill.

Dudes. It’s like we took one ridiculously expensive restaurant and replaced it with an even more ridiculously priced place. We only go about once every few months, because we are trying to be responsible human beings who do not become homeless because they ate too much juicy, tender, seriously good steak. It’s a struggle.

I’ve had to recreate a few of our favorites. This citrus marinated flank steak? Total favorite from our Brazillian grill. The flavors are so bright and fresh, which is a little unexpected for a steak. I usually marinate with a completely different flavor profile, so anytime I make this it’s a total treat.

The steak is super juicy, tender, and just so so good. It’s not quite as perfect as the Brazillian joint’s, but it’s close enough for me. And holy cow, it’s cheaper by about 834%.

Serve this with my cauliflower potato salad as a light side, some fried zucchini, and some homemade biscuits. Biscuits might not be the most traditional option, but we eat them with as many meals as possible, because they’re so good. 😉

Citrus Marinated Flank Steak

Yield: serves 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Add the flank steak to a large zip top bag.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, lime juice, honey, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and hot sauce. Pour over the meat. Seal bag and place in the fridge for at least 6 hours and up to 36 hours before cooking.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Heat a large, oven safe skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the butter and let melt.
5. Drain the marinade from the steak and pat to dry. Place dried steak in the skillet over high heat and cook for 3 minutes per side.
6. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for 4 minutes for medium rare or 6 minutes for medium.
7. Let steak rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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You guys know those little ham and cheese sliders baked to perfection on sweet King’s Hawaiian rolls? Forget ’em .

I know. It’s hard to do. They’re so perfectly cheesy with just the right mix of sweet and salty. They make for an easy dinner and are excellent football food.  We make them all the dang time.

But, seriously. Forget ’em. There’s a new slider in town.

We’re getting our buffalo chicken on with these spicy little sandwiches! These are jam packed with flavor from the Frank’s Red Hot, cheddar cheese, and triple dose of Ranch!  Yes. A triple dose. I’m from the Midwest, okay? Ranch is what we do.

I’m not the only one obsessed with buffalo chicken still, right? I feel like it was such a big THING for awhile and now maybe it’s overdone? But I don’t want to stop. I love me some buffalo chicken. Check out my buffalo chicken pasta salad, buffalo chicken meatballs, and my buffalo chicken cheeseball!

I like to start these out with a rotisserie chicken, but you can certainly used canned white chicken, cook your own, or just use whatever leftover chicken you have in the house. Browned ground chicken would even work here!

If you love sliders, don’t forget to try my Cuban sliders. They’re another favorite sandwich around here.

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Yield: 12 sliders

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, divided
• 1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot (more to taste)
• 2 cups cooked, shredded or chopped chicken
• 3 tablespoons dry ranch seasoning, divided
• 6 slices cheddar cheese
• 12 King's Hawaiian Rolls
• prepared ranch dressing, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Add 1/4 cup of butter to a small sauce pan over medium heat and melt.
3. Stir in the Frank's Red Hot to combine.
4. Add the chicken to the pan along with 2 tablespoons of ranch seasoning. Stir to coat chicken.
5. Use a bread knife to slice the rolls in half to form sandwich buns. Place the bottom half of the rolls in a 9x13 baking dish.
6. Top each roll with the chicken mixture and a half of a slice of the cheddar cheese.
7. Place the top halves of the rolls over the chicken.
8. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter over low heat. Stir in the remaining tablespoons of ranch seasoning until well combined. Spoon the mixture evenly over the tops of each roll.
9. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until heated through and rolls are golden brown.
10. Serve with prepared ranch dressing as desired.

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Summertime is more or less here, my friends. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready. I want the sunshine and the butterflies and, yes, even the humidity frizzed out hair. I like summer, ok?

I also like burgers, which means that they are a total summer staple in this house. I’ve been on a major chicken kick lately, so I thought a big ol’ chicken burger sounded like a winning dinner idea and boy, was I right. This burger is so full of flavor. And did I mention that I made these burgers each 1/3 of a pound? Big boy burgers. Mama was hungry.

