KETO Pizza Casserole

Nearly every mainstream chain pizza restaurant now offers what they call "KETO pizzas" whether they apply normal toppings to a cauliflower crust or just dump pizza toppings in a bowl and claim it to be something great. Sure, these options are likely a little better for you than traditional pizza, but if you look closely and dig deep enough you will likely find a higher carb count than expected due to high sugar sauces and other small KETO diet requirements they simply do not adhere to like you would at home. You can, however, enjoy all those wonderful pizza flavors on a KETO diet as long as you use dietary-specific ingredients and actually pay attention to product labels. Today's recipe, KETO Pizza Casserole, factors your macros and affords you a true opportunity to pig out on a high protein/low carb meal your whole family will love, KETO dieters or not! It's just a reminder that you don't always have to sacrifice or forgo your favorite foods to stick to a diet...Let's Get Cooking!

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Prep work for this KETO Pizza Casserole is quite simple. Dice your onion and bell pepper into small, 1/4-inch square or so sized pieces. If your Italian Sausage was purchased in casings, slice the casing and squeeze the meat out.

Now that all that grueling prep work is complete, we can turn our attention to the meat! Heat a large pan over Medium to Medium-High heat. Add the ground beef and loose Italian sausage and cook until browned through, about 12 to 16 minutes. The extra grease from the pork in the Italian sausage should be enough to keep things from sticking, but you can add a little cooking oil if you like. Otherwise, just season the beef and pork with some salt and pepper, as always, and let it cook through.

Once the meat has mostly cooked through, add the diced bell pepper along with the granulated garlic and Italian seasoning. Continue cooking everything for 3 to 4 minutes so the bell pepper can begin to soften.

Next, add the diced onion and continue cooking everything for 1 to 2 minutes.

Once the onion just begins to turn translucent, remove the pan from the heat and add the ricotta and pizza sauce. Obviously, regular pizza sauce is not KETO-friendly so seek out a low/no sugar option such as RAO's Homemade Pizza Sauce or use raw tomato sauce only to keep any extra sugars out of the recipe. Stir the mixture together until the ricotta and sauce are dispersed evenly throughout the meat mixture. It should be loose enough to pour but not soupy, so slowly add the ricotta and sauce and stir as you go.

Pour the entire mixture into a large casserole dish and preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next, spread the parmesan cheese over the entire casserole dish, followed by a second layer of shredded mozzarella on top. Spread the pepperoni slices over the cheese to finish off the casserole.

Bake the casserole, uncovered, in the preheated oven at 375 degree Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. Begin checking after 16 to 18 minutes to see when the cheese melts and begins to bubble.

Once all the cheese is melted and bubbly, remove the casserole dish from the oven and serve up your KETO Pizza Casserole while it is hot and fresh!

This KETO Pizza Casserole is simple and filling despite only requiring a few ingredients so you may want to make a double batch! Once people start digging into this flavor bomb they will want to go back for seconds for sure. Be careful, though, as all the meat and cheeses increase the calories quick on this one so don't get too carried away without measuring your portions and following your personal macros. Otherwise, you can tweak this basic recipe by adding mushrooms, black olives, etc. to get the full supreme pizza experience, but the classic cheesy pepperoni version is my personal go-to! No matter how you choose to alter or follow this recipe, get in the kitchen and have some fun while watching your carb intake....Just Keep Cooking!

KETO PIZZA CASSEROLE