Beef and Zucchini Casserole

A hearty, healthy, dish perfect for busy weeknights. This ground beef zucchini casserole uses spiralized vegetables to bulk it up and is layered with a creamy, tomato sauce that’s seasoned with simple ingredients.

Course dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten free dinner,

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings

Calories 234kcal

Author Shelby Stover

Equipment

Ingredients

2.5 Zucchini medium sized
1 Sweet potato large
0.34 kilograms Lean ground beef about ¾ pound
⅓ cup Onion chopped
2 cloves Garlic minced
½ Bell pepper diced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon Sea salt
½ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
1.5 cups Tomato sauce
⅓ cup Dairy-free cream cheese softened
2 tablespoons Nutritional yeast

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Brown the beef over medium heat with the garlic and drain the excess grease.
Add in the onion and peppers and cook 2-3 minutes until they start to soften. Set aside.
Meanwhile. spiralize the sweet potatoes and zucchini.
Place the sweet potatoes at the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish followed by the zucchini.
Drizzle ½ cup of tomato sauce over the vegetables.
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining tomato sauce, seasonings, cream cheese, and nutritional yeast until smooth.
Pour into the pan of cooked ground beef and mix until everything is coated.
Scoop the ground beef mixture onto the vegetable noodles and smooth it out until even.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes before removing the foil and baking for another 15 minutes.

Video

Notes

If you have slow cooker ground beef made, skip the browning and just reheat it on the stove with some water and the bell peppers and onion.

Make sure to layer the sweet potato noodles on the bottom of the dish so that the zucchini is on top of them. As the water comes out of the zucchini it will cook the noodles.

You want to make sure that the ground beef is fully coated in the sauce before portioning it onto the noodles. You may need to add a splash more tomato sauce if your cream cheese is really thick.

You only want the casserole dish covered for half the baking time, otherwise, the zucchinis give off too much water. Uncovering it halfway through allows it to thicken up and set a bit.

See the blog post for full directions on meal prep and storage.

Nutrition