Beef and Eggplant Casserole
This Beef & Eggplant Casserole is THE BEST! Layers of pan-fried eggplant, marinara, ground beef, parmesan and mozzarella cheese are baked until bubbly. Serve this hearty casserole with a salad for an easy low-carb dinner.
Before we dive right into this Beef & Eggplant Casserole, I need to let you guys know that the past three weeks have been crazy!
First, I had to move my blog to a new host. My former one emailed me a few weeks ago basically saying that my blog had too many visitors and they couldn’t handle it anymore. Sounds like good news, right?
Having more and more people coming over here makes me happy, that’s for sure! But switching host is definitely a hassle, big time! I don’t how I could have done it without my tech boyfriend Solal.
Well, actually I know. I couldn’t, so I would have had to hire someone and it would have cost me an arm and a leg. Now it’s all done but I lost the last three recipes in the process.
Fortunately, I had written down everything in my recipe drafts book, but it’s a mess and I’m currently trying to understand what those signs and arrows mean. I’m just hoping I didn’t make any last minute changes to the recipes because obviously, I don’t remember them.
Luckily, I remembered how to make this great Eggplant Casserole with ground beef!
Besides my technical adventures, we were also looking for a new home! We had to leave our current apartment by the end of August and needed a new one.
I honestly couldn’t say how many emails I wrote and phone calls I made to real estate agents. And I think we are close to 20, if not 30 inspections. I may sound like a very difficult person looking for the perfect place that doesn’t exist, but actually, I was just looking for a decent dog-friendly apartment.
Apparently, 90% of the units in the center of Sydney are not pet-friendly. When they were, they were either crappy or too small – at least in our price range. So I decided to temporarily bury my dream of having a Boxer dog and we’ve finally found a place I’m very excited about.
If you know Sydney, we are moving from Darlinghurst to Paddington. It’s a lovely area with beautiful houses and shops, and the biggest park in Sydney is only about 2 seconds away. Perfect for weekend picnics 🙂 I’ll give you a tour of the neighbourhood soon!
We’re moving on Monday, I can’t wait for all this to be over so I can finally relax a bit and do more fun things, like eating a a huge plate of this Beef & Eggplant Casserole!
If you tried this Beef & Eggplant Casserole, don’t forget to rate the recipe below and let me know how it went in the comments – I love hearing from you! You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook for more deliciousness and behind-the-scenes!
Beef & Eggplant Casserole
This Beef & Eggplant Casserole is THE BEST! Layers of pan-fried eggplant, marinara, ground beef and parmesan as well as mozzarella cheese are baked until bubbly. Serve this hearty casserole with a salad for an easy low-carb dinner
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 2 eggplants thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 lb extra lean ground beef
- 3/4 cup marinara sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1 cup grated light mozzarella
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add 1 tbsp olive oil and cook eggplant slices for about 5 minutes on each side and set aside. Cook them in batches and add some olive oil when necessary.
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While eggplants are cooking, prepare the beef mixture. Heat another skillet over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook garlic for about 1 minute (do not let it brown), then add ground beef and break it into pieces with a wooden spatula.
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Cook for about 5 minutes and add marinara sauce. Stir well and cook another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add basil. Drain excess liquid to make sure you don't end up with a soggy casserole.
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In a baking dish (I used a square baking dish), arrange one layer of eggplant, one layer of beef mixture and one layer of parmesan cheese. Repeat (eggplant, then beef, then parmesan) and finish with a layer of eggplant.
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Top with mozzarella cheese and bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and starts to be crispy. Serve immediately.
Hi Marie,
So glad to know you found a good apartment and that you were able to make the host change successfully. I had to do the same thing just over a year ago, and it was not fun. It is great news that more people have found your blog – it’s the first one I found and still my favorite. 🙂 I’m happy to report that my husband likes the recipes I’ve made from your site, and I hope he’ll like this one, too. I hope your move goes very smoothly.
just made this recipe & posted on instagram (@hollycarotenuto) gave you a little shout out! this was so simple & good, found you through pinterest & look forward to trying more recipes 🙂
Thank you so much Holly! That’s very nice of you 🙂
Just made this recipe for dinner tonight, and it was a hit with both of us. Thank you for another great one.
Great! Thanks for letting me know Susan, I love hearing your feedbacks!
Does this keep in the fridge?
I just got to the end where it says “serve immediately”.
It looks so good but I’m the only one who eats eggplant in the house?
Hi Debbie! Yes, it definitely keeps in the fridge. I just wrote “serve immediately” because some casserole recipes require to let the dish stand for a few minutes before serving 🙂
Hi! I bought the ingredients to make this. Do you think it would still come out okay if I make it up to the assembly point but then wait to finish cooking it until tomorrow? Thanks!
Hi Laurie! Yes I think it should work just fine 🙂
WOW! This looks seriously cheesy! Love that you used both parmesan and mozzarella!
I would suggest griling the eggplant instead if frying it. It soaks up so much oil.
That was amazing!!! I am always looking for low carb recipes that include meat! I just made it and it was great.
Super happy to hear Crystal, thank you 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I made it tonight for dinner and plan on making it a staple in our household.
Thank you JoAnn, very happy to hear that 🙂
Making this today. No onions ?
Nope 🙂 Hope you enjoyed the recipe!
Very useful. I altered it a little by adding 3/4 cup cottage cheese between the layers .
Somehow I managed to dirty many dishes and pot. The final result was delicious.
Thank you!!
Very easy to make and, for its few ingredients, very tasty. The marinara sauce and two types of cheese are the keys to this recipe’s success. I used plant-based “beef crumbles.” It doesn’t taste like real beef, but it was still good. To reduce the oil used (and ingested) I used the flat side of a griddle and only a light coating of oil.
Like what you’re doing and would like to see more of the recipes that you cook up. The link to subscribe wouldn’t come through, so hopefully you will get this and hook me up.
Hey Tim, thank you! I just added you to my mailing list, sorry the link wasn’t working at the time!
Hi Marie!
Just found this 2013 recipe at the top of the search, now deep into 2020. This told me it must be good – and it was! Tried it tonight, and the entire family of 6 approves, and wants it again! 🙂 As someone else commented, while easy, it dirties a number dishes, but my way to work this: just make a double-batch, and have practically no dirty dishes tomorrow 😉 Will most definitely be adding this to our family recipe book. Thank you!
Hi Rachelle! Thanks for this awesome review, I’m super glad to read the whole family enjoyed it! And you’re right, work one night, rest on the second by making a double batch 😉
I made this for the second time, great recipe, love that it’s not to runny, easy to slice and serve! Think I you also added a layer of bechemel sauce it would make a brilliant Moussaka!
Thanks for this great review Ann!