BBQ Pork Rind Cheesy Cowboy Casserole & TV Feature!

Celebrate the warm weather with a good ol’ fashioned BBQ! Fire up the grill, add your favorite meats and veggies, and prepare all of your favorite side dishes, including this hearty, cheesy Pork Rind Casserole – a Southern-inspired comfort food with a delicious crunch!

I was asked to prepare Southern Recipe’s Cheesy Pork Rind Casserole with pork rinds, ground beef, beans and cheddar cheese, for a news segment that aired on NBC in the Wausau, Wisconsin area for a 4th of July segment about get-togethers! This easy baked pork rind casserole was a hit, and it’s perfect for potlucks, family dinners, or holiday meals.

Recipe Inspiration

I always love these cooking segment opportunities as they definitely put me out of my comfort zone…for just a few minutes, but help me grow in so many other ways!

I never imagined that this is something I would do…in fact, if you told me in High School that I would prepare recipes for LIVE TV, I would have probably thrown up. Ha!

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This segment for the BBQ Pork Rind Cheesy Cowboy Casserole was filmed via zoom in my own kitchen. In the past, when I filmed live TV segments for NBC Charlotte (North Carolina) I always went into the studio and prepared the recipe alongside the news anchor. So this was a different experience and actually fun to be able to do it from home! (barefoot! ? )

Ingredients Needed

• 1 lb ground beef, browned
• 1/4 c diced onion
• 1 can cream of mushroom
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
• 1 c BBQ Pork Rinds, finely ground
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 c Mexican cheese

Oven vs Crock Pot

The best part is, this hearty baked pork rind casserole can be made in a crock pot for slow cooking or in the oven for a crispy, cheesy top! I prefer making it the crock pot because I just dump, stir, cover and get on with my day!

Cooking Temperatures and Lengths

Crock Pot: High (300° F) = 4-5 hours Low (190° F) = 7-8 hours
Oven = 350° F 3 – 3.5 hours

I love to serve this Southern Pork Rind Casserole with tortilla chips and sour cream! Something about the crunchy pork rind topping paired with creamy cheese and tortilla chips makes this a perfect comfort food casserole for any occasion! Plus, the chips make this casserole so much easier to eat!

Festive Meal Plan

Start your day off with my favorite 4th of July Breakfast Muffins, then fire up the grill and enjoy these keto friendly Chicken Skewer Kabobs and this Cowboy Casserole. End the day with these Fire Cracker Sugar Cookies and American Flag Fruit Pie for dessert!

Let’s Make It Together!

Behind The Scenes Sneak Peek

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you know that I don’t always like to sugar coat things and make them always look perfect. Ya’ll life is not perfect and it’s messy. And that is OK!! Embrace it and be proud of what you have accomplished and keep trekking forward one step at a time!

As I mentioned earlier, this TV segment was actually filmed with me at my home…my “in the middle of renovation because of a lightning strike/house fire, kitchen”…I’m definitely not going to lie. I may have been a little irritable that…

• the cabinet doors are still not hung on the very top cabinets
• the doors are not hung under the kitchen sink
• the range hood isn’t built
• the wooden shelves (in-between the cabinets) are not built
• the tile backsplash isn’t up
• the pot filler isn’t up

p.s. do you like how I had to prop up my computer? HA! Yep, those are shoe boxes and ice skating boxes with rags to level it out all on top of a wooden stool! Keeping it real for you guys!

Don’t ever be discouraged by all of the perfect, beautiful, never messy photos you see online or on social media. If you zoom out…often times, there’s always real life happening there!

Sometimes house renovations just stink because they take a while…and if this was just a kitchen reno happening at our house, I think we would have finished already. But…there was a whole heck of a lot more that needed to be done. Ugh. But again, one step forward always gets you closer to your goals and end result than not doing it at all!

If you love easy, cheesy casseroles, be sure to check out more of my Southern-inspired comfort food recipes! This baked pork rind casserole is perfect for BBQs, family dinners, and potlucks. Happy holidays, my friends!

Printable Recipe Card

More Delicious Patriotic Dishes and Desserts

I love making special dishes for my family around the holidays! Here are some of my favorite desserts and dishes for the patriotic American holidays!

• 4th of July Breakfast Muffins – Moist and fluffy easy to make muffins loaded with blueberries and strawberries for a patriotic breakfast for 4th of July!
• 4th of July M&M Cookies – Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies that are filled with delicious chocolate coated candies and a rich buttery taste. Use red and blue M&M and they make the perfect cookie for the 4th Of July!
• Easy Firework Sugar Cookies for 4th of July – Celebrate 4th of July with these easy and delicious firework sugar cookies that take only a few minutes to make!