Bacon Burger Cauliflower Casserole (Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, Gluten Free)

This Paleo bacon burger casserole is a wonderful comfort food and a definite crowd-pleaser at our house. It also happens to be Paleo, Keto, and Whole 30 friendly, low-carb, and gluten-free.

The great thing about this dish is you get the yummy gooeyness of burger ingredients but with a good bit of vegetables hidden inside. My family didn't even notice the cauliflower at first- the key to this is cutting the cauliflower pieces into relatively small and bite-size pieces and roasting really well. I will actually cut them even a little smaller next time I do this. 

If you're looking for other ground beef recipes, check out my Korean Glass Noodle Recipe with Ground Beef, Easy Ground Beef Vegetable Skillet, AIP Beef Meatballs, and Philly Cheesesteak Skillet.

**Just a quick heads up- this post contains affiliate links which means if you click on them and buy something,  I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) to help continue maintaining this site. 

Paleo Bacon Burger Casserole Ingredients

• Ground beef- Preferably grass-fed if possible and around 90/10 for fat content, though you could really use any percentage as long as you drain off the extra fat. 
• Bacon- Preferably uncured. I just sliced the bacon into small pieces before cooking it to speed up the cooking process. You could also just buy precooked bacon or bacon bits to speed things up (it's just hard to find uncured, "natural" bacon that's already prepared).
• Cauliflower- I just bought a 24 oz package of pre-cut "washed and ready to eat" cauliflower to save a little time but I did cut the pieces a little smaller beyond that. To save even more time, you could probably use steamable bags of cauliflower or cauliflower rice (I figure you would need about 3 10 oz bags). I plan to try this with the recipe next time I do it. 
• Onion- I used red onion but white or yellow is just fine too.
• Olive oil/Avocado oil- Mostly just for greasing pans and for the roasted cauliflower. 
• Pickle chips and Shredded Lettuce- These are to garnish. Dill chips go great with it but you get get creative here and do other pickle types, banana peppers, pepperoncini's etc. 

For the Sauce:

• Fire Roasted Tomatoes- I really didn't want to use ketchup for the sauce because it's tricky to find Paleo-friendly ketchup and it's time-consuming to have to make every recipe ingredient from scratch. Tomatoes worked great for this sauce.
• Mayonnaise- You could make your own but I just used Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo. I usually get it from Kroger. It's a little pricey but convenient if you don't have the time or desire to make your own.
• Coconut Aminos- This is just a tad sweet and really gives a good zing to any sauce. You only need a little bit for this sauce though.
• Pickle Chips- I used dill chips but you could use relish. It doesn't matter since you'll be blending them/it into the sauce.
• Arrowroot Starch- This helps the sauce to stay nice and thick. Tapioca flour works fine too.           

How to Make this Casserole

Roasted Cauliflower 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Chop cauliflower into small bite-sized pieces and transfer to cookie sheet. Next time I will cut the pieces a little smaller than what you see below. 
• Drizzle olive oil over cauliflower and season with salt and pepper.
• Bake in oven for about 15 minutes until slightly browned.
• Remove from oven and turn temperature down to 350 degrees.

Bacon Bits

• While cauliflower is roasting, line a plate with paper towels.
• Cut the raw bacon into small pieces and fry in a frying pan on medium-high heat until fully cooked.
• Scoop bacon from the pan onto plate lined with paper towels to allow the grease to drain off.
• Set aside.

Beef and Onions

• Rinse off the pan used for the bacon if needed, then add 1 tbsp oil to pan and add onions.
• Cook onions 3-4 minutes on medium high heat until translucent.
• Add spices. 
• Add ground beef and cook until browned.
• Drain off of extra grease.
• Set beef mixture aside.

Sauce

• Combine sauce ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.

Put it all Together

• Lightly grease a large (11x14) glass baking dish.
• Add all ingredients to baking dish and mix together.
• Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Garnish with shredded lettuce and pickle chips. Enjoy.

Conclusion:

I hope you love this recipe.  Please leave a comment below and let me know what you thought!

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @foodcourage for the latest AIP/Paleo recipes, autoimmune nutrition info, and Food Courage happenings!