This creamy Whole30 casserole is the perfect easy and family friendly dinner. It’s with sausage and potatoes in under an hour and is a creamy, comforting Paleo or gluten-free recipe. It would be great for meal prep, and I think the leftovers are almost more delicious!
My midwest, Minnesotan youth was filled with all types of classic casseroles. In Minnesota we call a casserole a “hot dish”, which I’ve been told isn’t the norm in most parts of the country. Hot dishes, or, you know, casseroles, were a staple at every family gathering. That’s probably why I think of these foods as comfort foods now – hearty, and ate around a table with my favorite people.
Now it kind of makes me laugh because now that I make casseroles for myself, like this Whole30 casserole I know how easy they are. I’ve realized that that’s probably the real reason they’re always around or why my mom made them when she wanted to just throw things in one pan and be done with it.
This creamy sausage and hash brown Paleo and Whole30 casserole is ALMOST a one pan meal, but you will need a skillet for the creamy sauce and sausage. It’s worth the extra dish, I promise! I love this casserole so much I’ve made it specifically for breakfast too. I tell myself it’s like a hash brown sausage and gravy casserole when it’s before 9 a.m.
The potatoes I used for the paleo casserole came from a bag of compliant hash browns. You can find these in many stores, including Walmart! If going from frozen, you’ll want to let them thaw prior to baking. I used canned coconut cream and a Califia Farms almond milk. Any Paleo substitution would work for the milk, including nutpods. You’ll need a bit of ghee for the cream sauce, broth, and some arrowroot flour to thicken the cream and the rest of the ingredients will be your normal pantry and food items!
Califia, nutpods, coconut cream, ghee, broth and arrowroot can all be purchased from Amazon, or your local Whole Foods. You can also grab all of those products at a discount from Thrive Market (and get 20% off of your first 3 orders!) For more of my favorite Thrive Market budget favorites, check out my Paleo staples list, and Whole30 staples list!
The Whole30 casserole recipe itself is really easy. I mean, of course it is. You’re talking to me after all. Nothing fancy or complicated. Simply brown the meat first, make the creamy sauce, combine it all in a baking dish and you’re set! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
PrintCreamy Sausage & Potato Whole30 Casserole (Paleo + GF)
This creamy Whole30 casserole is the perfect easy and family friendly dinner. It’s with sausage and potatoes in under an hour and is a creamy, comforting Paleo or Whole30 recipe. It would be great for meal prep, and I think the leftovers are almost more delicious!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
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
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2.5-3 quart casserole dish and set aside
- 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
- Add ground sausage, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned and crumbled
- Drain excess grease and transfer to a large bowl
- Add almond milk, coconut cream, ghee and broth to the skillet over medium heat with the remaining spices
- 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.
- Slowly (to avoid clumping) whisk in flour to thicken the sauce in the skillet. Continue whisking for about 2 minutes until sauce is thick
- Pour cream sauce over the sausage and potatoes in the casserole dish. Use a spoon to gently mix it in
- 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.
Nutrition Facts:
- Calories: 474
- Sugar: 3
- Fat: 36
- Carbohydrates: 13
- Protein: 19
This post may contain some links that are affiliate links, though products are ones I use personally and recommend. When you purchase anything using my links, it costs you absolutely nothing extra, but it does give wholekitchensink.com a little financial support which helps to keep this blog running. Thank you for your continued support, both with your dollars and your interest. I promise I won’t buy a pony.
free whole30 ebook
sign up for my newsletter and receive my 20 best Whole30 recipes!
By using this form you agree with this site's privacy policy.
Kathy says
Do you use regular hash brown potatoes or plantains?
paleobailey says
Just potatoes 🙂
Lauren B says
Meal prepped this for a week’s worth of breakfasts — so much more comforting and cozy than a typical breakfast egg casserole. Can’t wait to make again & again!
ps. I couldn’t find a compliant ground sausage, so I ended up just buying plain ground pork and adding: salt, pepper, crushed fennel, and red pepper flakes. Worked perfectly!
paleobailey says
Awesome! That’s about the spice mix I use to make my own sausage too 🙂 Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed it!
Terri Ferraguto says
This has become a staple for my lunch, whether on a Whole30 round of not! Have also made it with shredded sweet potatoes, which is a great alternative. I highly recommend this recipe!
paleobailey says
Thank you so much!! I appreciate you letting me know you enjoy it! And I love the swap for sweet potatoes 🙂
Kelly says
“The potatoes I used for the paleo casserole came from a bag of compliant hash browns.” What brands of hash browns are Whole 30 compliant? Thanks.
paleobailey says
The Whole30 compliant brands I know of are – Mr. Dell’s brand is at Walmart and Super Targets. Sprouts has a brand called Cascadian Farms. Fresh Thyme has their own brand under the fresh thyme logo. And Aldi has a brand called Season’s Choice.
Terri says
I made this two weeks ago for the first time, for my breakfast as part of my January Whole30. It is an awesome option, and I am making it for the third time today, with a mixed of shredded potatoes and sweet potatoes. I highly recommend this recipe – it has become a staple in my meal planning.
paleobailey says
Oh I love the sweet potato idea too!! Sounds awesome! Thank you so much for making it, and letting me know you enjoy 🙂 You’re the best!!
