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healthy ground beef casserole

Baked Ratatouille Recipe with Melty Cheese | Healthy Ground Beef Casserole

Tender zucchini, eggplant, vine ripe tomatoes, and squash mix in with a saucy tomatoey layer plus gooey, melty cheese. It's served hot and bubbling in this easy baked ratatouille recipe with melty cheese that you can serve up anytime as a healthy ground beef casserole for dinner.
4.27 from 19 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
COURSE Main Course
CUISINE French
SERVINGS 6 people
Calories 448 kcal

Equipment

Medium Skillet
Oval Casserole Dish

Ingredients
  

  • 4 or 5 cloves Garlic - minced
  • 1 medium Onion - Sliced
  • 3 to 4 vine ripe Tomatoes - red, orange, purple, varying colors
  • 1 can Tomato Paste
  • 2 Zucchini - sliced rounds
  • 2 Yellow Squash
  • 2 Japanese Eggplant
  • 1 lb Ground Beef - (skip if making meatless)
  • 3 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp Ground Pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Paprika - optional
  • 8 oz Shredded Melty Cheese - You favorite kind - or more if desired
  • 2 or 3 tbsp Ground Parmesan/Italian Style Bread Crumbs (Optional) - for spinkling over shredded cheese

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Mince garlic and slice onion. Slice tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and yellow squash into about a 1/4 of an inch thick rounds and set aside.
  • In a skillet over medium heat, drizzle olive oil in a pan and toss in sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss in half of the minced garlic and cook onions until carmelized/translucent. Reserve the rest of the garlic for later. Add in a small can of tamato paste to the mixture and stir through until everything is fragrant and the tomato paste coats the onions. Transfer this mixture to the bottom of your casserole dish and spread in an even layer.
  • (Skip the beef step if making meatless) Returning to the same skillet over medium heat, add a little more olive oil and brown ground beef and season with a pinch of salt, pepper, paprika and a splash of red wine. Cook through for 15 to 20 minutes or so or until meat is browned and cooked through. Spoon the meat into your casserole dish directly over your onion layer and spread into an even layer.
  • Now begin to arrange the sliced vegetables you prepared earlier in a colorful pattern over the onion/meat mixture. Sprinkle the vegetables with the rest of the minced garlic plus generous pinches of salt and pepper. Drizzle generously with olive oil and cover tightly with foil.
  • Bake the covered casserole veggies in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour. Vegetables should be roasted through and soft to the touch when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and remove foil.
  • Turn your broiler on high. Sprinkle casserole with shredded melty cheese of your liking. (I used shredded Italian blend). Optional: Over the layer of shredded cheese, sprinkle on a little ground parmesan or a little italian bread crumbs (or both!)
  • Put casserole back into the oven under the broiler with the foil removed and broil for 3 to 5 minutes until cheese is melty and lightly browned. (Don't walk away from the oven, the cheese browns super fast!) Remove from oven and serve over a bed of your favorite pasta.

Nutrition

Calories: 448kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 28gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 1019mgPotassium: 1124mgFiber: 6gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 996IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 269mgIron: 4mg
KEYWORD baked ground beef casserole, baked ratatouille recipe, easy casserole ideas, healthy ground beef casserole, keto ground beef casserole, layered ratatouille, rataouille with meat, vegetable ratatouille
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