Looking for easy and healthy diabetic casserole recipes? Here are 20+ high protein, high fiber, nutritious casseroles to enjoy for main meals, side dishes, and breakfasts.
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Casseroles are the best for many reasons, like:
- everything served from one pot
- it's easy to add extra veggies
- casseroles are delicious!
Unfortunately, when you learn that you (or a loved one) are diagnosed with diabetes, you might worry that you can't eat the food you love, like casseroles.
Not true!
As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I've worked with hundreds of people with diabetes, and you can still enjoy the foods you love, including casseroles.
Diabetic casserole recipes exist and pinky promise, you don't have eat only low carb or follow the keto diet.
In this post, you'll find 20+ delicious casseroles that are perfect for the whole family, whether or not you eat a diabetes-friendly eating pattern.
Read below for more tips on how to adjust these easy recipes to make them suit your needs.
As always, these recipes and my advice are not a substitute for medical care. Please work with your health care team to figure out what works best for you and your health.
Be sure to scroll down and read the details and how you can make each recipe fit your dietary preferences.
What to Eat with Diabetes
As a general rule of thumb, if you have diabetes, it's helpful for your meals to have a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
A "healthy meal" means something different to everyone, but your body needs all three macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) to perform best.
To help balance your blood sugar levels, make sure that you include protein and fiber when eating.
To promote positive digestive and heart health, try to include more fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains to increase the fiber that you get.
Plus, fruits and vegetables are helpful in reducing multiple health conditions and are full of nutrients.
Fruits and veggies in all forms (fresh, frozen, and canned) are all great, and you don't need to buy organic. Read here for more about the research between organic vs conventional produce.
Here are 20 diabetic casserole recipes:
12 Main Meal Diabetic Casserole Recipes
Each recipe for these diabetes-friendly main dish casserole recipe has at least 20 grams of protein per serving and most have around 30-60 grams of carbohydrates.
Easy Taco Casserole
This Healthy Taco Casserole recipe is a one pot, cheesy, and filling taco casserole with corn tortillas the whole family will love.
Made with lean ground beef or ground turkey, no-salt-added tomato sauce, green bell peppers, corn tortillas, and covered in sharp cheddar cheese.
Each serving has 31 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, and 35 grams of protein. Plus, you get 99% daily value of Vitamin C, 61% daily value Vitamin A, 27% daily value of calcium, 25% daily value of potassium, and 22% daily value of iron.
Sausage and Lentils Casserole
Sausage and Lentils Casserole is a spicy, satisfying, and incredibly delicious one-pot stew that is great for leftovers. It's dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and egg-free.
Lentils are a plant-based source of protein, so they will have more carbohydrates. However, they are an excellent source of fiber, which can help balance your blood sugar.
In fact, one serving of this recipe has an entire day's worth of fiber!
One serving provides 57 grams of carbohydrates, 25 grams of fiber, and 29 grams of protein. Plus, 164% daily value of Vitamin A, 59% Vitamin C, 39% iron, 30% potassium, and 14% calcium.
Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
Hearty Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole is crowd-pleasing comfort food that uses no cream of chicken soup and is made with yogurt instead of sour cream. Great for using leftover rotisserie chicken.
Note that this casserole doesn't have any veggies, so be sure to serve with a sauteed green beans, green salad, or other veggie side dish.
Each serving has 18 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 43 grams of protein, 26% daily value potassium, 18% daily value calcium, and 11% of iron.
Beef and Hominy Casserole
This Beef and Hominy Casserole is a great dish full of chewy hominy, satisfying ground beef, onions, and tomatoes all covered in shredded cheese.
You can bake it all in the pot you're cooking in or transfer to a baking dish.
This dish is a little higher in saturated fat (with 8 grams) and sodium (628 mg) per serving. To reduce the saturated fat, use 93/7 or 94/6 ground beef, and use reduced-fat or low-fat cheddar cheese. Or use part-skim mozzarella.
To reduce the sodium content, omit the salt and use no-salt added hominy or rinse the hominy well before using. You can also use less cheese to decrease the sodium amount.
One serving has 20 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 33 grams of protein, 23% daily value of calcium, 17% daily value of iron, and 15% daily value of potassium.
Lemon Chicken Pasta Casserole
Lemon juice and herb marinated chicken tossed with whole-wheat pasta, this casserole is great to make it in advance and throw together for a low-prep dinner.
Be sure to use no-salt-added artichoke hearts in water. Or you can use 1.75 cups of chopped frozen artichoke hearts.
One serving provides 35 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 33 grams of protein, 24% daily value of potassium, 18% daily value of Vitamin C, 11% daily value of calcium, and 11% daily value of iron.
Pizza Casserole
Like a deep dish pizza with tons of veggies. In fact, each serving of this pizza casserole has almost 3 servings of veggies.
This is higher in sodium, so you might want to skip it if you are trying to reduce the sodium you eat. Even with low sodium pizza sauce, it has over 800 mg of sodium per serving because of the cheese and store-bought pizza dough.
Per serving, you'll get 37g carbohydrates, 5g fiber, and 28g protein. Plus, 45% daily value Vitamin C, 23% daily value calcium, 17% daily value iron, and 14% daily value potassium.
Easy Greek Casserole
You will love this super easy casserole with very little effort.
All the ingredients are stirred together in a casserole dish and baked, so this one has minimal prep and cleanup.
It's also vegetarian and full of plant-based protein, so it has more carbohydrates than some of the other casseroles.
You can reduce the carbohydrates if you want by replacing the one (15-ounce) can of chickpeas with ¾ to 1 pound of chopped raw chicken or shrimp. This will decrease the carbohydrates by 19 grams.