Erika says
This casserole is DELICIOUS!!! Such a nice change up for breakfast. Also, my two year old is INHALING it! 🙂
paleobailey says
Love this!! I’m so glad you both enjoyed it 😉 Thank you, Erika!!
Anna says
For anyone who can’t find coconut cream, I made the following alterations to the receipe and it was AHMAZING!!
Sauce-
1-13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon Ghee
(I omitted the almond milk because of the other comments that said it may be too watery)
Heat it up for a few minutes and pour over mixture in casserole dish. I didn’t have the flour or the coconut cream and cooked it for about 55 minutes and it wasn’t watery and tasted delicious. stirred the dish half way during cooking so the potatoes didn’t get dry.
paleobailey says
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
Laura says
Bailey, this is incredible! You’re a genius!
paleobailey says
So happy you liked it!!
Collie says
This was so Unbelievable. I doubled it to make more breakfasts and dinners. Perfect for company too. Thank you!
paleobailey says
Looove this!! Thank you so much!
Jenn Moenter says
Would you consider using spaghetti squash instead of potatoes?
paleobailey says
You could try it, but I can’t promise it will turn out. Spaghetti squash has really high water content and that excess moisture is released when cooked, and I think would really impact how creamy and thick the casserole is. If you try it, let me know!
Dana says
Hi Bailey,
I am obsessed with your recipes, this particular one looked so delicious, I attempted to try it! Not sure what I did but I completely botched the sauce! 🙁 It was so thin & I just went with it using the 2.5 tablespoons of tapioca flour and I definitely should have thickened it more. It was so runny I had to ditch the whole thing! How can I fix this? Just add .5 tbsp until it is a good thickness, I thought the 2.5 had made it thicker, but it wasn’t thick enough & didn’t know if 2.5 was max? It smelled so yummy it broke my heart to throw it away! HELP ME, so I can attempt again and be successful!
THANKS!
paleobailey says
Hey! How long did you let it simmer while whisking for it to thicken? Sometimes it just takes a bit to thicken up. But my second guess is that by chance you used coconut milk instead of cream? If that’s the case, it would have been much thinner and would have required extra thickener to thicken. So sorry you had troubles!!
Alicia Breasette says
Yooooooo! This is da-bomb-digity!!! I resisted the temptation to add in cheese or sour cream as I went. Deliberately choosing to follow the recipe as is and give it a fighting chance. And DANG this is delicious!! Awesome job! ????
paleobailey says
Ah! Thank you SO much!! I’m so happy you liked it!
Heather says
I am debating freezing this or cooking tonight! 🙂 Has anyone ever frozen it and had success?!
Jaime Marshall says
Just curious if you have any estimate of the calorie count so I can log it in Fitbit. It was absolutely delicious and just as good as leftovers!
paleobailey says
Hey there! I’m slowly working on adding macros to the recipes but it’s a slow manual process 🙂 You can use My Fitness Pal or another app you prefer! Sorry about that!
Kristen says
This is my first month trying whole30 and my sister recommended this dish. I love love love this dish! It isn’t super complicated like some recipes I have found when trying to come up with whole30 meals!
paleobailey says
Ahh! Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear it was easy for ya and that you enjoyed it. Tell your sister I said thanks too! <3 - B
Amanda Spradlin says
Loved this recipe, it was even better on the second day! It was so warm and comforting!
paleobailey says
I’m SO happy you loved it! Thank you, Amanda!!
Angie says
Do you think this would freeze well?
paleobailey says
Hey there! I’ve never tried it, but when stored well, cooked casseroles with hash browns generally freeze pretty well. Because of the coconut cream I wouldn’t freeze it for more than 3 months though 🙂
Lori says
Thank you for sharing the most delicious GF / DF breakfast casserole ever!! And easy to make. Note: I used half the seasonings called for because my turkey sausage & chicken broth was already heavily seasoned.
paleobailey says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Kelsi says
You’ve freaking outdone yourself. The only change I made was not using almond milk because I didn’t have any that was unflavored. This tastes like the best unhealthy biscuits and gravy and I can’t believe it is paleo. It’s comfort in a bowl. I could eat this whole pan. THANK YOU.
paleobailey says
Ahhh! Thank you Kelsi! This made my day 🙂
Emily Sherva says
Bailey I just needed to let you know how much I love this casserole. I’ve made it so many times and will eat it for breakfast lunch or dinner. My mom recently passed away and she used to make casseroles like this for us all the time when she knew me or any of my siblings were coming over. this recipe just feels like a little piece of “home”. Comforting in all of the right places. You don’t know it, but you’ve been a blessing to me this fall. Wishing you all the best that I know life has waiting for you as you continue shining your bright light for us all to find – Emily
paleobailey says
Oh, Emily. Thank you so much for your kind words. I am so, so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through or how incredibly devastating the loss of your mom must feel like. Hearing you’ve found a little bit of home in this recipe means so much to me – I’ll be thinking of you. Sending strength and hugs <3 – B