John Wayne Casserole Vs Cowboy Casserole: What's The Difference Between The Comfort Dishes?

Cowboy casserole and John Wayne casserole have one very important thing in common: they both come with a misleading name. Movie star John Wayne had very little to do with the comforting hot dish that bears his name today, and cowboy casserole was definitely not a food that cowboys ate on the trail — in fact, it's almost completely unrelated to actual cowboys. Today, these casseroles are both Southwest-inspired and hearty family dinners starring ground beef. So, what's the difference? A John Wayne casserole gets its starchy savor from canned biscuit dough as the base. On the other hand, a cowboy casserole's starchy component is tater tots arranged on the top.

We know that John Wayne liked to grill old-school cowboy steaks, but we don't know that he ever chowed down on a hamburger casserole with biscuits on the bottom. The original "John Wayne casserole" was an egg and cheese recipe that Wayne sent to 10-year-old Cara Connery as part of a 1979 celebrity cookbook she was compiling to raise funds for cancer research. Over the years, it morphed many times; a cafeteria dish from the University of Mississippi Medical Center is actually a lot closer to the current iteration than the Duke's breakfast scramble.

On the other hand, a cowboy casserole may simply have been named because it's filling enough to hypothetically feed a hungry cowboy after a long day of labor. It's philosophically similar to a cottage pie (not the same as shepherd's pie), with strata of beef, corn, and potatoes in the form of tater tots. In both a cowboy casserole and a John Wayne casserole, plenty of additional ingredients may be added.

Another pair of commonalities between John Wayne casserole and cowboy casserole is that they are both cheap and incredibly easy to riff upon based on what you have in your kitchen. There aren't a ton of fundamental differences to the beef filling, which is usually flavored with a packet of taco seasoning mix or your own concoction of TexMex seasonings. While the cowboy casserole almost always has corn, you may also see diced bell peppers and maybe even hot peppers in a cowboy casserole. Diced tomatoes add body to the filling as well.

A John Wayne casserole normally nestles its ground beef in a creamy sauce. This can be as simple as a can of cream of (fill in the blank) condensed soup and some milk, or you can get creative with a roux and build your own cream sauce with a panoply of herbs and spices. Oh, and do you like beans? They're a protein- and fiber-rich addition to either casserole that perfectly suits the Southwest flavor profile. 

In a casserole, cheese can act as a binder, a way to flavor sauce, or a golden layer of textured goodness up top. The flexible preparations of both these dishes allow you to get as cheesy as you'd like, or, on the other hand, to use sparing amounts and let the other flavors shine. Casseroles in general are a forgiving format, and both cowboy casserole and John Wayne casserole share the advantage of not being at all strict.