Melt in your mouth bacon cheeseburger cauliflower casserole is probably the ugliest casserole we’ve ever seen, but the taste just can’t be beat! It’s like Keto meets comfort-food, each bite smothered with a decadent cheese sauce and bits of bacon, if you haven’t tried this one yet, you’re missing out.
The problem with such a yummy casserole like this one is that it’s dreadfully UGLY. It’s pretty difficult to pile a bunch of meat and veggies together, smother them in a cheese sauce and make them look like they should be in some sort of high-end food cooking show, because well let’s face it, Ugly food tastes great too. In fact, it usually tastes better than most “pretty food”.
As you can see from the video above, we’re using our Mastrad silicone cooker to steam the cauliflower, I love it because it helps food retain essential vitamins and minerals that are often lost with other cooking methods, it’s easy to handle, cooks very quickly without the addition of fats and it’s very easy to clean. I’ve had this one for years!
If you’d like to make this recipe keto-friendly you can use 1 tsp Glucomannan powder, or 1 Tbs arrowroot powder, or 1 Tbs of ground flax seed
You’ll Need:
1 head cauliflower
1/3 cup flour (optional) or you can use 2 Tbs Almond Flour if you’re keto!)
6 ounces bacon, cut up into small pieces
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Sauce
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs flour (or use Glucommanan Powder, or 1/8 teaspoon Xanthan Gum)
1 1/2 cups Half & Half
2 Tbs Spicy Brown Mustard
1 c. cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded
1/2 c. shredded cheddar for the top
Remove the stem and cut the cauliflower into small bite sized pieces, then steam it until it is fork tender.
Transfer the cauliflower to a bowl sprinkle with one-third cup of flour, season lightly with salt and mix well, ensuring it’s evenly coated, set aside.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet until moderately cooked, but not overly crisp.
Transfer the bacon onto the floured cauliflower but leave the bacon “juice” in the pan as this will add a tremendous amount of flavor to the beef.
Add the ground beef to the skillet containing the hot bacon fat and cook until browned. Drain any excess fat.
Add the onion powder, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper and mix well, set aside while you prepare the cheese sauce.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter then add the flour, stirring constantly, cook 1 minute. Whisk in the mustard, once it’s fully incorporated, whisk in the half and half cream.
Add one cup of shredded cheese, reserving the rest for the top of the casserole.
Cook, stirring frequently until the sauce thickens and the cheese is fully incorporated.
Place 1/2 cup of the sauce to the bottom of a 9 by 13 baking dish.
Spread the cauliflower mixture on the spread as evenly as possible.
Spread the ground beef evenly over the cauliflower mixture, then top with the cheese sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Bake 15-20 Minutes, or until cheese is melted.
My low carb version:
Cook 12 oz Frozen Riced Cauliflower according to package directions. Drain off the excess liquid. In a cup, combine 1/3 C fine almond flour, 1/4 TSP glucomannan and 1/2 TBSP flax seed meal, this will prevent lumping. Stir the flour mixture into the cauliflower, set aside. This will help thicken the cooking juices.
In an ovenproof skillet, brown 1-1/2 LBS ground beef. Drain off excess grease.
Stir in 6 oz cooked crumbled bacon, 1 TSP onion powder, 1 TSP Italian Seasoning blend, 1 TSP garlic powder, 1 TSP salt and 1/2 TSP black pepper.
Mix well.
Stir the cauliflower mixture into the seasoned ground beef. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Meanwhile, In a small saucepan, melt 1 TBSP butter. Whisk in 2 TBSP spicy brown mustard until well combined.
Combine 1/4 TSP glucomannan with 1/2 TBSP flax seed meal, stir until well mixed.
Whisk in 1-1/2 C heavy whipping cream into the mustard mixture until well mixed.
Whisk in the flax mixture, stirring until well mixed.
Add 4 oz shredded mild cheddar cheese.
Stir until the cheese is melted.
Pour over the meat-cauliflower mixture in the skillet. Stir until well mixed.
Smooth the top of the mixture with a spoon. Sprinkle 4 oz of shredded mild cheddar cheese evenly over the top.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes so the cooking juices cool and thicken.
Do you know how well this freeze’s and reheats?