Start by peeling, and then dicing, the potatoes into 1/2″ cubes.
Slice the carrots into thin rounds and mince the onion.
Place the ground beef into a stock pot or Dutch oven. (I used my 5-quart pot and it was full to the brim.) and begin cooking it over medium-high heat. Stir to break it into crumbles as you go. You’re looking for a good hard sear on the beef. It should be dark brown, not pale and gray. You will notice bits of it sticking to the bottom of your pot. That’s good, you want that. Without it you will have much less flavor in your casserole.
Season the ground beef, to taste, with salt and pepper. ( I use 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt.) and a teaspoon of black pepper. When no pink remains remove it from the skillet and set aside. (I used to skip this step and just add the onions with the ground beef. You’ll see that in the recipe card video. The problem with that is that the moisture from the onions never really allows the beef to properly brown and get a hard sear. It ends up steaming instead of searing and flavor suffers.)
Add the diced onions to the pot in the hamburger grease left behind and continue cooking over high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
When the onions are translucent and soft drain the grease from the pan. I use paper towels to soak it up and then just toss them. It saves clogging the drain with grease.
Add the browned ground beef, diced potatoes, and sliced carrots to the pot with the onions.
Pour in 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt. That completes the Hamburger Potato Casserole assembly.
Stir to combine the ingredients and continue cooking on medium-high heat, stirring to prevent sticking.
Once the ingredients are sufficiently combined, and the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot with a lid.
Allow the hash/casserole to cook for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and give it a stir. If most of the liquid seems to have been absorbed, add the last 1/2 cup of water.
Put the lid back on the pan and let the mixture cook another 7 to 10 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender.
Do one final taste test for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper if needed.
Serve your delicious Hamburger Potato Casserole with steamed broccoli or a house salad and some crusty bread for a complete and nutritious meal.