You already know this, but I love a good casserole. Throw a bunch of ingredients in a dish, cook it to bubbling perfection, and serve it with some veggies and you’re golden. It makes dinner feel so simple and, most of the time, casseroles are family approved. And don’t even get me started on the leftovers! They are probably my favorite part.
It seems you guys love casseroles, too! I have gotten so much amazing feedback from my Million Dollar Spaghetti, Chicken Bacon Ranch “Pasta” bake, and Chicken Rotini Bake. I am happy to introduce to you what I hope will be another favorite: upside-down pizza casserole.
I think it’ll be a hit for your family for several reasons:
- Pizza. I mean, who doesn’t love pizza?
- Customizable based on your family’s favorite pizza toppings.
- The macros. But I’ll get to that in a second. Let’s discuss the recipe.
The Recipe
I’ve actually prepared this recipe several times before. It was never in my permanent rotation because I deemed it not “healthy” enough for dinner. However, as I began searching for new recipes to try, I realized that this recipe could actually work well with my macros if I made a few adjustments.
The first adjustment I made was to the protein portion. I opted to go with the lean ground turkey they have at Costco, but if turkey isn’t your thing, feel free to sub some lean ground beef. Choosing a leaner protein will save you a lot of fat and help make this dish more easy to fit on any given day.
The next thing I did to make this more macro-friendly is to change out the crust. A lot of recipes call for biscuits on the top or store-bought pizza dough. To add a bit more protein and save some carbs, I opted to use the two-ingredient dough to top the pizza. I also decided to brush the top of the dough with a garlic and Parmesan spread to give a bit more flavor (you might recognize it from these Garlic and Parmesan Knots). If you are pinched for time or don’t want to mess with the two-ingredient dough (I get it!), feel free to sub biscuits or pizza dough. Just keep in mind, the macros will likely change.
And as far as the “pizza” part goes, you can customize this recipe to fit whatever your family prefers for pizza toppings. I decided to keep it pretty traditional and just add in finely chopped onions, mushrooms, and green bell peppers. Some other additions could be some pepperoni (turkey pepperoni, if you’re looking for a more macro-friendly option), diced ham, olives, artichokes, or even pineapple if you dare. You might also want to grab an extra jar of pizza sauce or additional mozzarella in case your family would want to add more.
The Macros
The macros for 1/6 of this dish are rounded to 18F/28C/36P, or about 400 calories. Keep in mind this only includes the ingredients listed below and any change you make will likely affect the macro count. Even still, I think those are better-balanced macros compared to a couple slices of pizza!
Upside Down Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 750 g 93/7 lean ground turkey ( or around 1.5 lbs)
- 166 g diced green bell pepper (1 bell pepper)
- 272 g diced yellow onion ( 1 yellow onion)
- 1 6.5 ounce can mushrooms
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt, or, to taste
- 1 14 oz jar pizza sauce
- 130 g shredded mozzarella cheese (~ 1 and 1/8 cup)
- 120 g self- rising flour (or make your own using 120 g of all-purpose flour + 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda +1/2 tsp of salt) (1 cup, macros are for self-rising flour)
- 255 g Non-Fat Greek Yogurt (1 cup)
- 7 g butter, melted (1/2 tablespoon)
- 7 g Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp parsley
- 1/8 tsp oregano
- 1/16 tsp salt
Instructions
- Spray a 2 and 1/2 quart corningware pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Over medium heat, cook the ground turkey, bell pepper, onions, and mushrooms. Crumble the ground turkey as it cooks, until no longer pink.
- Once turkey is no longer pink, drain any excess liquid in the pan. This step is a MUST. If you skip it, your bake will be much too watery. Then add in salt, minced garlic, and Italian seasoning. Then, stir in the pizza sauce.
- Pour prepared turkey mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour and yogurt together until combined.
- Lay down a piece of wax paper to help with an easier cleanup. Spray the wax paper very well with cooking spray and then lay out the dough. You may need to knead it a few times to get all the flour incorporated. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray and your rolling pin. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin to about the shape of the pan you are using. You may need additional flour as this dough is pretty sticky!
- Lay the prepared dough over your baking dish. Press the dough into the pan over the meat mixture, and fold over any dough that is hanging over to create a crust. Tip: Use the wax paper to transfer your dough onto the pizza mixture. Flip it over and then pull off the wax paper and proceed to create a crust with remaining dough.
- In a small dish, stir together the melted butter, Parmesan, garlic powder, parsley, oregano, and salt. Spread it evenly over the top of the crust.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30, or until the crust is golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, and then devour!
