A very tasty ground beef casserole that is also healthy, keto and low carb. A super easy recipe, perfect for a weeknight dinner. Leftovers are great too!
Whenever I’m not sure what to make for dinner, I make this easy and healthy ground beef casserole. It is keto and low carb, low calorie too if that’s a concern for you. Most importantly, it’s delicious!
I always have vacuum packed ground beef in the fridge. It’s just so convenient. I use it to make some of my best recipes – kale casserole, Korean ground beef, and ground beef meat pie.
How do you make ground beef casserole?
This ground beef casserole is so easy. You quickly brown the ground beef with a few spices, mix in cream cheese and shredded cheddar, then bake until the cheese is melted.
I intentionally don’t include chopped onion in this recipe, because it’s very tasty with the onion powder and it’s so much easier not to deal with chopping an onion. Of course, you can add a medium chopped onion when browning the beef! Maybe you’re not as lazy as I am. 😉
Is this ground beef casserole healthy?
I think it is! It’s made with such a short, wholesome list of ingredients. Basically ground beef, cream cheese, cheddar and spices. Fresh, unprocessed red meat is nutritious. And dairy, even full fat dairy, is not just harmless according to recent research, but even beneficial.
Why are you using low fat ingredients in this recipe?
I used to always buy lean ground beef (85% lean). But recently I’ve started experimenting with using extra lean ground beef (93% lean). In many ground beef recipes I end up draining the fat anyway. So it actually makes sense to use leaner ground beef.
Over the years of eating a low carb diet, I have also slowly realized that there IS such a thing as too much fat. I believe that one can’t overeat in abandon (both fat and calories) and expect not to gain weight, even on a low carb or a ketogenic diet.
So you’ll see that in this recipe, I use extra lean ground beef, reduced fat cream cheese and a relatively small amount of shredded cheddar, with excellent, tasty and creamy results. However, if you wish, by all means use higher fat ingredients!
What to serve with this ground beef casserole?
Any side dish, really. It’s so very versatile. I most often serve it with an easy salad of tossed greens, or with a simple vegetable dish such as steamed broccoli or roasted asparagus.
What about leftovers?
This ground beef casserole makes excellent leftovers that taste even better the next day and can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. I reheat the leftovers in the microwave, covered, on 50% power.
Ground Beef Casserole
INGREDIENTS
- Olive oil spray for pan
- 2 lb. extra lean ground beef (93% lean)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese, cubed
- 1 cup shredded cheddar, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a 2-quart casserole dish with olive oil and set it aside.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly spray it with olive oil.
- Add the ground beef to the skillet. Cook, stirring and breaking up the meat into small pieces, until meat is no longer raw, about 5 minutes. Drain the beef if you wish (I sometimes skip this step) and return to the skillet.
- Reduce heat to medium. Mix the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne into the beef, then slowly and patiently mix in the cream cheese until fully melted and incorporated.
- Turn the heat off, and mix 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar into the beef mixture.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar on top.
- Bake the ground beef casserole until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
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