Keto Ground Beef Casserole with Cabbage
Casseroles are such delicious comfort food. But since most casserole recipes often feature pasta or potatoes, finding a good baked dinner option when you're watching your carbs can be pretty difficult. This quick and easy Keto ground beef casserole has all the flavor of your favorite comfort food without all those carbs! The next time you're in the mood for a hearty meal, give this simple dinner idea a try.
If you are a fan of cabbage, be sure to try out this simple and delicious side dish: Roasted Cabbage with Yogurt Tartar Sauce. There are so many great Keto-diet friendly recipes available like these reader favorites Keto Jambalaya, Keto Eggplant Lasagna and Keto Swedish Meatballs.
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What Do I Need to Make Keto Ground Beef Casserole?
This easy dinner is packed with tons of delicious, low-carb ingredients! Here's what you'll need to make keto ground beef casserole with cabbage:
- Ground beef
- Onions
- Garlic
- Tomato sauce
- Dried thyme leaves
- Dried dill
- Ground sage
- Salt
- Pepper
- Ground cayenne
- Cabbage
- Mozzarella cheese
How Do I Make the Casserole Recipe?
Once you have all your ingredients gathered, preparing your low carb dinner is easy! This quick meal starts in a skillet and ends in the oven for a hearty dish without all the heavy carbs.
Step One: Cook the Ground Beef
While this casserole is baked in the oven, you'll need to start by preparing a few ingredients on the stovetop first. Add the ground beef to a skillet and cook with the onion over medium-high heat. When the meat is browned, add the garlic and stir well.
Drain the fat from the meat and return the ground beef to the skillet. Stir in 1 can of the tomato sauce, along with the thyme, dill, sage, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Stir to combine all the ingredients and simmer over medium-high heat for two or three minutes.
Step Two: Combine the Ingredients
Remove the meat mixture from the stovetop and pour it into a large bowl. Add the cabbage and stir until all the cabbage is coated in sauce.
Step Three: Transfer to Baking Dish
Transfer the mixture to a large baking dish and spread the remaining tomato sauce over the top of the dish.
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Step Four: Bake the Casserole, Serve and Enjoy!
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in your oven for 45 minutes. When the cook time is up, remove the casserole from the oven and take off the foil cover. Top the dish with shredded mozzarella cheese and return it to the oven for around 10 minutes, giving the cheese time to melt. Remove for oven, allow to cool on wire rack for ten minutes. Then, serve and enjoy!
How to Cut Cabbage
Cabbage is a great way to add flavor and nutrition to any low-carb meal. There are a variety of different types of cabbage, including green, red, and Savoy. While each variety has its own delicious qualities, for this recipe, I suggest sticking with green cabbage. This cabbage has smooth, dark green outer leaves with paler green leaves on the inside.
If you've never cooked with a fresh head of cabbage, you may be wondering how to cut it. Cabbage is made up of several layers of leaves surrounded by a core in the center. While the leaves of the cabbage taste amazing, the core doesn't have the best flavor so it's best to avoid using that part of the head.
To prepare your cabbage for this casserole, start by removing the outer leaves if they're brown or damaged. Then, slice the cabbage head in half with a large knife. Once cut in half, you can easily see the core of the cabbage. It's usually shaped like a triangle.
Removing the core is a pretty easy process. Simply use your knife to cut the leaves away from the triangle-shaped core by cutting at an angle along the area where the leaves meet the stem.
After the core has been removed, you can use your knife to cut the cabbage into thin slices. For this recipe, chopping the cabbage is the best option. It gives you bite-sized pieces of cabbage that will cook more quickly than larger leaves.
What Type of Ground Beef is Best for the Keto Diet?
Cooking with ground beef is a great option when you're on the keto diet. But with so many different types of ground beef to choose from, you're probably wondering which option is best. I have found that lean ground beef is a great choice when it comes to cooking low carb. But don't go too lean or you'll lose flavor from the beef's fat. Stick with a 15% or 20% fat option for a juicy and flavorful dish every time you cook.
Can You Eat Tomato Sauce on the Keto Diet?
Tomatoes are a safe option when you're on keto, but is tomato sauce keto-friendly? The answer to that question is, it depends. Some tomato sauce varieties are made with added sugar, which is a big no-no when you're watching your carbs. That's why it's a good idea to look at the ingredients in your tomato sauce before adding it to your dish. Hunt's tomato sauce, for example, does not contain any sugar, which makes it a great option for keto recipes like this casserole.
Keto Ground Beef Casserole with Cabbage
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1 head cabbage cored and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef with the onion, crumbling the beef as it cooks. When the beef is no longer pink, stir in the garlic. Drain the beef well and return to the skillet.
- Add 1 can of tomato sauce to the skillet with the dry seasonings. Stir and simmer over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef sauce and cabbage, stirring until the cabbage is coated in the sauce.
- Transfer the combination to the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining can of tomato sauce.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove the aluminum foil and add the cheese in an even layer.
- Return the casserole to the oven and continue baking for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
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