Paleo Cheeseburger Casserole w/Nacho Cheese

Good Morning friends!

Hope this finds you somewhere warm, I am sitting on my sunporch with the heater cranked on high because it is currently 30 degrees in our little corner of the woods. I went out late last night and covered up all of my sweet little babies and fingers crossed they dont shrivel up and never come back. The best part of moving to a new house is watching come springtime and seeing what all pops up. I have Iris coming out my ears.

I got up at 6:30 this morning to get myself ready and get the boys ready to make it to the early service. I am all dressed at 7:15am on Sunday morning and go to wake Chris and he says… “Drake is sleeping so let’s just go to the 10:30”, so here I sit feeling pretty, chugging coffee.

I want to share a way to make your husband super happy, make you look like wife of the year AND give you a break all at the same time. Last night for the second time I made Paleo Cheeseburger Casserole by Fed and Fit. Oh. My. I struggle getting Drake to eat ANYTHING with nutritional value. Well I have found a little secret thanks to this recipe. She created a nacho cheese from sweet potato and nutritional yeast (full of goodness) that I literally crave. Sounds ick, but don’t knock it before you try it. I now sprinkle a little of this nutritional yeast in his mac&cheese, popcorn I am just now really starting to explore.

First I am going to share the Fed and Fit – Cassy Joy Garcia recipe and tell you how it worked for me!

Paleo Cheeseburger Casserole

Preparation 00:20 Cook Time 00:15 Total Time 0:35 Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the Casserole

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, or other fat of choice, divided
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 20 ounce package frozen hashbrowns or 5 cups shredded potatoes
• 1 recipe, Paleo nacho cheese

For the Topping

• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tomato, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a 13-inch cast iron pan, or 9×13 inch oven-safe pan, heat the oil over medium heat, add the diced onions and garlic and saute 5 to 7 minutes, until onion is translucent. Add the ground beef, salt, and pepper, and cook 7-8 minutes until ground beef is browned and fully cooked. Remove from pan.
3. Add the 3 tablespoons oil to the pan, then add hash browns. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, then flip, and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the potatoes are crispy and cooked through. Place the ground beef and onion mixture on top of the hash browns, then pour on the nacho cheese.
4. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. While casserole is baking, prepare the toppings.
5. Once casserole has finished baking, garnish with the lettuce, bacon, tomato, avocado, and jalapeno and serve!

Paleo Nacho Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 to 2-inch thick chunks
• solid cream from 1 (13.5 ounce) can of full-fat coconut milk
• 2/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• red pepper flakes, for garnish, optional
• 1 cup fresh pico de gallo (rotel substitute), optional

Instructions

1. Place the peeled sweet potato chunks into a small pot and cover with water. Cover with a lid and place on the stove over medium heat. Bring the water to a boil and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sweet potato pieces are easily pierced with a fork. Drain the water off the potatoes.
2. Immersion blender option: return the drained pot of potatoes to the stove and place over low/medium heat. Add HALF of the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Use an immersion (or “stick blender”) to blend the nacho cheese until it’s completely smooth and creamy. Add more coconut milk cream to the pot, blending as you go, until it has a consistency you like. Transfer to a crockpot over “warm” setting for a party dip or keep covered and warm on the stove until serving.
3. Food processor (or blender) option: place the drained potatoes in a food processor or blender. Add HALF of the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Blend the nacho cheese until it’s completely smooth and creamy. Add more coconut milk cream, blending as you go, until it has a consistency you like. Transfer to a crockpot over “warm” setting for a party dip or return to the stove to keep covered and warm until serving.
4. Optional: stir in 1 cup of fresh pico de gallo for a dip and/or garnish with red pepper flakes.
5. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days in a sealed container. Be sure to warm thoroughly again before serving.

Now… Mine is definitely not as pretty as hers because I am too anxious to dig in rather than taking pretty pictures. And lets be honest, when you are a mom to 1 kiddo or 15 eating a warm meal doesn’t happen as often as it should.

I have tried this with all of the listed toppings and also with bacon, avocado and jalapeno only. its delicious either way.

Here is the best part…. My husband loves this meal and it makes a very large serving. 

How beautiful is that?? My husband AND I both have a delicious healthy lunch/breakfast/dinner a couple of days this week. Now I don’t have to eat what my child doesnt because I am too tired/busy/scatterbrained to decide what to fix me, my husband has awesome lunches that will make everyone in the office jealous and we saved a ton of money not eating out AND I look like superwife. Even if you don’t want the same thing everyday for lunch, rotate.

 

I hope you love this one as much as we do!

Cheers! Cace

Advertisement