Serbian Ground Beef, Veggie, and Potato Bake Recipe

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Most Helpful Positive Review

Jan 20, 2005

The taste of the meat/veggie mixture alone merits 5 stars definitely...but there was something starchy lacking in this dish. Despite layering the potatos on top & bottom, there was still an overabundance of meat. (While we all like meat, we ended up having to heat up so leftover rice to accompany the dish.) Some nice ideas might be to serve it with egg noodles, rice or to use MUCH more potato (and perhaps mix the potatos in with the meat prior to baking?) On a separate note, I would definitely recommend including the ground cloves. I'm not a huge "clove" fan either, but I used it anyway and the result was fantastic! (If you are still wary, try a dash instead of a pinch...trust me, your taste buds will thank you.) Again, a thoroughly tasty dish which everyone loved...just lacking some starch accompaniment.

—Marlowe'sMum

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Jan 21, 2012

The meat mixture is so nicely seasoned, it tasted great, however as a whole this dish was not a success for me. The potatoes needed seasoning and would have looked and tasted better if the top layer was browned towards the end of the cooking time. The casserole itself crumbled all over our plates, I think it needs something to bind it together but I'm not sure what...

—RUBY2

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463 Ratings

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Jan 30, 2008

Wonderful -smells at 6 stars - even better than it tastes at 5 stars. Use very lean ground beef. Add two cloves garlic, part with the ground beef to be ground, part with the vegetables when cooked. Add 2.5 times potatoes - about 1/2 chopped in smallish cubes in the mix of ground beef and vegetables, plus bit more spices and wine. I simply pushed the ground beef to the side after browning and cooked the vegetables on the other side of the pan... YUM -This left the most wonderful taste in our mouths for over an hour afterwards and made the whole house smell good.

—susancache

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Jun 10, 2011

Being from former Yugoslavia myself, I can tell you that you are on the right track with this dish - it's called a mussaka. Anyway, what you are missing is a layer of potatoes in the middle. The original dish is layered so that you first put a layer of potatoes on the bottom, than a layer of meat, a layer of potatoes in the middle, than another layer of meat, than top it off with another layer of potatoes. Otherwise, the dish would be too heavy on the meat side. Also, there is an allspice that is greatly used in that region, which adds a specific taste to the original dish. The spice is called "vegeta" and you can find it in many international markets. If you make it without that spice, make sure to add some spices to the potatoes before you layer them. I usually add salt, pepper, paprika and some parsley. Enjoy!

—statebriga

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Jan 15, 2008

This recipe doesn't have that WOW factor, but it is interesting. Interesting good I would say. It is quick to make...I had it in the oven within 20 minutes. I did make a few changes. I didn't bother with the olive oil, because the dripping from the beef were sufficent to do the vegetables. I cut the black pepper down to 1/4 tspn and reduced the red pepper flakes to a pinch based on the reviews I read that the dish was spicy. Even with those reductions the dish had plenty of spice, but also stayed "kid friendly" for my 4 and 6 year old. I also doubled the salt and added garlic powder. The 2 tblsn of half and half cream you add at the end of preperation seemed not to really contribute any real taste or texture ( cream-like )quality to the dish, so when I make this again, I will probably omit it. Also next time I make this recipe I will add more potatos, because the ratio potatos/meat is heavily on the meat side. I think I will cube 1 or 2 potatos mixing it up with the beef and still using sliced potatos for the top and bottom.

—Chuck

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Feb 15, 2008

I REALLY liked this one! There is so much flavor to it! The only thing I left out was the celery since the poor stuff was quite wilted and sick looking in my fridge! (It did go straight into the trash by the way!!!) Anyway....I added a touch more red wine, I chooped baby carrots instead of shredding one, 4 potatoes and a little extra cinnamon. There is something so devine about mixing beef with flavors like cinnamon...I love it! Hubby is a huge meat and potatoes kind of guy and he went to town on this dish! There weren't any leftovers! This will be a regular at my house....but will be known as the garbage dish.....I had part of a pepper, part of an onion, a small amount of red wine from the night before, potatoes that needed to be used up.....and this dish used up all the leftover stuff so I didn't have to toss it! Great flavor! Thanks for sharing!

—bizzymomma

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Jul 17, 2007

We don’t mix milk w/ meet but all ingredients (minus the ½ & ½) really appealed to me & took a chance. Very glad we did. For those of you w/ the same food laws (or wish to make this a little less caloric… ), we increased the wine & water by 1/4c. We sautéed all vegetable prior to browning meet. Other than the mentioned changes, we followed the recipe as written. Something different using grounds meet. Thanks!

—SAK

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Jan 06, 2008

This was really, really good and best of all I had every thing in my pantry. It reminded me of Greek mousaka with the cinnamon, nutmeg and ground beef. It was interesting, but in a good way. There were a couple of things I did a little different from the original recipe. I browned the beef and then put the veggies and seasonings in (I would have liked to have figured out how to do it in one pan, but didn't want to press my luck). I couldn't figure out why you needed to take the beef out or add the extra oil. It turned out just fine. Next time I would only use one rib of celery and cut it up fine since my onion and red pepper (didn't have green) were chopped up fine. I also didn't have any half and half, but I had sour cream and I added 2 tablespoons and it was fine. This was fast and easy and tastey. This is a keeper. Thanks for sharing!

—SWEETJAM

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Nutrition

Calories
367 kcal
18%

Carbohydrates
27.2 g
9%

Cholesterol
72 mg
24%

Fat
18.1 g
28%

Fiber
5 g
20%

Protein
22.7 g
45%

Sodium
567 mg
23%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Serbian Ground Beef, Veggie, and Potato Bake

Serving Size: 1/4 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 367
Calories from Fat: 163

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 18.1g 28 %
Saturated Fat 6.4g 32 %
Cholesterol 72mg 24 %
Sodium 567mg 23 %
Potassium 988mg 28 %
Total Carbohydrates 27.2g 9 %
Dietary Fiber 5g 20 %
Protein 22.7g 45 %
Sugars 4.4g
Vitamin A 68 %
Vitamin C 84 %
Calcium 9 %
Iron 35 %
** Thiamin 20 %
Niacin 82 %
Vitamin B6 44 %
Magnesium 21 %
Folate 29 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.