No more boring beef mince recipes….. Kick off the week with THIS flavour packed Mexican Ground Beef Casserole!! With corn, capsicum/bell peppers and black beans, this rice casserole is juicy, cheesy, and packed with big Mexican flavours.
One pot, quick dinner idea that’s on the table in 30 minutes!
Mexican Ground Beef Casserole with rice
This is essentially the filling for the Mexican Stuffed Peppers I shared a few weeks ago. Why am I bothering?
Because when I share a pork chop recipe on Instagram, people always ask if it can be made with chicken.
When I share a chicken thigh recipe, people always ask if it can be made with breast.
And when I share Mexican Stuffed Peppers, people ask if it can be made without the peppers…… 😂😂😂
Which actually, as strange as it sounds, I thought was a very valid question because I can imagine how irritating it would be to watch that stuffed peppers video and drool when the juicy beef rice filling comes oozing out, knowing full well you have no peppers in your fridge.
So – here’s the filling recipe which is a Mexican flavoured ground beef casserole made with rice. It’s mouth-wateringly delish!!!
What you need for Mexican Ground Beef Casserole
Here’s what you need. Feel free to substitute the capsicum, born and beans with other vegetables of choice – you need about 5 to 6 cups of diced veggies in total.
How to make this Mexican Rice Casserole
This is a one pot quick dinner that will be on your table in 30 minutes!
Essentially, it starts by browning the beef with onion and garlic, then you add a ton of Mexican spices, rice and liquids then you give it a big stir and let it simmer away on the stove until the rice is tender.
To give it a good slug of extra flavour, I like to stir in cheese as well as green onion for freshness (I also like doing this because I get a kick out of watching the cheese melt into the rice 😇), top with a bit more cheese, clamp the lid on and leave it for a minute to let the residual heat to melt the cheese.
The texture of this rice casserole is like a creamy risotto – except it tastes like juicy Enchiladas.
I love the pops of flavour and texture from the corn and beans – adds extra interest!
Another quick beef mince recipe!
Regular readers know I’m a big fan of beef mince. It’s just so easy – no chopping required, highly versatile. A great flavour absorber, quick to cook.
And this Mexican Rice Casserole is the latest addition to my ground beef recipe collection. Other than Bolognese (which is, without a doubt, the recipe I make most often!), a few of my other favourites include:
Quick Asian Beef Bowls – there’s a lot of fans of this recipe!!
Salisbury Steaks – juicy seasoned beef patties smothered in mushroom gravy
Juicy Italian Meatballs – well, actually, all meatballs!
Chilli Con Carne, Beef Tacos, Baked Ziti, Baked Spaghetti, Moussaka, Meatloaf, Homemade Hamburger Helper….
I have to stop. I love them all! Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t have shared the recipe!! ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
More easy, cosy casseroles
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Mexican Ground Beef Casserole with Rice (Beef mince!)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 500g (1 lb) ground beef (mince), lean
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 1 1/4 cup long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 1)
- 2.5 cups (625 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 400g (14oz) can corn kernels , drained (Note 2)
- 400g (14oz) can black beans , drained (or other beans)
- 1 capsicum/bell pepper , diced
- 1 cup green onions/shallots
- 2 cups (200g) cheese , shredded (anything that melts! Note 3)
MEXICAN SPICES:
- 0.5 tsp cayenne pepper (Note 4)
- 1.5 tbsp dried oregano
- 3 tsp cumin
- 3 tsp coriander
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1.5 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook 1 1/2 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you no longer see raw meat (about 2 minutes).
- Add Mexican Spices and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute.
- Add tomato paste and broth, stir to mix in.
- Add rice, corn and black beans.
- Stir, bring to simmer then cover and lower heat to medium low (simmering gently). Cook 15 minutes.
- Remove lid, quickly stir through green onion and HALF the cheese.
- Smooth top then sprinkle on remaining cheese. Cover and leave for 1 minute just to melt cheese.
- Remove from stove and serve immediately, garnished with more green onion if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is where he is as I’m writing this post (ie licking his lips at the sight of the photos…):
This was easy and delicious. Although , despite simmering for an extra 5 minutes my rice still wasn’t fully cooked, next time I will add a little extra broth and simmer a little longer.