I’m working with Perdue this summer to bring you some new ways to enjoy their all-natural chicken. You’re going to love this BBQ chicken burger – wait till you hear what the secret ingredient is!

Perdue has been around for 100 years, making sure that their chicken is packed with flavor, is all natural, and is high quality. Their chickens are USDA-verified vegetarian fed. They’re the only company in the US that has the USDA verify that their chickens are raised humanely on family farms. That makes me feel good about what I’m serving my family!

These big ol’ burgers are sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face this summer. They’re moist and juicy, just the way a burger should be and they just so happen to have a bunch of cheese cracker crumbs in them. How fun is that?? It adds a ton of flavor to the burgers while helping the chicken all hold together. I also snuck in a big ol’ squirt of barbecue sauce, because summer and barbecue just belong together! Can you imagine having these at your next cook out? Total heaven!

These are super quick to prepare, so you can save time in the kitchen and enjoy your summer hanging with the kiddos or relaxing by the pool. Feel free to make these burgers smaller than I have. 1/4 pound burgers are every bit as good! Check out the above video to see just how easy these are!

Be sure to visit Perdue.com for more recipes and tips to help you win this summer. Go ahead and check out my slow cooker shredded chicken as well. It’s a lifesaver on busy nights.  And if you love burgers as much as I do, you have to try this pimento cheese burger!

So, tell me! How do you want your burger? Extra bacon? Extra cheese? Extra BBQ sauce? All of the above??

BBQ Chicken Burgers

Yield: 3 burgers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound PERDUE®  ground chicken
• 1 cup cheese cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 slices cheddar cheese
• 3 sandwich buns
• 6 slices bacon
• lettuce and tomato, for topping
• extra barbecue sauce for serving

Directions:

1. Add ground chicken, cracker crumbs, barbecue sauce, egg, and seasonings to a medium bowl and stir to combine.
2. Pat into 3 large burgers.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat and melt the butter.
4. Place the patties in the skillet and cook 8 minutes and then flip. Continue cooking until cooked through, about 5 more minutes.
5. Top the burgers with cheddar cheese slices and cook until melted.
6. Serve on sandwich buns with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and extra barbecue sauce.

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Father’s Day is coming and I, for one, am planning to celebrate with man food. And by man food, I totally mean meatballs. I’m a meatball kind of girl, ok?

I teamed up with Farm Rich to bring you this recipe and they asked me to specifically create something that Dad would love. I mean, I thought about just tossing some of their Mozzarella Sticks in the oven to serve with a bowl of ranch dressing, but I figured maybe they were looking for something more creative than that. Though, really, how can you go wrong with those cheese sticks and ranch?

While I was browsing their list of products hoping for inspiration to strike, I couldn’t help but notice their little Mozzarella Bites. They’re little balls of pizza style dough with gooey mozzarella lurking on the inside. They were obviously pretty impossible to resist.

Inspiration struck and I knew I was going to make a meatball sub casserole. Holy yum.

I popped a package of those Mozzarella Bites in the bottom of a casserole dish, covered them with some of their thawed Meatballs and a jar of marinara, and then I baked it all up with a little extra cheese added on top. You can never have enough cheese when it comes to meatball subs, right?

I might just like this better than a traditional meatball sub! It miiiiiiight have something to do with the cheese stuffed bread bites. It’s such a fun and unexpected surprise when you bite into one of the bites. They are slightly sweet and garlicky. I really loved the flavor of these little guys!

This casserole is definitely a new favorite in my house. The soft bread, the melty cheese, the Italian Style Meatballs.

I think you guys will love it just as much as we do…especially since it’s only 4 simple ingredients and ready in just 20 minutes! Serve this with a green salad on the side and you’re good to go for Father’s Day (or any day!) dinner.

Talk about keeping real life, real good. Simple dinners like this are what real life is made of in my house!

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Meatball Sub Casserole

Yield: serves 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package Farm Rich Mozzarella Bites
• 1/2 package Farm Rich Italian Style Meatballs (about 25 meatballs), thawed
• 24 ounce jar marinara
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place Mozzarella Bites in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
3. Top with meatballs and marinara. Sprinkle cheese on top.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted.

The post Meatball Sub Casserole appeared first on Buns In My Oven.