Whole30 Meatball Casserole
Whole30, Paleo, Gluten Free, Grain Free and Dairy Free
I grew up in a household that was a bit more unconventional than those of my friends. We never had take out dinner or frozen dinners. We never had macaroni and cheese. We never had “sugary” cereals. But, we did eat casseroles. Casseroles or Hot Dishes were staples in my house. Quick, easy, delicious and guaranteed to have leftovers. While my Mom made a lot of homemade casseroles, many had convenience items such as “cream of something” soup, and that “cheese” that melted so well. My Mom made this meatball casserole regularly. It was made with whole grain white rice, and was covered with cheese. I adapted this to make it fit my Whole30 lifestyle. While the cheese might not be there, the taste certainly is.
Ingredients:
For meatballs:
- 1 lb of grass fed ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of minced onion
- 1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of ghee
For rice:
- 24 oz (3cups) of frozen cauliflower rice (defrosted)
- 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots (I used baby rainbow carrots in the recipe)
- 3 cups of bone broth or organic beef stock
- 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley
Directions:
- In a bowl, combine the grass-fed ground beef, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, minced onion, salt, and black pepper. Fold together with your hands.
- Form into meatballs the size of a golf ball. This recipe should make about 12 meatballs. Place on a sheet tray.
- Refrigerate for 20 minutes to firm them up.
- In a cast iron skillet or frying pan, melt the ghee on medium-high heat.
- Brown the meatballs on each side. You may need to do this in multiple batches depending on the size of your skillet. These do not need to cook through, they just need browning.
- Remove the meatballs from the pan and drain on a paper towel.
- In the skillet add the cauliflower rice. Saute for just a few minutes.
- Add in the carrot and the mushrooms.
- Nestle the meatballs in; arranging them so that each area of the skillet has a meatball.
- Add the stock, and cover.
- Cook until the stock has absorbed. This will be roughly 20 minutes.
- Uncover and add chopped parsley.
- Serve when warm.
Note: The original version of this recipe, had slices of cheese put over the top in the last few minutes. The steam would melt it and each bite would be gooey. It also is good with steak sauce or ketchup drizzled over it.
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