Cauliflower Cheddar Bacon Casserole

Casseroles are something I don’t do too often, just because I prefer not to freeze too much food – but I had a bunch of stuff laying around in my kitchen and had no clue what to do with it. Casseroles are pretty handy to do once a month, to clean up any food that might be going bad and combine a ton of flavors into one compact meal.

This turned out exactly as you’d expect – very flavorful meats through each bite, extreme amounts of cheese, and a delicious crunch from the cauliflower. If you’re a fan of the recipes on the site, make sure to check out the new cookbook: Keto-fied! Comfort Foods Made Low Carb. This is how I support myself and how I’m able to do so many recipes for the site!

You have a few options for when you make this. As the recipe is, the cauliflower will be the bottom base and the cauliflower will be a little bit crunchy after you bake it. So, if you’re not a fan of the semi-raw cauliflower texture, you should par-cook the cauliflower before baking it. You can also mix together all of the cheese, beef, cauliflower and bacon to create more of a solid casserole, but I thought the idea of the cauliflower being on the bottom was nice. Again, totally up to you, but I want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before starting.

Alternatively, you can cut the florets of cauliflower quite small so that they cook all the way through while in the oven! The idea I had in mind with this is when you pour the bacon grease over the top of the casserole, the cauliflower will soak some of that up at the bottom. But, there’s still some leftover grease – so feel free to add spinach, mushrooms, or any other vegetables you’d like to add more volume to it, while also soaking up the grease. You can also replace the cauliflower with broccoli to reduce carb counts.

Yields 6 Servings of Cauliflower Cheddar Bacon Casserole

The Preparation

Ground Beef Mixture

• 1 pound ground 80/20 beef
• 1 tablespoon bacon fat
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend (or comparable all-seasoning)
• 1 tablespoon Reduced Sugar Ketchup (or Organic Tomato Paste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Red Boat Fish Sauce

Casserole Ingredients

• 10 ounces bacon, chopped and fried
• 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese

The Execution

1. Add 1 tbsp. Bacon Fat, 2 tsp. Minced Garlic, 1 tsp. Cumin, 1/2 tsp. Paprika, 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder, 1/2 tsp. Salt, 1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper, 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder, 1/4 tsp. Ground Black Pepper, and 1/4 tsp. Mrs. Dash Table Blend to the 1 lb. of Ground Beef.

2. Using your hands, thoroughly mix this together, making sure all of the spices run through.

3. Place the ground beef into a plastic bag and pour 1 tbsp. Reduced Sugar Ketchup, 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce, and 1 tsp. Red Boat Fish Sauce over the beef.

4. Use your hands through the bag to massage everything together. Roll the beef into a log and take all of the air out of the bag, then store in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

5. Slice the bacon into small chunks and begin to cook it.

6. Once bacon is finished, save grease for later. Lay bacon on paper towels to cool and crisp up.

7. In the same pan, begin to brown the ground beef. You want it cooked, but not fully cooked.

8. While beef is cooking, preheat your oven to 350F and chop the cauliflower into florets. Chop florets to the size you want – the smaller they are the more they will cook in the oven. If you want to, you can also cook them at this stage.

9. Arrange the cauliflower florets in the bottom of a casserole dish (this is a link to a pyrex one with attachable lids, which I prefer over non-stick based ones).

10. Place ground beef over the cauliflower. You’re welcome to mix this together to create a more solid casserole once finished.

11. Rip chunks off of 4 oz. cream cheese and place over the top.

12. Place bacon and 4 oz. cheddar cheese over the top of the casserole. Pour bacon grease over the top of the casserole.

13. Place casserole in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and browned over the top.

14. Remove casserole and let cool.

15. Serve – feel free to add red pepper flakes, slices of jalapeno peppers, or sprinkling of parsley over the top!

This makes a total of 6 servings. Each serving will come out to 575 Calories, 46.3g Fats, 4.4g Net Carbs, and 26.8g Protein.

Cauliflower Cheddar Bacon Casserole

This makes a total of 6 servings. Each serving will come out to 575 Calories, 46.3g Fats, 4.4g Net Carbs, and 26.8g Protein.

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Ingredients

  

Ground Beef Mixture

• 1 lb. Ground Beef 80/20
• 1 tbsp. Bacon Fat
• 2 tsp. Minced Garlic
• 1 tsp. Cumin
• ½ tsp. Paprika
• ½ tsp. Chili Powder
• ½ tsp. Salt
• ¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• ¼ tsp. Onion Powder
• ¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper
• ¼ tsp. Mrs. Dash Table Blend
• 1 tbsp. Reduced Sugar Ketchup
• 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp. Fish Sauce

Casserole Ingredients

• 10 oz. Bacon chopped and fried
• 1 medium Head Cauliflower cut into florets
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese
• 4 oz. Cheddar Cheese

Instructions

 

• Using your hands, thoroughly mix the ground beef mixture (except ketchup, soy sauce, fish sauce). Once mixed together, put into a Ziploc bag and add the ketchup, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
• Tightly roll the meat inside the bag, seal it, and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• Chop bacon into small pieces and pan fry them until crisp. Lay on paper towels to cool, save the bacon grease for later.
• Add ground beef mixture to pan to brown. While doing this, cut cauliflower into florets.
• Arrange florets in the bottom of a casserole dish and preheat oven to 350F. Add ground beef and chunks of cream cheese to the top of this.
• Finally, add the bacon and cheddar cheese, then pour the bacon grease over the top.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes until cheese is completely melted and browned on top.