Written by Growing up, casseroles and large, make ahead dishes were big in my family. It took me a really long time to come around to loving leftovers; but now that I have a large hand in making sure meals are made and there is food to eat throughout the week, I’ve become more flexible. Mom’s comfort casserole was among the few things that I would happily eat over and over. Sadly, I did this with a lot of vigor, and usually ate the whole thing within the evening, if not over 2 days.
We’ve adapted her recipe to replace elbow macaroni with spiralized sweet potato, and excluded the cheese. If you have a high-quality hard cheese like cheddar, or even something like mozzarella, it would be amazing shredded on top (probably about 1/2 C would do). Dairy is an occasional splurge for us; but if you tolerate it well, sprinkle it on this amazing comfort casserole and go to town. I know we did.
Ingredients
1 tsp avocado oil
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 medium sweet potato (approximately 3 C of spirals)
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
Method
Spiralize your sweet potato with the large ribbon setting. Then, chop the spirals to form half-circle noodles.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brown the ground beef and pork together, mixing them well. Add to a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.
Next, add the onion, bell pepper, and sweet potato spirals to the casserole dish. Mix everything well.
In a small bowl, mix tomato sauce, salt, pepper, chili powder, and celery salt.
Add diced tomatoes to casserole dish and pour on the sauce mixture. Mix thoroughly.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Cool 5-7 minutes before serving.
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Mom's Comfort Casserole
Ingredients
1 tsp avocado oil
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 medium sweet potato (approximately 3 C of spirals)
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
Method
1. Spiralize your sweet potato with the large ribbon setting. Then, chop the spirals to form half-circle noodles.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brown the ground beef and pork together, mixing them well. Add to a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.
3. Next, add the onion, bell pepper, and sweet potato spirals to the casserole dish. Mix everything well.
4. In a small bowl, mix tomato sauce, salt, pepper, chili powder, and celery salt.
5. Add diced tomatoes to casserole dish and pour on the sauce mixture. Mix thoroughly.
6. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Cool 5-7 minutes before serving.
that paleo couple 
Ummmmmm……….yes please!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
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So, you don’t precook the onions or bell pepper…you throw them into the mix raw? I am cooking this as we speak…:)
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Hi Laura, Yes–that’s correct. We put the veggies in raw. They cook up in the oven. 🙂 Let us know how you like it!
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This is so yummy!! I mixed it in a large bowl and then transferred it to the 2.5 casserole (otherwise I would have made a huge mess!!) Definitely going to put this in our rotation!
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