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Paleo Turkey Sweet Potato Casserole is a healthy casserole protein and veggie packed with a dairy free sauce. This delicious dinner is easy and family approved.
I am obsessed with making easy dinners, but I also love making hearty meals that are healthy, high in protein, packed with veggies and flavor.
Traditional casseroles are generally high in sodium, are lacking the right balance of protein, fat and carbs, but not this one!
This Healthy Sweet Potato Turkey Casserole has better for you ingredients along with a good balance of all macronutrients so you will stay fuller longer and feel satisfied after enjoying the meal.
Why I Love This Paleo Turkey Sweet Potato Casserole
This is such an easy and delicious healthy casserole recipe and I love it for many reasons!
- Incredible Flavor - I can't describe for you the depth of flavor this recipe has. You would never suspect it from the list of ingredients, but the seasonings really make this a WOW recipe!
- Easy To Make - While there are a lot of steps to this recipe, don't let it intimidate you. It's very simple to make this healthy casserole and you can prep everything ahead of time too!
- High Protein - This Paleo casserole has 28.5 grams of protein per serving!
- High Fiber - This recipe has 6.7 grams of fiber per serving which between that and the protein will keep you fuller.
- Low Calorie - This recipe is 278 calories per serving. You could easily double the serving size and still have a low calorie meal that's under 600 calories. I usually pair a casserole like this with a side salad, but if I don't have salad or time for a salad I will simply double the portion of the meal.
- Dairy Free - This recipe is dairy free.
- Gluten Free - All ingredients in this recipe is gluten free.
Healthy Sweet Potato Turkey Casserole Ingredients
To make this Paleo friendly sweet potato turkey casserole, you'll need:
- Ground Turkey (I got mine from ButcherBox)
- Sweet Potato
- Eggplant
- White Onion
- Garlic
- Diced Tomatoes, canned
- Tomato Paste
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Cardamon
- Tarragon
- Salt, Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Dairy Free Milk
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
Here's a link to the casserole dish I used. You can find substitution recommendations below!
How To Make A Casserole With Sweet Potato and Ground Turkey
Step One - Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a rectangular casserole dish.
Step Two - Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the ground meat, garlic and onion and cook until browned.
Step Three - Stir the tomato paste and tomatoes with the meat mixture. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until the spiralized potatoes are cooked. It should cook fast since they are spiralized. Here is the spiralizer I use.
Step Four - Place the chopped eggplant in a bowl with all the seasonings and toss to combine. I used this apple slicer to chop my eggplant easily.
Step Five - Layer the eggplant on the bottom of the casserole dish with the meat mixture on top. Place in the oven and bake 15 minutes while you make the sauce.
Step Six - Make the sauce by mixing the oil and flours in a small pot and bring to a quick boil.
Step Seven - Then slowly add the dairy free milk whisking as you add it.
Step Eight - Continue whisking until the sauce reduces. Remove the casserole from the oven and top with the sauce.
Step Nine - Place the casserole in the oven and finish cooking 40-45 minutes until the top is browned.
Step Ten - Remove from the oven and serve!
Sweet Potato Turkey Casserole FAQ
Do I Need To Spiralize The Potato
You may be wondering if you need to spiralize the potato for this recipe. No, you do not need to spiralize the potato. You can dice it into 1/2-inch pieces if you prefer. Note, it may take a little longer to cook in the skillet.
Can I Freeze A Casserole Uncooked
Yes, you can freeze this casserole ahead of time. I have noted the eggplant does make create moisture though since it is not cooked when I have frozen it.
Can I Freeze A Casserole Cooked
Yes, you can cook this casserole in advance and freeze it in an airtight container. I find cooking it ahead of time is best for freezing them reheating after thawing.
Can I Prepare A Casserole Ahead Of Time
You can prepare a casserole ahead of time. To prepare this sweet potato turkey casserole in advance, perform all the steps up to step five until the point of baking and storing in the refrigerator covered.
You can make the sauce in advance and pour over the uncooked casserole. I have found it best to prepare the sauce the same day as baking the casserole.
I also recommend if you prepare the casserole in advance, you remove it from the oven to bring to room temperature while the oven preheats.
How Many Calories Does A Turkey Potato Casserole Have?
This recipe has 278 calories per serving. There are 6 servings in this recipe. As I mentioned above, you could double the serving size and still be under 600 calories for a meal.
Is It Best To Store This Casserole In The Refrigerator or Freezer?
Refrigerator - You can store this Paleo Sweet Potato Turkey Casserole in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Freezing - You can freeze this recipe, but I recommend freezing it after it has been cooked.
