I can’t believe it’s been almost four years since The Paleo Kitchen came out! This cookbook was truly a labor of love. Since it came out in June of 2014, The Paleo Kitchen has collected more than 650 five-star reviews on Amazon. I can honestly say that I poured every ounce of work, love, passion, sweat, and just about everything else you can think of into this book.
The book is over 340 pages long, with everything you need to know, from shopping lists to tips on making cooking easier and even tear-out guides to hang on your fridge and keep you on track. There may be some pictures of me shoving cookies in my face on the pages too, so have a nice laugh.
It’s a gift that keeps on giving, and I want to keep sharing the love. That’s why I’m revisiting some of the awesome recipes from TPK right here for you to enjoy.
The first one I’m sharing is the total bomb. In fact, I’ll be totally honest with you: this recipe is the one that I consider my favorite recipe from The Paleo Kitchen. No lie. This is the one.
I’m talking about my Four Layer Beef & Bacon Casserole. Winter means comfort food, and this is comfort food to the max: beef, bacon, sweet potatoes, and even cauliflower mash that you and your guests will swear is made from potatoes. (Plus plenty of fatty coconut milk to keep your hunger at bay.)
This one takes a little while to prep and cook, but it’s well worth the time and effort. It’s hearty and super satisfying. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It’s gluten free, grain free, and dairy free . . . and did I mention it includes bacon? You might even have some left over for tomorrow, or to freeze for later. Maybe. If you don’t eat it all in one sitting. There’s a good reason this is the second most popular recipe from The Paleo Kitchen (number one is, wait for it . . . my Perfect Paleo Pancakes).
The one thing about this recipe is, if you prep it and cook it at once, it can be overwhelming. So what I like to do is, the day before, make the sweet potatoes and chop and prep everything. Then the day I’m making it, the prep is pretty much done already, so I just add everything to the pan, bake it, and go from there.
Did I mention this was my favorite recipe from The Paleo Kitchen? It’s also my favorite recipe to cook in bulk. It’s also my favorite recipe to cook for my family. (Are you getting the idea yet?) One of the reasons I love it so much as a family recipe is it makes amazing leftovers. We typically cook it in a double batch then freeze half of it, then portion that out over several days.
Grab the book here, and start cooking!
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Four Layer Beef & Bacon Casserole - The Paleo Kitchen
Ingredients
- coconut oil for greasing the baking dish
- ½ pound bacon for garnish
For the sweet potato mash:
- 3 to 4 medium sweet potatoes
- ¼ cup full-fat coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the cauliflower mash:
- 1 head cauliflower cut into florets
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the ground beef mixture:
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 8 ounces button mushrooms diced
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
- Place the bacon on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Roughly chop the bacon. Set aside.
- Turn up the oven to 400°F. Poke holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft and easily pierced with a knife. The time may range depending on the thickness of the sweet potatoes.
- While the potatoes are baking, steam the cauliflower. Once the cauliflower is fork-tender, place it in a food processor or blender and puree until it becomes soft and resembles mashed potatoes. Add the coconut milk, salt, and pepper and continue to blend until smooth. Remove from the blender and set aside. Clean out the food processor or blender for the sweet potato mash.
- When the sweet potatoes are soft, remove their skins and place the sweet potatoes in the clean food processor or blender. Blend until the sweet potatoes break down, then add the coconut milk, sage, salt, and pepper and puree until smooth. Set aside for later.
- Cook the ground beef in a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Once the meat begins to brown, add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and continue to cook until the meat is cooked through, then remove the pan from heat.
- Create the layers: Use a slotted spoon to remove half of the meat mixture from the excess liquid in the pan and place in the prepared baking dish in on layer. Then pour the cauliflower mash mixture on top of the meat and spread it out. Then, using the slotted spoon, add the other half of the meat on top of the cauliflower mash. Lastly, pour the sweet potato mash on top and spread it evenly.
- Turn the oven down to 350°F. Place the casserole in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until it begins to bubble. Then turn on the broiler to high and cook for 5 minutes to brown the top of the casserole. Let rest to thicken and garnish with the bacon before serving.
Benefits of Coconut Oil
Made this last night. So good!! Time consuming but makes a lot of meals. I made a few changes because of what I had in the house. Instead of 2lbs of ground beef, I used 1lb ground beef and 1lb ground pork. Instead of 1/2lb of bacon I used 1lb of bacon put 1/2 bacon cooked and chopped in with the rest of the meat, and saved the other 1/2 for the top as the recipe says. I also used 6 small/med sweet potatoes and 2 small heads of cauliflower. I used the same 13×9 pan to cook the bacon, then the potatoes, then the casserole not to dirty more dishes. And waited to blend the squash until I started assembling the layers, that way the cauliflower blend didnt have to go into another dish to be cleaned I just put from blender straight on casserole, cleaned blender then made squash blend. This is a keeper! Will be making this again! and again! Thanks for the recipe
yesss! so excited you loved it :)
Looks delicious but I don’t understand why it needs to cook for 30 minutes when all the ingredients are already cooked? I get the 5 minutes browning. Is the 30 really necessary?
I do that so all of the flavors meld together, it’s a preference :)
Gotcha. Seems like the only solution is to make it twice and form an educated opinion! The things we do for science…
I never thought to add mashed potatoes to soup! I love mashed potatoes all on their own so of course I like that idea! Thanks for linking up!
Yay, thanks for making the recipe! Would love to hear what you think after you’ve tried it.
Non
Team Caveman
I have made this recipe several times (I have the cookbook) and it ROCKS! In fact, I am going to make it again tomorrow for my family. You can’t beat beef, bacon and sweet potato together. Seriously, go make this recipe! And if you don’t have The Paleo Kitchen cookbook, go buy it, you won’t regret it. The pancakes are the best paleo ones I’ve ever had.
Yay. Thanks Frances! (This is Non from Team Caveman :D). Happy to hear you dig the recipe!
Can’t wait to try!
I am excited to hear what you think