My boyfriend and I are heading down to the ocean this weekend to spend some QT with my family. I am so ready to get out of town for a few days! My mom requested I make a casserole for brunch on Saturday morning, so with a little trial and error, I created this delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, Whole30 compliant brunch casserole. I'm the only one in my family that lives any sort of dietary lifestyle, but I'm fairly certain that everyone is going to love this (even my dairy king of a stepfather). Unless he reads this, I doubt he even notices there's no cheese. Fingers crossed.
I'm pretty stoked about fixing my family a nutrient-dense brunch this weekend. Before switching to a Paleoish lifestyle, I would have served up a brunch consisting of grains and dairy galore. All of which would have left us feeling sluggish and unmotivated the rest of day. Paired with a side of fresh fruit, this is the perfect satisfying dish for us to chow down on before hitting the beach for the day!
This Whole30 brunch casserole is LOADED with all the goods. I threw a little bit of this and a little bit of that into it, including ground beef, a blend of delicious spices, BACON, potatoes, onion, broccoli, carrots, eggs and my secret weapon -nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is commonly used by vegans and those with dairy intolerance as a cheese substitute because of it's a strong cheesy, creamy flavor. I'll spare you the science behind it, but simply put -it's a deactivated yeast that tastes a heck of a lot like Parmesan cheese.
I plan on pre-cooking the bacon and chopping the veggies on Friday night, so I can sleep in a bit longer on Saturday morning, but from start to finish this casserole shouldn't take longer than an hour.
It's really quite simple. Start by pre-cooking the bacon. I like cooking bacon in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, but use whatever cooking method works best for you. You can cook the bacon in advance or while you're prepping the rest of the ingredients.
While the bacon is cooking, go ahead and brown the ground beef along with the spices (salt, pepper, paprika and Italian seasoning). Once, the beef is browned, remove it from the pan and move on to the veggies. You can use the same pan for the veggies. There's really no reason to clean it first.
You can prep the veggies while the ground beef is browning or chop up everything in advance. The potatoes, onion and broccoli florets should be diced into bite-sized pieces and the carrots should be shredded (just make your life easier and buy a bag of shredded carrots).
In the same pan used for the ground beef mixture, add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and heat over medium-heat until hot but not smoking. Add the potatoes to the pan with a teaspoon of salt and cook for about 5 minutes or until they are fork-tender. Next, add the onion to the pan until they begin to soften (about a minute). Last but not least, add the broccoli florets and the shredded carrots to the pan and continue to cook everything through for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
While the veggies heat through, in a large mixing bowl, whisk a dozen eggs together with a ¼ cup of nutritional yeast. Set aside.
If you haven't done so already, set the oven to 350 degrees and chop up the bacon. I like using the excess bacon grease to grease the casserole dish (I used a 9" by 13" glass dish).
To assemble the casserole: add the chopped bacon, ground beef mixture and vegetable mixture to the casserole dish and give it a good stir. You want to make sure each piece of the casserole gets a little bit of everything. Pour the egg mixture as evenly as you can over the meat and veggies. It doesn't need to be perfect.
Bake the casserole for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until it passes the fork test (a fork inserted in the middle of the dish should come out clean).
Once it passes the fork test, let it rest for at least five minutes before cutting it into six equal squares. Serve and enjoy!
This casserole is also great to make in advance as a quick on-the-go meal option. Simply pop a slice in the oven for a minute or so, and you have yourself a delicious and nutritious breakfast in no time!
If you make this recipe, don't be shy! Let me know what you think in the comments! Tag me in your food photos on Instagram (@paleoishkrista) and use the hashtag #paleoishkristaeats! See ya'll next week!
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Whole30 Loaded Brunch Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 slices Whole30 compliant bacon
- 1 pound baby red potatoes diced
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 teaspoons salt divided
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 12 eggs
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bacon in a single-layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crisp.
- Once the bacon is finished, lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Chop the bacon. Reserve excess bacon grease.
- While the bacon cooks, begin prepping the veggies. Dice the potatoes and the yellow onion. Remove the broccoli florets from the stalks; cut the florets into bite-size pieces. If not pre-shredded, shred the carrots.
- In a large non-stick skillet, over medium-heat brown the ground beef. Stir in the salt, pepper, paprika and Italian seasoning. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until browned but not cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Do not clean the pan. To the same pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium-heat until hot but not smoking.
- Add the diced potatoes to the pan with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Add the onion; cook for 1 minute or until the onion begins to soften.
- Add the broccoli florets and the shredded carrots; cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the egg mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together 12 eggs and ¼ cup nutritional yeast until smooth.
- Grease a 9"x 13" casserole dish with 1 tablespoon of reserved bacon grease.
- Add bacon, ground beef mixture and vegetable mixture to the casserole dish and stir.
- Pour egg mixture evenly over meat and veggies.
- Bake in 350 degree pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until eggs are set.
- Let rest for 5 minutes. Divide into 6 equal pieces and serve.
