Creamy Sausage and Potato Whole30 Casserole

creamy-sausage-potato-whole30-casserole

This turned out ok. A decent, healthy, and hearty meal. Jessica thought it tasted fine without additional seasoning but I had to add some additional salt and pepper because it was a little bland.

I did make a couple changes to the recipe, though, because I was missing some ingredients. Rather than spinach, I used Brussels sprouts that we needed to get rid of. I chopped them up in the food processor. For the potatoes I used a cheese grater which made them smaller than I really wanted. I also doubled the recipe and only used one can of coconut milk, but I added about a half cup of almond milk to adjust. The tapioca flour congealed quickly and was difficult to remove any lumps.

Overall, I'd make again with a few modifications.

Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 10m
Cook Time: 1hr

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground sausage (no sugar)
  • 3 cups shredded potatoes (hash browns, no sugar added such as Mr. Dell’s brand)
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 13.5oz can unsweetened coconut cream
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 cup broth (chicken or beef)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour (or tapioca flour)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon ghee
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2.5-3 quart casserole dish and set aside
  2. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add diced onion and sauté for 3 minutes, or until they begin to soften
  3. Add ground sausage, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned and crumbled
  4. Drain excess grease and transfer to a large bowl
  5. Add almond milk, coconut cream, ghee and broth to the skillet over medium heat with the remaining spices
  6. Combine well and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes. While the sauce is heating, add hash browns, spinach, mushrooms to the bowl with the crumbed sausage and mix well. Place the potato and sausage mixture into the casserole dish.
  7. Slowly (to avoid clumping) whisk in flour to thicken the sauce in the skillet. Continue whisking for about 2 minutes until sauce is thick
  8. Pour cream sauce over the sausage and potatoes in the casserole dish. Use a spoon to gently mix it in
  9. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust and doesn’t give when you press in the middle of the casserole

Notes

  • If you want a thicker cream sauce, or sauce is too thin, add an additional 1/2 tablespoon arrowroot flour and slowly whisk in.
  • For a list of Whole30 compliant sausage brands, check this post, or make your own using ground pork using this recipe.
  • For a list of Whole30 compliant almond milk brands, check this post.