Zucchini casserole with ground beef and spaghetti sauce

A delicious zucchini and ground beef casserole with aromatic herbs is the perfect way to eat zucchini. A simple zucchini casserole that has transformed many.

This zucchini bake is inspired by my mother in law, she got us hooked to this casserole and since then my kids started loving zucchini dishes.

• ❤️ Why You'll Love It
• 📝 Ingredients
• 🥄 Instructions
• 💡 Tips
• 🍽️ Serve With
• 📣 Related Recipes
• 🥣 Equipment
• Ground Beef Zucchini Casserole

❤️ Why You'll Love It

• Easy zucchini casserole with everyday ingredients.
• Keto friendly zucchini dish.
• Can be done totally on stovetop or in the oven.

This zucchini casserole made my kids to love zucchini more than a decade ago and they still very much like this recipe. My late mother in low used to make it for all her grand kids and they all loved it, the key is using all these fresh herbs which makes for a fragrant delicious sauce that smells like mahshi!

📝 Ingredients

Note: This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

• Olive oil.
• Onion and garlic for flavor base.
• Ground beef.
• Spices, salt, black pepper and all spice.
• Fresh herbs: dill and parsley.
• Zucchini.
• Tomato sauce and tomatoes.

🥄 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.

• In a non stick skillet, heat oil and saute onion until translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook for 30 seconds.
• Add ground beef and break it apart with a wooden spoon.
• Add spices and continue to cook until completely browned..

• In a 13 x 9 oven dish, add diced zucchini, ground beef mixture, tomato sauce, parsley , diced tomatoes and half of the dill.
• Mix everything well together, add water or beef broth is using. Check the seasonings, cover and bake as directed in the recipe card below.

💡 Tips

• It is better to use low carb or keto friendly tomato sauce, read the label on your product.
• You can omit the roma tomato too to reduce the carbs even more.
• We used to make this dish with Mexican squash as well.
• Do not skip the dill: seriously guys, dill weed is what gives this dish its unique flavor. If you do not like dill and skipped it then there is nothing special about this recipe. It will still tastes good but not aromatic and will not give you the mahshi effect that we are looking for 🙂 .
• Use whatever meat you have or go vegan: my kids love this recipe with ground beef or meatballs(kofta). I've made it with ground turkey and chicken meatballs as well. You can skip it altogether and go totally vegan.
• Make on stove top: If you are short on time and want to speed this up, make it totally on stove top will take nearly half the time if not less. You can then pour it into an oven safe dish and broil the top a bit or serve it as is from the pot.

🍽️ Serve With

Serve this zucchini casserole with basmati rice, Lebanese rice, or any rice pilaf you like. It also goes very well with bread.

• Zucchini in yogurt sauce.
• Easy Kung Pao Chicken.
• Zucchini pulp appetizer.

🥣 Equipment

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Pyrex glass bakeware works fine every time with this recipe, I highly recommend it.

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• ▢ 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
• ▢ 1 onion chopped
• ▢ 1 pound ground meat
• ▢ ½ teaspoon all spice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ 2 pounds zucchini sliced
• ▢ 2 Roma tomatoes , cubed
• ▢ ½ cup fresh dill, about (23g) chopped and divided
• ▢ ⅓ cup fresh parsley about (20g), chopped
• ▢ 1 garlic clove crushed.
• ▢ ⅓ cup water or chicken stock
• ▢ 1 can (15oz) tomato sauce preferably low carb

• In a skillet over medium heat, add oil then sauté onion until translucent.

• Add ground beef and break apart.

• Stir in all spice, pepper and salt and mix well. Continue to cook until browned completely

• Preheat your oven to 350F.

• In a 13x9 oven dish add zucchini, ground beef, half the dill and the rest of the ingredients, check for seasonings.

• Cover and place the dish in the middle rack in your oven until almost done about 45 minutes.

• Uncover, mix in the rest of the dill, cover and bake again for 15 more minutes until all done and bubbly.

• You might want to uncover and place in the upper third of your oven for 10 more minutes to reduce sauce or you can put it under a broiler.

Calories: 204kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 454mg | Potassium: 813mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1169IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 3mg

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First published March, 2013 . Last updated September, 2022 with important tips, clear step by step instructions and readability.