Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

 I cannot wait for you to try this rich and creamy Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole!

This post will guide you in making the BEST Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole.  Not only is this casserole incredibly creamy and decadent, but it is so easy to make. 

If you’re looking for a quick and easy weekday dinner or meal prep idea, then you will LOVE this dish.   There have been many times that I didn’t feel like cooking or I had no idea what I should make for my family. 

Our favorite Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole has saved my life many times.  Plus there’s the extra benefit of my entire family loving it, even my 18 month old daughter!

This post is all about making the BEST Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole.

Seriously, we absolutely love this casserole.  Not sure about you, but casserole dishes can be a total game changer when it comes to a busy weeknight.  Though I feel if you’re reading this post, then you probably dig casseroles too right? 

Besides saving your busy momma sanity (which is pretty important), you can feel really good about providing you and your family with a very low carb meal that doesn’t have any funky ingredients.  Also, who doesn’t love cheeseburgers right?  My favorite is when my husband and daughter ask for seconds!  

So, like I’ve said before, this recipe is crazy easy and really fast.  From start to finish dinner will be ready in less than an hour!   Another bonus is that you probably have every single ingredient on hand, especially if you’ve been on a low carb or keto diet for any amount of time.   You can even make a quick salad or some steamed veggies on the side for a complete meal. 

Oh I almost forgot! There’s another bonus!  This Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole freezes like a dream!  And because you have the ingredients, I’d suggest doubling or even tripling the recipe so you can have future delicious dinners in the freezer waiting for you.  All you’ll need to do is follow the instructions up until the part where you put the baking dish into the oven.  Instead what you’ll do is wrap up your baking dish with some cling film and aluminum foil (don’t forget to write on the aluminum what’s in there) and the night before you want to have it, take it out and place in the fridge to defrost and then cook per the instructions.  Let’s get started shall we?

Do I have to use beef for this cheeseburger casserole?

Well, in short no.  But we are making a cheeseburger casserole, which is why we’re using ground beef. If you’re unable to eat beef or just prefer turkey, chicken or bison go ahead and make a ground turkey, ground chicken or ground bison casserole. 

So, for this recipe I used 80/20% ground beef. You may use a leaner or fattier ground beef. Totally up to you.  Just make sure to drain your meat if it’s fattier. 

Bacon crumbles or sliced bacon?

Okay, I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to chop up bacon and cook it in a pan or cook them in the oven.  Plus I had real bacon crumbles that I bought from Costco and I was totally fine with using them, and it doesn’t affect the taste or texture.  If you do not have bacon crumbles feel free to cook up some bacon.  There’s no need to go out to a store and buy a bag of bacon crumbles if you already have sliced raw bacon. 

No eggs??

Correct! No eggs in this recipe.  I totally understand why other recipes contain eggs and that’s because it’s used as a binder.  However, we’re adding cream cheese which acts as a binder and adds a really beautiful creaminess to the Cheeseburger Casserole.  If you really want to add eggs you totally can, but there really isn’t any need for it. 

Cheeseburger Casserole Varieties

Our family loves a bit of heat.  Okay.. I love a bit of heat.  So to this casserole I’ve added some diced hatch chilies.  It adds just a tiny bit of heat without overpowering the dish.  Like I’ve said in the beginning, my 18 month loves this recipe, which really does confirm that it  has only a tiny bit of heat.  

But here’s where you can get creative.  You can make a Tex-Mex style cheeseburger casserole, or a BBQ bacon cheeseburger casserole.  Both of those sound fantastic!  You can absolutely make this recipe your own and either completely omit the hatch chilies, add more, add a different chili… you get it right?

Making your Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

The very first step is to set your oven to 450°F and then add ground beef to a large sauté pan on medium heat, followed by your diced onion. 

Once our diced onion has been added go ahead and add in the ground black pepper, salt and Worcestershire sauce.  There’s no need to wait until the ground beef is cooked all the way before adding. 

