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Paleo Eggplant Beef Casserole Recipe

Want to stretch your beef budget farther? Make this tasty paleo eggplant beef casserole recipe. It uses only half a pound of ground beef.

Less Meat, More Vegetables

I’ve got nothing against meat. Nutritionally, it has a lot of benefits, particularly in the protein department. It’s a good source of iron and amino acids.

If you can get organic and grass-fed beef, that’s a plus, but conventional beef is fine too if that’s not in the cards for you.

Either way, this recipe is helpful for those of you who are watching your wallet, because it only requires you to use a portion of the package of beef for this casserole.

Use the leftovers to make tasty burgers, or cook the beef to top a salad or put in an omelet.

Just because we’re cutting out a little meat doesn’t mean we’re tossing out the flavor.

Thinly slice eggplant to use as large lasagna-like noodles. A meaty, saucy mixture will be wrapped up into bundles of casserole joy with the eggplant containing everything else.

Using eggplant instead of noodles is a great move on paleo. Using more veggies instead of meat is a great move financially.

In addition to the eggplant, you’ll also include some onion and button mushrooms.

Mushrooms are pretty much the quintessential casserole ingredient. They’re great space fillers that assume the flavors around them.

They blend in super well and it gives you the feeling of eating more meat and sauce than you actually are.

Finally, just a bit of bacon amps up the flavor with its savory salty goodness.

Grow Your Own Casserole

If you’re a gardener, this is a great recipe for you. You can use up those extra veggies and have yourself a tasty dinner.

If you’ve got eggplant and mushrooms handy, you’re golden. If not, you can probably substitute veggies you do have on hand to make this dish work.

Zucchini springs to mind as a possible eggplant substitute. Salt them just like you’d salt the eggplant to pull some moisture out before assembling and baking them.

If you’ve got some tomatoes, you can make the tomato sauce yourself. That’s a much healthier alternative to most store-bought sauce anyway.

What is Paleo Anyway?

Ask 100 paleo people and they’ll give you 100 answers. There are some things most of us agree on, such as the importance of eating nutrient-dense foods.

If you’re looking at this recipe and others on the site, you’re off to a great start. If you’d like a little more guidance on our take on paleo, check out this article.

Paleo Eggplant Beef Casserole Recipe

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• Author: Louise Hendon
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Cuisine: French

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Ingredients

• 2 eggplants
• 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) avocado oil, plus extra to drizzle
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 6 slices of bacon, diced
• 7 button mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground beef
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup (320 g) tomato sauce
• 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) honey
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. Slice the eggplants lengthways as thinly as you can. Use a mandolin if it’s easier. You should have at least 15-16 slices. Scatter both sides with salt and set aside for 5-10 minutes.  Then pat them dry by pressing a paper towel on both sides.
3. In the meantime, heat the avocado oil in a large pan and cook the onions, diced bacon, and mushrooms until completely softened.  Then add the ground beef to the pan and sauté.  Make sure the beef is slightly browned. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
4. Mix together the tomato sauce and honey.
5. Grease a small baking dish and pour in the tomato sauce.
6. Place a slice of eggplant on your work surface and spoon a small amount of the meat mixture onto one end of the slice.  Roll up the slice and place into the tomato sauce (see photo).
7. Repeat until all the slices are done.
8. Drizzle over a little avocado oil and bake for 20-25 minutes.
9. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Notes

All nutritional data are estimated and based on per serving amounts.

Nutrition

• Calories: 482
• Sugar: 9 g
• Fat: 39 g
• Carbohydrates: 17 g
• Fiber: 7 g
• Protein: 19 g