Crock Pot Hamburger Oriental

This is a Tried-and-True-Tuesday recipe. A recipe I've used many times and we always like the results!

The first thing you should know about my Crock Pot Hamburger Oriental dish is that the only "oriental" thing about it is the Chinese-style vegetables. There is no soy-sauce (although you could always add some), no won tons, no egg rolls, no egg drop, no egg foo young, not even a fortune cookie on the side...So for all of you who don't like Chinese food, don't worry, this is NOTHING like Chinese food. For those of you who DO like Chinese food, I'm sorry I tricked you with the title.  It is really an all American crock pot comfort dish. I adapted this from a recipe called "Chinese Hamburger" in "Fix It and Forget It" which is a wonderful cookbook for anyone interested in crock pot cooking.

This is what you'll need:

• A large crock pot (mine is a 7 quart ~ you could use one a little smaller)
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 onion
• 1 28-oz can Chop Suey vegetables
• 1 14-oz can bean sprouts
• 1 8-oz can water chestnuts
• 1 can condensed chicken noodle soup (this is not a typo)
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2 ribs of celery

First, chop the onion and celery. Don't chop too small ~ you want to know they're there. Besides, the less work the better.

That's a lot of onion! But that's okay, we like it that way. I used a whole onion. You can use less if you want, but then you have to store the leftovers ~ nah, just use the whole thing.

Next, I cook the hamburger and onion on the stove.

Cook the hamburger and onions until the hamburger is browned and the onions are translucent.

Now drain baby, drain...drain the fat and liquid from the ground beef... then drain the liquid from the cans of chop suey vegetables, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts.

Give the water chestnuts a rough chop.

Now it's time to start layering the yummy goodness in the crock pot. I don't think the order is particularly important, but here's how I do mine.

First the cooked hamburger and onions. Then the drained chop suey vegetables, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and celery.

Next comes the cans of soup. It doesn't matter which one comes first.

When everyone has joined the party it's time to put a lid on it and set the crock pot to cook for 4 hours on high or 7 hours on low.

I serve this over rice. When I was working I would have the meat browned ahead of time and I would put the crock pot together on my lunch hour (I live 6 blocks from my former office). The timing was perfect for me to come back 4 hours later and just get some rice started. As the rice cooked I had time to change out of my office clothes and set the table. I know not everyone lives close enough to get this started on their lunch hour. Maybe this recipe has to be saved for those days when someone is home to start it. GoodMan is great at doing those kinds of things when needed. I leave him with instructions or more likely give him a call when it's time to put the previously prepared crock in the pot and turn it on.

Ta-da! This is the end result. I read on another blog "even ugly food needs love". I guess that could fit for this dish. It's not the most colorful, but it's a good go-to recipe for a crock pot meal.

This is the official recipe for Crock Pot Hamburger Oriental:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 onion chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 28-oz can Chop Suey vegetables, drained

1 14-oz can bean sprouts, drained

1 8-oz can water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1 can condensed chicken noodle soup

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

On stove top, cook hamburger and onion until meat is browned and onion is translucent. Drain.

In a large crock pot, layer the browned meat and the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.

Serve over rice.

What is the taste tester's bottom line?

I made this dish when my mom was here for a visit recently. It got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from her and GoodMan asked for seconds ~ that guarantees I'll be dishin' it up to my family again!

Bottom line: stays in my cookbook under "crock pot favorites".