Ground Beef Casserole with Cauliflower Rice
Apr 06, 2020, Updated May 28, 2024
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Ground Beef Casserole is packed with fresh spinach, beef, and cheese, then combined with cauliflower rice and baked. A low-carb and Keto casserole the whole family will love.
This ground beef casserole is an easy and delicious dinner recipe! Casseroles make everyone’s lives easier, and this one is a true timesaver. It is a fusion of lean ground beef and fluffy cauliflower rice, all baked to bubbly perfection. It requires minimal prep, and then you just pop it in the oven and forget about it for the next 30-ish minutes.
It’s low-carb and Keto, too. Swapping traditional rice for cauliflower rice significantly lightens the dish, making it not just tasty but also waistline-friendly. Get ready to make a meal that’s perfect for a cozy family dinner or as a meal prep solution, packing nutrition, convenience, and a whole lot of yum into one dish!
Why We Love This Ground Beef Casserole
- Nutritious. This recipe is the epitome of comfort food but without guilt. The lean ground beef provides a protein boost, and the cauliflower rice offers a low-carb alternative to traditional grains. We add extra veggies like spinach for added sustenance.
- Quick. The recipe is quick, making it a perfect choice for busy weeknights. This casserole can be on the table in 30 minutes.
- Easy. Only uses simple, easy-to-find ingredients you’ll likely spot in your pantry and fridge.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This easy ground beef casserole recipe is quick to put together and perfect for feeding a crowd! It’s a comforting dish made with wholesome and simple ingredients, swapping out rice for cauliflower.
- Olive oil: For sautéing the onions and garlic. You could use any other neutral cooking oil.
- Yellow onion: White onion is a suitable substitute.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is almost always my go-to, but garlic powder (1/4 teaspoon per clove) will also work.
- Ground beef: If you’d instead use ground turkey or ground chicken, that’s okay, too!
- Italian Seasoning: You can also use a blend of dried oregano, basil, and thyme.
- Sweet paprika: Adds a mild, sweet pepper flavor. Smoked paprika or regular paprika also works.
- Salt and black pepper: Enhances the overall flavor of the casserole.
- Baby spinach: Adds freshness and nutrients.
- Frozen cauliflower rice: Substitute with cooked white rice or brown rice.
- Sour cream: Adds creaminess to the dish..
- Butter: Helps to blend the ingredients.
- Dried basil: Adds a subtle herb flavor, or you could also add in dried oregano or parsley.
- Milk: Helps with the desired creaminess.
- Shredded Italian blend cheese: For the topping. Any shredded cheese you prefer.
How to Make Ground Beef Casserole
I can’t wait for you to make my tried-and-true recipe for the best ground beef casserole with cauliflower rice, packed with simple everyday ingredients and loads of cheese! Follow the step-by-step instructions below.
- Preheat: Set your oven to preheat to 375˚F.
- Saute: Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic.
- Brown: Add the ground beef and season it with Italian Seasoning, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the beef is completely browned.
- Add: Add in the spinach. You might have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet. Stir frequently for 1 more minute or until the spinach is wilted. Remove the skillet from the heat, drain liquid from the skillet, and set it aside.
- Combine: In a baking dish, combine cauliflower rice, sour cream, butter, and dried basil. Stir and mix until everything is completely combined and creamy. Add the prepared beef mixture to the baking dish and stir until everything is incorporated. Then, top it all with shredded cheese.
- Bake: Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until the juices are bubbly and cheese is melted.
- Serve: Remove the dish from the oven and let stand for several minutes before cutting and serving.
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to let the casserole rest before serving. This will allow it to firm up and make it even prettier and more yummy on your plate. Trust me, it’ll be worth the wait.
- Don’t cover the casserole. I know, that’s like casserole blasphemy, but since everything is already cooked and warm, it’s really not necessary. Baking it uncovered will allow the cheese to get bubbly and melty, which I really like!
- More veggies? No problem. If you want to add more veggies to this casserole, you could throw in some diced and sauteed carrots, or some frozen peas or corn.
- Meat options. You can opt to use ground turkey, ground pork, or sweet Italian sausage in place of the ground beef, if you prefer.
- Make A Day Ahead: Prep this casserole in the morning or the night before, and tightly cover it. Keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake it. For even cooking, take the casserole out of the fridge about 15 to 20 minutes before it goes into the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes and No. I have tried this casserole with both methods, and it works either way, but you should thaw the cauliflower if frozen because it’s easier to work it in the sauce. However, I prefer to precook it because it’s much easier to get a creamy consistency when the cauliflower is warm.
