Amish Breakfast Casserole Goes Low Carb

The climate our kids live in has changed. Life seems more about children than about family and as a result the coming and going of family from home to home has ended. For us anyway. We got so sick of hearing our siblings say they have to ask their kids about an event or holiday that we stopped asking. If you think that is harsh, you should hear what we actually said to our own children!

From the days when aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and even family friends came and went, staying for days at a time, we all have great recipes for getting a nice meal set out without a lot of prep time away from guests. This is actually one of those, but done over in low carb. It is completely fine to prep this the night before and refrigerate until you put it in the oven. Another great thing about this casserole, the meat is completely optional. It does not change the quality of the dish. For my example, I only put on 6 strips of crumbled bacon on top. I have made the original with no meat, with soy meat, ham, bacon, sausage, turkey. As an added bonus, it reheats beautifully.

Serves 8 large portions as a main or 16 side portions as an accompaniment.
Per each of 8 servings, Calculated by Verywellfit com

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 509
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30.2g 39%
Saturated Fat 10.7g 54%
Cholesterol 196mg 65%
Sodium 1781mg 77%
Total Carbohydrate 16.3g 6%
Dietary Fiber 2.3g 8%
Total Sugars 4.9g
Protein 41.4g
Vitamin D 12mcg 58%
Calcium 190mg 15%
Iron 4mg 20%
Potassium 770mg 16%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet.2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Recipe analyzed by Very Well Fit

Ingredients
1 pound Bacon or Sausage, cooked and crumbled (Optional)
1 cup diced onion
6 eggs, beaten
2 cups Zucchini, grated
2 cups Sweet Potato (this is just one whole potato), peeled and diced
8 ounces Cheddar, shredded
16 ounces small curd cottage cheese

Place potato pieces in a small pot of boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain and quickly rinse with cold water. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Evenly spread mixture in a lightly greased pan(s), either two 8×8 or one 9×13. Bake at 350°F/176°C for 40 minutes. Serve.

King Ranch Casserole – Low Carb Version

I loved this dish when my kids were little. It always came together so solid and tasty. However, since the original recipe calls for canned soups and tortillas, I had to ditch it even before I started low carb. In this recreation, the cheese really holds the casserole together but it is not going to be the solid portions that accompany the original dish.

Nutrition info for casserole only as calculated by Happy Forks
Serves 6
Calories 434
Protein 46.22 g
Fat 24.56 g
Carbohydrate 5.93 g

1.5 pounds Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies
8 ounces canned mushrooms
1 cup Sour Cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°C/177°F. Dice or chunk the chicken, cook and season as desired. I sautéed in a bit of oil and seasoned with dried onion, chili powder and coarse black pepper. Drain the meat, mushrooms and tomatoes. Mix together with the cheddar and sour cream. Mix thoroughly. In a LIGHTLY greased 9*13 pan, spread the mixture. Bake for 45 minutes.

Recipe notes –
You can totally use fresh mushrooms for this but you will want to cook and drain them first.
The dish has a quesadilla type quality, so it could be served on tortillas to the high carb crowd.

Beef Taco Bake

This is a low carb casserole that is easily turned into a versatile family meal. I serve it with a quarter head of shredded lettuce for my husband and I and on top of tortilla chips for the kids. You could make low carb taco shells and use this as your taco meat or serve it as the stuffing on halved mini peppers or jalapeños.

The nutritional information is for the bake alone.
Per serving, as written. Calculated by Very Well Fit.
Calories 448.25
Carbohydrates 9.25 g
Fat 18.85 g
Protien 58 g

Serves 4
1 pound ground beef
1 can Diced Tomatoes and green chilies, drained
2 cups cottage cheese, drained
1 cup Shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350° F/177°C. Brown the meat. If you want to season it, do this now. You could use any taco premixed seasoning, or combine your own. I used equal parts cumin and chili powder, onion and garlic. Drain the meat, diced tomatoes and chilies and cottage cheese. Mix together. Mix in half the cheddar cheese. Grease a 9 x 9 pan. Spread mixture in pan. Top with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe notes.

I’m pretty lazy and I can’t stand a mess, so most of this gets mixed together in the colander in the sink. It saves time and clean up.

It is still going to be pretty gooey but the more juice you get out of it, the better it sets up.

If you are after an ultra low carb goal, serve it as is and cut the carbs further by swapping ricotta for the cottage cheese and doubling or tripling your seasoning.