Another banger! To veggify this I tried a punnet of mushrooms chopped in the food processor plus about half a cup of red lentils which I boiled for about 10 mins before. Everything else the same and worked a treat!
Great one-pot all rounder for the whole family when I’m short on time. Or even when I have time, it’s always a winner.
Delicious. Followed instructions and came out perfectly. Only change was I added 2 jalapenos from my garden with the red bell pepper. Perfect level of spice and will definitely make again!
Omg delicious!!! I didn’t even bother with the cheese it was so good! I used plant-based sausage. So good!!!
Tasty! Thanks Nagi for this alternative to beef chili/nacho mix.
I measured everything as per the recipe, aside from subtracting 1/4 tsp cayenne and adding 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. Used my 28cm Le Creuset Dutch oven to cook on the stove top. A couple things – aside from grating cheese (ugh!), the prep for this is pretty fast. However, like many others have reported, when cooking with a (true) simmer the rice took 45 minutes (as well as 200ml more chicken stock) to cook until no longer crunchy. I used (freshly purchased) Sun Rice brand long grain rice. On the plus side, there was no burned layer on the bottom of my DO, but I imagine if you boil it faster in order to quickly cook the rice a burned crust might be the result. I served it with a dollop of sour cream chopped avocado with lime juice and chopped mini Roma tomatoes and green onions, and a side of tortilla chips – the latter adding some texture and crunch. Enjoyed by all (especially with a icy Corona)!
So my only advice is to allow an extra 30 minutes cooking time into your dinner schedule 😉
Forgot to add – this makes HEAPS, the leftover situation is fantastic and I’m truly looking forward to experimenting with it as a filling for soft flour tortillas – burrito style!
Love your recipes and how you show how to cook them simply
The Mexican Ground Beef Casserole turn out great! I followed the recipe but omitted the rice and chicken broth, substituting cauliflower rice (on the side). Thanks for a great, easy recipe!
This recipe it was good but the problem was I should have reduced the temperature in the oven or cooked it less time because my chicken got burnt. I know it’s because of the brown sugar but regardless I would double check your chicken halfway through and maybe consider doing a lower temperature but otherwise it’s good a good recipe
Maybe this recipe it was good but the problem was I should have reduced the temperature in the oven or cooked it less because my chicken got burnt. I know it’s because of the brown sugar but regardless I would double check your chicken halfway through and maybe consider doing a lower temperature but otherwise it’s good a good recipe
I think you’ve commented on the wrong post! This is for mexican beef and rice.
Our family loves this recipe! I made it with ground chicken instead of beef and Basmati brown rice. The only change to the recipe as written was that the cooking time was extended to 45 minutes. Very flavorful and satisfying!
Sooo good! I had to try this the second time. The first time, I cut corners and didn’t turn out well. I knew a recipe of yours couldn’t turn out wrong. I’m really goad I tried it second time, this time faithful to the recipe. And I’m sooo glad Dozer is able to swim again. He looks so happy.
Doesn’t look pretty but this is amazing delish. Perfect winter food that everyone loved!
nice crispy rice on the edges of my pan. rice only needs 3:2 to cook, so time on stove can be lower. we had corn chips handy but i could happily roll this into a burrito wrapper!
This was really good!
I think I put too much broth in though, it’s was quite saucy 😈, still tasted great and got a thumbs up from my taste-testers – husband and brother 😋
RTE recipes never fail. This one is SO tasty. I was told tonight I have to cook this again, haha!
This was a yummy tasty recipe
Packed with flavor. I will serve this sour cream on the side when I make it next time
This recipe has every hallmark of my taste buds blasting off the charts when a bowl of heartwarming mex inspired bean and rice with a gentle reminder of beef and corn amalgamate with spices from heaven and cheese become a shut your mouth and just continue experience consumption makes me smile as I eat.
Hallelujah.
Liked this. Even without cayenne pepper it still worked out really spicy somehow but it was still nice. I used brown rice too and just added more water as it cooked.
I will need to try this in a deep frying pan rather than my dutch oven – burnt bottom and uncooked rice after only 15 mins.