Reheating - This turkey potato casserole tastes great when reheated! You can reheat in the microwave, in the oven at 325 F until cooked through, or sautéed in a skillet.
Make Ahead - You can make the casserole in advance up to the point of baking and making the sauce then finish making the recipe the day you plan to eat it.
Substitutions For Sweet Potato Ground Turkey Casserole
Here are the substitutions you can make for this recipe. Remember when you make substitutions it does change the nutritional values from what you see in the recipe card below.
- Ground Turkey - You can use any ground meat like lean ground beef, ground chicken, ground pork, tofu or ground meat alternatives (although be mindful of the processed ingredients in the meat alternatives). You could even use cooked turkey breast for this recipe - great for Thanksgiving leftovers!
- Eggplant - Zucchini, okra or mushrooms would be what I would use to replace eggplant. You could use one replacement or many.
- Sweet Potato - You can use yam, sweet potato, red potatoes or russet potatoes in this recipe.
- Spices - The tarragon and cardamom are the star recipes of this casserole. You could omit them, but the flavor will not be as great.
- Dairy Free Milk - Any milk may be used for the sauce.
- Flours - I found the coconut flour and almond flour mixture worked best for this recipe. You could use just coconut flour and then use more milk to thin the sauce. The coconut flour works well as a thickener as it is high fiber and no other flour I have worked with has that same consistency so I would not recommend substituting it. You could also substitute cheese like mozzarella if you do not need to be dairy free.
More Healthy Casseroles To Try
- Creamy Chicken Potato Casserole
- Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Casserole
- Low Carb Taco Casserole
- Low Carb Sausage Pepper Pizza Casserole
- Greek Chicken Casserole
- Low Calorie Italian Casserole
- Wild Rice Casserole
Paleo Turkey Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
For the Casserole:
- 1 lb ground turkey 98-99% lean
- 1 sweet potato peeled and spiralized*
- 1 eggplant sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (or zucchini)*
- 1/4 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 15 oz diced tomatoes liquid drained
- 8 oz tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon tarragon + more for topping
For the Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
- 1 tablespoon almond flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 F and spray an 8x8 inch square casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and add ground turkey, garlic and onion cooking until browned, breaking up the meat as it browns.
- Stir in the tomato paste and tomatoes to combine with the turkey. Add sweet potatoes cooking until slightly softened.
- Place chopped eggplant in a bowl with all seasonings and toss to combine.
- Layer the eggplant on the bottom of the casserole dish and top with turkey and sweet potato mixture. Place in the oven and bake 15 minutes.
- While baking, make the sauce. Add olive oil with almond and coconut flours to a small pot and bring to a boil. Boil the olive oil, almond and coconut flour.
- Stir 1 minute until it thickens then reduce to medium high heat slowly add almond milk to the pan whisking as you stir.
- Continue whisking another 10 minutes until the sauce reduces to half. Remove the casserole from the oven and top with the sauce from the pot.
- Place the casserole back in the oven to cook another 40-45 minutes until the top of the casserole has browned.
- Remove from the oven, top with more tarragon, slice into 6 pieces and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- 1/6 of the casserole equals one serving.
- You can chop, spiralize or use my easy kitchen hack with the apple slicer to prep the veggies. Have fun with it!
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my nutrition clients.
Nutrition
Hi Megan, All my family loved it.Thx for the option.
That was delicious. My compliments to the chef!
Hi Megan, Kids loved it. very good and easy recipe, i tried it last night
Thank you! Glad they liked it. We love this recipe!
Hi Megan, This was delicious!!! I’m making it again tomorrow.
YUM! Enjoy!
Made this for the second time now! Delish! Going in the recipe box...
Also, after burning the sauce the first time, now I just mix up those ingredients in a bowl and pour over the casserole without thickening it on the stove first. Tasted fine to me!
This recipe is amazing! My 7-year old was super hesitant, and I normally don't like eggplant, but it was devine! I used the water from a can of full fat coconut milk for the nondairy milk and added an extra sweet potato. I did have a question regarding Step 7 "While baking, make the sauce by bringing a small pot to a boil. Add olive oil with almond and coconut flours to the pot. Boil the olive oil, almond and coconut flour." I'm not sure exactly what I was supposed to bring to a boil in the small pot, so I brought the nondairy milk to a boil. Then, I read further and found out I was only supposed to boil the olive oil and flours, then slowly add the nondairy milk, but I had already added it at that point. After about ten minutes, it did thicken and reduce just as you said, so both ways do work. Thanks for a great recipe! I'll double it next time, for sure!