As written, one serving provides 62 grams of carbohydrates, 12 grams of fiber, and 17 grams of protein. If you add ¾ pound of chopped chicken breast in place of chickpeas, you get 43 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fiber, and 29 grams of protein.
Tofu Taco Casserole
Love taco casserole but not meat? Try this tofu version of a taco casserole.
Not only is it delicious, but it's great for adding more plant-based protein, increasing fiber, and reducing your food costs since tofu is often less expensive than beef.
Omit the salt if you want to decrease the sodium content.
One serving has 33 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 19 grams of protein, 72% daily value of Vitamin C, 49% daily value of Vitamin A, 30% daily value of calcium, 24% daily value of iron, and 19% daily value of potassium.
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Cooked rice and broccoli are stirred together with a cream and chicken mixture.
Instead of using cream of chicken soup, you make your own creamy sauce with milk, yogurt, and cheese - and it's so much tastier! Plus, it's easy and doesn't take much more effort.
This casserole always gets rave reviews and is great for meal prep or for bringing to others.
From one serving, you get 31 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 29 grams protein, 51% daily value Vitamin C, 29% daily value calcium, 17% daily value potassium, and 14% daily value Vitamin A.
Shepherd's Pie
Shepherd's Pie with a veggie-filled meat sauce covered with cheesy mashed potatoes. It's a great way to use up leftovers for a tasty comfort food dish.
Make sure to use unsalted broth or water to keep the sodium from being very high if needed.
One serving has 33g carbohydrates, 4g fiber, 36g protein, 117% daily value Vitamin A, 36% daily value potassium, 28% daily value calcium, 22% daily value iron, and 17% daily value Vitamin C.
Mexican Quinoa Casserole
Take advantage of pantry staples and make this tasty, nourishing vegan casserole.
This recipe is made in less than 5 minutes and bakes to perfection in under an hour.
Cover with cheese or don't; it's delicious either way and will make everyone in the family happy for dinner!
Be sure to use no-salt-added canned ingredients to keep the sodium from being super high.
You can skip the corn if you want to reduce the carbs by 12 grams per serving.
Each serving of the recipe as written provides 61 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams fiber, 21 grams protein, 61% daily value Vitamin C, 34% daily value calcium, 33% daily value iron, 21% daily value Vitamin A, and 20% daily value potassium.
Cheesy Bean Casserole
This casserole full of plant-based protein and fiber is made and baked in a large skillet so you only have one pot to wash.
I love using black beans and/or kidney beans, but any beans will work.
Since this relies on canned ingredients, be sure to use no-salt-added ingredients if possible.
One serving gives you 54 grams carbs, 14 grams fiber, 21 grams protein, 69% daily value Vitamin C, 37% daily value Vitamin A, 32% daily value calcium, 22% daily value iron, and 9% daily value potassium.
4 Side Dishes
Here are a few ideas for diabetic casserole recipes that can be enjoyed as sides.
Squash Casserole
Perfect for a veggie side dish for Thanksgiving, a summer cookout, or weeknight meal. You can use fresh or frozen squash to make this year round.
If you need low-carb options, simply omit the breadcrumbs on the top of the casserole.
Black Eyed Pea Casserole
Originally created to enjoy on New Year's Day, this black eyed pea is a tasty and satisfying side dish for any time of year.
Scalloped Sweet Potato Casserole
This side dish is cheesy, melty, and delicious! Sliced sweet potatoes are layered and covered in a creamy cheese sauce that's rich and satisfying.
Summer Veggie Casserole
Crackers are used instead of bread crumbs, but you can always skip them or use breadcrumbs. Toppings always make casseroles better!
4 Breakfast Casserole Diabetic-Friendly Recipes
Skillet Hash Brown Casserole
With just a few simple ingredients, you get a veggie-filled breakfast that is high in fiber and gluten-free.
You can enjoy this for any meal, and it's also great for meal prep.
Slow Cooker French Toast Casserole
Looking for a sweet breakfast? You'll love this one! It's cooked overnight and is lightly sweetened with maple syrup.
Just because you have to manage your blood sugar levels doesn't mean you can't enjoy sweet breakfasts every now and then.
While this does have a fair amount of protein, I recommend adding extra protein with it like these homemade low-sodium breakfast sausages.
New Year's Breakfast Casserole
This breakfast casserole has thinly sliced bagels for a fun change on typical breakfast casserole. Plus, it has lots of veggies and bacon flavor.
Enjoy this any time of year, not just New Year's Day.
Veggie and Swiss Breakfast Casserole
A savory breakfast casserole with veggies, cheese, and ground meat (like turkey or pork) for a super satisfying and filling breakfast.
Great for weekend entertaining and meal prep.
more diabetes-friendly recipes
Diabetic Thanksgiving Recipes
Sides, veggies, soups, starters, and desserts to enjoy over the holidays
Here is this list of diabetic casserole recipes:
- Easy Taco Casserole
- Sausage and Lentils Casserole
- Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
- Beef and Hominy Casserole
- Lemon Chicken Pasta Casserole
- Pizza Casserole
- Easy Greek Casserole
- Tofu Taco Casserole
- Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
- Shepherd's Pie
- Mexican Quinoa Casserole
- Cheesy Bean Casserole
- Squash Casserole
- Black Eyed Pea Casserole
- Scalloped Sweet Potato Casserole
- Summer Veggie Casserole
- Skillet Hash Brown Casserole
- Slow Cooker French Toast Casserole
- New Year's Breakfast Casserole
- Veggie and Swiss Breakfast Casserole
Meme
Please consult your doctor, health care provider, and resources like the American diabetes association before making any changes or updates to your diet.
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