On medium heat, your ground beef should be completely cooked at around 5 minutes.  Once ground beef is cooked we’ll add our garlic.  The reason why you need to wait on adding fresh garlic is that you run the risk of burning it.  Garlic is suuuuper delicate and burns very easily.  Not sure if you’ve tasted burnt garlic before, but it’s pretty gnarly. 

Okay, so add your garlic and continue to stir until it becomes very fragrant.  Now add the tomato paste and the hatch chilies. 

As soon as your garlic, tomato paste and hatch chilies have been incorporated, you’re ready to add mustard and cauliflower rice.  You can use ANY mustard you prefer, it absolutely does not have to be yellow mustard.  So feel free to use your fancy mustard instead. 

I used a frozen bag of riced cauliflower from Costco.  If you don’t have a Costco or Sam’s Club membership you can get a bag of frozen cauli rice from any (I’m pretty sure any) regular grocery store, or you can even make your own by grating a head of cauliflower. 

Allow your cauliflower some time to cook down before adding the final ingredients. This should be no more than 5 minutes.  Now we’ll add our bacon, cream cheese and pickles.  I like to slice up my cream cheese before adding it to any savory dishes.  I feel this facilitates a quicker melting time because it’s in smaller pieces, rather than trying to melt down a big block of cold cream cheese. 

It does take a little bit of time incorporating the cream cheese, but it shouldn’t be longer than 5 minutes.  Just continue to stir all the ingredients.  Once creamy add your diced pickles and stir again. 

We’re now ready for the very last steps!  Turn your heat off and add 1/3 of the shredded cheese to the pan. Mix around a bit until melted.  

Grab a 9″x11″ baking dish and spray with avocado oil.  Now is this step necessary?  Probably not, but I’d rather be safe than sorry when it comes to baking things.  Neither my husband nor I like to stand at the sink trying to scrape all the baked on crud off a baking dish.  Anywho, I digress.  Add the whole mixture into your lightly greased baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.  Cook for 20 minutes and you’re done!

Please allow your Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole to rest for at least 10 minutes.  If you dig into it now you’ll burn your face off 🙂 .

Our Favorite Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole Toppings

You can add any sort of toppings to your Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole.  But if you’re having trouble thinking of what you can add, below are a few of our favorites:

• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Pickles
• Avocado
• BBQ Sauce
• Ketchup
• Mayonnaise
• Pickled Jalapeño
• Banana Peppers
• Onion

There are so many options to choose from.  Please let me know down in the comments which toppings you like! 

Please enjoy our favorite and easy Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole. 

Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Quick, easy and delicious Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole. Made with tasty ground beef, bacon and cheese!

Print

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 package of riced cauliflower (about 7 oz)
• 1/3 cup chopped bacon
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 5 oz shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 oz onion
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 tbsp hatch chilies
• 3 small pickes (or 1.5 large)
• 2 tbsp pepper (more to taste)
• 1 tsp salt (more to taste)

Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown ground beef and sauté chopped onion. Add black pepper, salt and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Once cooked add garlic and cook until fragrant. Next add tomato paste, hatch chilies, mustard and frozen cauliflower rice. Cook for 5 minutes until cauliflower has softened.
3. Add chopped bacon and cream cheese. Continue to stir until cream cheese has completely melted and is incorporated, then add chopped pickles. Turn off heat and add 1/3 of the shredded cheddar. Stir until melted.
4. Spray your 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray and add all meat mixture. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese and place in oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
5. Top with favorite toppings.

Notes

This dish can easily be doubled or tripled for future dinners. Follow all instructions but do not place in oven. Wrap with aluminum foil and place in freezer until ready to enjoy. Remove frozen Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole from freezer the night before you plan on cooking it. Cook per above instructions once thawed.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 269Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 9.9gCholesterol: 86.8mgSodium: 336mgCarbohydrates: 3.6gNet Carbohydrates: 2.8gFiber: .8gSugar: 1.9gProtein: 20.5g