A potato casserole recipe with an Egyptian twist. Healthier than your average potato casserole, but every bit as satisfying. The secret is in the sauce!
The goal of a potato casserole is always comfort, am I right?
My guess is, when we think “comforting potato casserole,” the majority of us living here in the States, envision something different. Maybe a creamy potato casserole. Maybe something cheesy. Or something adorned with bacon bits, perhaps?
But, this healthier Mediterranean version of a potato casserole–more accurately, Egyptian version–manages to provide all the comfort with fewer calories.
This Egyptian-style potato casserole is a riff of one from my childhood. Here, naturally creamy gold potatoes are combined with sweet carrots and bell peppers. A hearty spiced meat sauce–made with lean beef or turkey–tops the potato casserole. No butter, cream, or cheese in this simple potato casserole recipe, but it’s every bit as satisfying. And the flavor combination will surprise you…in a good way.
What to serve with this potato casserole?
My favorite way to serve these potatoes is in bowls on a bed of Lebanese rice or warmed pita bread to sop up all the goodness. You can do brown rice or couscous, if you like. The start of our meal is always some some sort of salad. Here are a few ideas: 3-ingredient Mediterranean salad; Greek salad; Fattoush salad; or Balela Salad.
Easy Potato Casserole Recipe, Egyptian Style
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves up to 6 people
Description
This potato casserole recipe comes with a bit of an Egyptian twist. Potato wedges are combined with carrots and bell peppers, then topped with a spiced meat sauce. We use lean ground beef or ground turkey here.
Ingredients
For Meat Sauce
- 2 tbsp Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb lean organic ground beef (or ground Turkey, if you prefer)
- 1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp sweet Spanish paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 1 28-oz can peeled tomato
- 1/2 cup water
For Potatoes
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- To make the meat sauce, in a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Add chopped onions and cook, tossing regularly, till translucent. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so.
- Add the ground meat (lean beef or turkey), break it up using a wooden spoon. Season with spices, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring regularly, until fully browned. Now add the peeled tomatoes and water. Using your wooden spoon, smash or break up the tomatoes a bit. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and let the meat sauce simmer for 10 minutes. Check to see if you might like to add a little more water. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- In a 9″ x 13″ baking pan like this one, arrange the potato wedges, carrots, and bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle allspice and coriander. Toss to combine. Add about 3/4 cup water, then top with the meat sauce.
- Cover the baking pan with foil and bake in heated oven for 30 minutes or so. Uncover and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven and top with fresh chopped parsley.
- To serve, add a side of Lebanese rice, if you like. A fresh salad such as this Mediterranean salad, Greek Salad, or Fattoush is a good start to this hearty meal.
Notes
- Recommended for this recipe: Private Reserve Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil (from organically grown and processed Koroneiki olives). And from our all-natural and organic spice collections: allspice, coriander, and Spanish paprika.
- SAVE!! SAVE!! Try our Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil Bundle and our Ultimate Mediterranean Spice Bundle. Or create your own 6-pack or 3-pack from our all-natural and organic spice collections!
- Visit our store to browse our spices, olive oils and bundles!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Egyptian
More Recipes to Try
Middle Eastern Spicy Potatoes (Batata Harra)
Moussaka: Greek Eggplant Casserole
Herbed Couscous with Roasted Cauliflower
Made this for dinner this evening. Absolutely delicious. Took an dditional 20 mins to bake the potatoes through, but that have perfect amount if time to add roasted brocolli to go with it.! Thank you Suzy. I love your recipes
My husband is from Jordan and he told me this meal reminded him of home, which I always consider to be his highest compliment. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us.
That’s a huge compliment! Thank you both!!
Hi Suzy, made this tonight for dinner, lovely as always:) have made it a few times before. Tomorrow we are making Foul! 🙂 love the Egyptian recipes, please add more of them!
Thank you! So glad you are enjoying them! Stay tuned for more :).
I made this recipe last night – the flavours are great, but I agree with previous comments about the timing being off. The potatoes and carrots were not cooked through after 45 minutes in the oven. I would recommend boiling the potatoes and carrots for 10 minutes before putting in the baking dish. That’s the only adjustment that needs to be made – otherwise, a good recipe!
Thanks for the suggestion, Jan!
How much water please, Suzy?
Thanks, Karen
I Love this recipe! Easy and very tasty! I topped the dish with mint and feta before serving. And served it with brown Basmati rice. I will make this again!
Awesome, Ida! Thank you!
This makes an easy and hearty meal. Nothing fancy, but still tasty. The cooking time is off however. There is no way potato is going to cook in a casserole kind of thing at 375 F in 45 minutes.
Thanks for sharing, Adam. That is indeed the time it took me, but ovens do vary (surprisingly a lot more than we think). 🙂
Delicious recipe and easy to prepare, everyone loved it.
Wonderful, Ursula! Thanks so much for sharing!
Made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing. Very flavorful. Made the Lebenese rice to go with it. Delicious! Thank you Suzy for such amazing recipes. Keep them coming!
muigustoso muchas,grasias
Thank you!
This one is a keeper!! I tried it with turkey. Well it was okay. But Beef and Lamb!! its amazing! I love the colors and the spice went well together.
Easy to prep, easy to cook, even easier to enjoy. This was a massive hit yesterday and we didn’t even feel the need to add any sides, just delicious like a stew. I just saw another comment about subbing mushrooms for carrots and may do that next time. Thanks for including the nutrition information too!
We made this last night. It was so delicious, I might make another pan just to take for lunches this week! ?
We did sub out mushrooms for the carrots tho because I’ve got a picky eater in the house.
Yay! So glad to hear it Gina! Thanks for giving this one a try.
Hi Suzy
just checking. was this recipe posted on face book last year around August? If so that for reposting as I tried to get the recipe from face book and no success.
Hi June, this is a new recipe I just added…could be similar to something else you saw? But I hope you’ll give it a try soon
I appreciate this recipe as it so unique — excited to try it!
I do wish you had listed the size of the baking pan in the recipe. I had to click on the amazon link to find it. Is that because it is an affiliate link?
Hi Jay, thank you! I hope you enjoy it. Sorry for forgetting to add the pan size; that’s been added now. And, while some of the links we share are affiliate links (as disclosed both in our posts and in the privacy policy), they’re meant to help readers find products that we use on a regular basis.
Really sounds delicious! We are vegetarians, could you make this without the meat? Would I need to make any adjustments to the sauce?
Yes, you can totally make a vegetarian version of this. In place of the meat, you can dice up some zucchini or mushrooms and perhaps adjust the seasoning a bit…start with less of the spices and work up as you need to.
Thank you so much for your suggestions! Can’t wait to try this!