This casserole can definitely be modified to be vegetarian. My favorite way to do that is by using mushrooms in place of ground beef. Mushrooms have a hearty meat-like flavor, and I bet you won’t even miss the meat! Another option is to make a lentil-based ground meat substitute. This is commonly done as a taco meat substitute and could work easily here.
This ground beef casserole makes for a great freezer meal. I love to make it for my new mom friends or where a parent has just undergone surgery. This is also a great freezer meal idea for meal prep, making weeknight dinners a little easier for you. This casserole can stay in the freezer for about 3 months. All you have to do is defrost it and bake it in the oven when ready.
How to Store Leftovers
Once the casserole is baked, leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
To reheat, allow the casserole to reach room temperature, then heat it at 375˚F until warmed throughout. For individual portions, scoop your desired amount into a bowl and microwave, stirring midway, until hot.
More Casserole Recipes
- Cheesy Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Casserole
- Tex Mex Cheesy Beef Quiche
- Spaghetti Beef Casserole
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
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Ground Beef Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 10 ounces frozen cauliflower rice, cooked according to the directions on the bag
- 1 cup sour cream, or plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk, if needed
- 8 ounces shredded Italian blend cheese, or any other shredded cheese that you have/prefer
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
- Heat the olive oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 20 seconds.
- Add ground beef and season it with Italian Seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Continue to cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, and cook until beef is completely browned.
- Add in spinach – you might have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet – cook, stirring frequently, for 1 more minute or until spinach is wilted.
- Remove from heat, drain the liquid from the skillet, and set aside.
- In a 9×13-inch baking dish, combine cooked cauliflower rice, sour cream, butter, and dried basil; stir and mix until completely combined and creamy. If sour cream and butter aren’t melting completely, stir in some milk. The cauliflower rice should be warm enough to melt the butter.
- Add prepared beef mixture to the baking dish; stir until everything is completely incorporated. Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until bubbly and cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and let stand for 7 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
- Add vegetables. Feel free to add more veggies like sauteed carrots or frozen peas.
- Substitutes. Swap ground beef with turkey, chicken, pork, or Italian sausage.
- Don’t cover. Avoid covering the casserole with foil before baking to let the cheese melt and bubble up.
- Rest. Let the casserole rest for a few minutes after baking and before serving.
- Make ahead. Prep the casserole a day ahead, store it in the fridge, and bring it to room temperature 15-20 minutes before baking.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
My family is really not into spinach.. do you think i can leave it out and it would be fine?
Hi!
Yep, you can definitely leave it out.
It’s in the oven right now, can’t wait! However, I did everything according to recipe and the oven dish recommended was just WAY too big for for the amount of food so I put it in the smaller. Hopefully it comes out the same way! I will update later!
Delicious and low carb! I didn’t have basil, so I left it out. Used mozzarella cheese because that’s what I had on hand. Very satisfying, but we didn’t get 6 servings out of it. Might want to serve a couple of side dishes with it to feed 6 people.
Any ideas on substitutions to get the fat grams down? I am not supposed to have over 20 a meal but this just looks so good.
Hi!
See if you can use ground turkey, and also use low-fat sour cream, as well as low-fat cheeses.
Can this be made with fresh cauliflower?
Hi!
Yes, that works, too, but precook it for few minutes, or until just tender.
How would you suggest I pre-cook the fresh riced cauliflower and for how long?
I live in Ontario, Canada and I don’t believe we have access to Trader Joe frozen riced cauliflower
Hi!
So you can just pour the riced cauliflower in a greased skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir frequently.
I use my steamer. I throw the cauliflower in the food processor and pulse it til it looks like rice. Then I steam in my steamer for about 5 minutes
Could this be made with frozen spinach? Think it would work?
Yes, that will work, but the only thing I’d worry about is the amount of water that the spinach might release during cooking. Just drain the water from the beef-spinach mixture before transferring everything over to the baking dish.
What can be used to replace the sour cream? Not a huge fan of sour cream.
Hi!
How about plain yogurt?
Why does it say Net Carbs 0 above the nutritional value box? The box says 13 carbs and 3 fiber which equals 10 net carbs.
I’ve made it 3 times in one month, twice with ground beef and once with Italian sausage. Once with sharp cheddar bacon cheese. So delicious
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I am very happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thank YOU! 🙂
Have made this twice now, and we love it!!! To save on dishes, I add the cauliflower, butter, basil, and sour cream right to the ground beef mixture in my (ovenproof) skillet, stir well, top with cheese, and bake right in the skillet. Wonderful! Thank you!
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Excellent one-dish meal. Hubby loves it too!
Such a comforting meal! Everyone at my house loved this!
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