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.