Easy Zucchini Pork Casserole
Do you have an abundance of zucchini from the garden? Make the most of your zucchini harvest with this versatile zucchini pork casserole dish. Combine tender zucchini with savory ground pork, hearty brown rice, quinoa and tomato sauce. It’s so good! And you can freeze it for later, too!
WHY I LOVE THIS ZUCCHINI PORK CASSEROLE
- When garden is teeming with fresh zucchini, it’s easy to run out of ideas what to do with all the zucchinis. This recipe uses a plenty of grated zucchini that is first cooked down to extract access liquid so the baked dish is not watery.
- This casserole freezes well. I love to slice it into cubes and freeze the cubes individually for later.
- Recipe uses hearty brown rice and quinoa that is filling and packed with fiber.
- I love the versatility of this recipe. There is no egg or cheese in the filling, however if prefer you can add ricotta filling and you can add cheese topping.
INGREDIENTS
- Grated zucchini – use a food processor or grate zucchini by hand
- Ground Pork
- Tomato Sauce – use plain sauce or seasoned, I often use canned Tomato Soup.
- Diced Onion – yellow or red, or both
- Garlic – dices
- Oregano, Basil
- Brown Rice
- Quinoa
- Salt, Pepper, Red Paprika
- Melting Cheese – optional, topping
I used medium to large zucchinis with skins. I washed them well water. Trim the ends and grate them in a food processor. This recipe uses an abundance of zucchini. Don’t worry, grated zucchini will cook down significantly before layering into the casserole dish.
GROUND PORK
Cook unseasoned ground pork in a pot and drain the fat.
COOK ZUCCHINI
Wipe down the residual pork fat in the pot, leave any seared meat spots for an extra flavor. and saute diced onion in a olive oil, until fragrant, translucent. Then add diced garlic and cook, stirring for minute, before adding all of the grated zucchini.
ZUCCHINI AND GROUND PORK
Squeeze out as much liquid from the grated zucchini as possible. Then add it to the sauted onion and garlic. Zucchini as it heats up will release more liquid, this is normal, cook it down on medium-high heat, till it’s soft and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and paprika (optional). Add drained ground pork and stir to combine.
CASSEROLE FILLINGS
To make the casserole you’ll layer 3 filling: zucchini-pork, brown rice-quinoa and tomato sauce.
LAYER CASSEROLE DISH
I use a small bench scraper to spread the fillings into the 9×13 inch casserole baking dish. Layer zucchini layer, rice layer and tomato sauce, repeat. You should have tomato layer on the top.
BAKE
Cover dish with foil and bake at 375F (190C) for 45-50 minutes.
Lastly, add a cheese layer. I use mozzarella cheese but other melting cheeses will work as topping, too.
HOW TO FREEZE ZUCCHINI PORK CASSEROLE
What I love about this recipe that I can freeze it for layer. Recipe feeds a crowd and freezing it in individual portions is a win win. It’s convenient, as you can take out as many cubes as you need and individual cubes defrost quicker than the whole dish.
- Let the casserole cool completely. For easier slicing, refrigerate overnight, for several hour until it firms up.
- Slice into cubes – to about 3×3 inches.
- Freeze cubes for 5-8 hours, on a tray or baking sheet lined with parchment. Foil tends to stick to the bottom of the cubes.
- For longer storage wrap frozen casserole cubes into freezer paper and store them in freezer-safe ziploc bags.
- Zucchini casserole dish cubes keep for up to 6 months.
- Let thaw at room temperature or in the fridge. Reheat and serve.
Remove frozen condensation bits from the cubes before freezing cubes in bags or containers.
I love freezer paper! And for longer storage I wrap cubes into the freezer paper, shiny side down.
I can fit 4 large cubes into the ziploc bag, or you can use a freezer-safe containers.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH ZUCCHINI PORK CASSEROLE
- I love sliced cucumbers or cucumber salad.
- Simple Green Salad
- Mashed Potatoes
- Crispy Bread or Baguette
TRY THESE ZUCCHINI RECIPES
- Creamy Zucchini Soup
- Zucchini Potato Cheese Gratin
- Delicious Zucchini Bread via Love and Lemons
Zucchini Ground Pork Casserole
Ingredients
- 35 oz ground pork (2 pound or a little over 2 pounds, 1 kg)
- 5 medium-large zucchini, grated (4.5 pounds, 2kg ) note: I used zucchinis: 9-10 inches long, 2.25 in diameter, 1 whole zucchini with the ends trimmed is about 400-410 grams
- 2 medium onions, diced (2 cups)
- 3-4 large garlic cloves, diced
- salt to season
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper or to season
- ½ teaspoon paprika (optional)
- 4 cups 1 quart plain tomato sauce (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 cups shredded cheese – topping
- ½ cup dry quinoa, cooked
- 1 cup dry brown rice, cooked
- olive oil
Instructions
Zucchini
- Grate zucchini and squeeze out the juice.
Cook Ground Pork
- In a large pot, heat 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil, add ground pork (2 lb, 1 kg), break it up into small pieces, and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the meat turns from pink to brown. Remove from the heat and strain it through a strainer to remove the fat. Set aside.
Cook Zucchini
- In the same pot, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil, add onion (2 cups), cook on medium-low heat, then gradually increase to medium and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add diced garlic and cook for a minute.Add grated zucchini, season with salt and ground pepper (1/4 teaspoons) stir well and cook for about 10 minutes. Zucchini will release more liquid. This is normal. You can take a small ladle and remove excess liquid from the pot.
Zucchini and Pork Filling
- Add cooked ground pork to cooked zucchini and stir well. Taste and season with red paprika (optional), salt and black ground pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Tomato Sauce
- Season plain tomato sauce* with 1 teaspoon dry basil and 1 teaspoon dry oregano.
Brown Rice and Quinoa
- Cook 1/2 dry quinoa and 1 cup brown rice according to instructions on the packaging. Combined cooked rice and quinoa in a bowl.
Layer Casserole
- Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the 9×13 baking dish with olive oil. Spread about 1/3 of the zucchini-pork mix on the bottom of the dish, spread about 1/3 of the rice-quinoa mixture over the zucchini-pork. Then spread about 1/3 of tomato sauce over rice layer. Repeat until you use all the fillings, ending with the tomato layer. Cover dish well with aluminum foil.
Bake Casserole
- Preheat oven to 375F ( 190C ). Bake covered with the foil for 45-50 minutes.Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven; it is heavy, remove the foil and sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella cheese on the top. Baked for additional 10 minutes until cheese is melted. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy with a cucumber salad on the side.Casserole keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Can I freeze the casserole cubes? –If freezing, allow to cool completely and refrigerate until firm, about 3-8 hours. Slice into 3×3 cubes and freeze individually on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Once cubes are frozen, after about 5-8 hours, store them in a Ziploc bag or a freezer-safe container. If freezing for longer, wrap frozen casserole cubes into a freezer-safe paper (optional). Well frozen, it keeps for up to 6 months.
- How to defrost casserole cubes? – Allow to defrost in the fridge or use a microwave setting to defrost and reheat before serving.
