OK, so growing up we used to have this like once every few weeks. It’s quick, it’s easy, and I swore that it was a family recipe.

When researching this recipe, I then found out that apparently, this is a hot dish that’s made all over the Midwest. And according to my mom, it’s in tons of church cookbooks.

This recipe is pretty simple, and it’s delicious, and it is kind of weird. And definitely not at all Asian.

Chow mein hot dish 

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon of dehydrated toasted onions, or 1/4 diced white onion
• one can of cream of mushroom soup
• half a can of cream of mushroom soup filled with water
• One cup of uncooked rice
• Two ribs of celery, diced
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 small can of water chestnuts slices, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of chow mein noodles

Directions

1. In an electric skillet over medium heat, cook and crumble ground beef and onion.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except chow mein noodles.
3. Cook on medium stirring often until rice is tender.
4. Remove from heat, top with chow mein noodles, and serve immediately.

Serves 6.

If you want to add extra veggies, add 1 cup sliced mushrooms when cooking the meat and onion.

You can cook this on the stove, but I’ve always cooked the majority of my hot dishes in an electric skillet. I’m not sure why. Probably because my entire family does.

Some people like this served with a little bit of soy sauce, but I find that the condensed cream of mushroom soup is salty enough as it is.