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…):
Really delicious! Made a double batch and freaked out at the amount of liquid in the pot but the rice absorbed it. Would make this again.
Hi Nagi. Can this be cooked in a slow cooker?
Sorry Colin, not this one unfortunately!
Thanks, hopefully get all my timings right!!
Absolutely delicious!! The G-Man gave it 10 stars out of 5!! We loved it!! Thanks Nagi for another wonderful recipe!! Will be making this again for sure!
Glad you enjoyed it Suzanne! N x
I made the stuffed peppers and my family loved them! I didn’t have peppers today but my teenage son kept asking for a repeat of the meal, I was so excited to find it can be done without the peppers! Delicious! Definitely going to be a regular in our home
What’s not to like? It’s ground beef!! N x
Family favourite: by itself, with tortillas and lettuces.
When I went to serve the dish the rice was not cooked through. This must be because I used jasmine rice; though I did read the note saying it was ok to use in place of regular long grain white. I’m going to try cooking it an additional 15 min with some extra broth and see if it turns out alright. I did already add half the cheese and the green onion though, which I wish I hadn’t done.
This was an amazing recipe! My 4 year old had 4 kids size helping! Your recipes are so on point!! Thank you!!!
I followed the recipe exactly, and oh wow, yum!! The green onions at the end add a really great flavor. So happy with this recipe, definitely a keeper
An easy recipe that makes a good quantity. I prepared it during the day and reheated in the oven at dinner time. Delicious!!!!
I used basmati rice, and after the 15 minutes I had to add another cup of chicken broth and cook it for another 15 minutes for my rice to become cooked and not hard/raw 🙁
Even then some of the rice was not fully cooked.
Solid recipe, it’s basically like having a burrito without the tortilla!
Accidentally ended up subbing corn kernels for creamed corn (really need to learn to read labels more closely), and while it probably made the casserole a little looser than it should be, it still turned out great!
I cooked this few times and never been able to cook the rice in 15 minutes. It takes an hours if not longer to have rice cooked. Nice but the rice just doesn’t cook that quick.
Hi Nagi, could you possibly convert the ingredients in your recipe which states cups to metric please. Many thanks if you could do this for me.
HI Helen – there is a toggle button at the top of most of my recipes which does this! N x
Hi Nagi, I’m prepping this for tonight’s dinner. Just wondering whether I should rinse the rice, before adding to the casserole?
Not necessary! N x
This is almost exactly what my mom makes for stuffed bell peppers! I love the filling but never thought of as a casserole!
Multi-purpose recipes are ALWAYS good! N x
Hi! I am about to make this recipe. What is the difference in Capsium and Red Bell pepper. I notice your video shows a lot of red bell pepper. No tiny capsium. Or maybe you use done of each? I tiny capsium (hot) AND 1 red bell pepper sweet).
Kindly clarify.
hey mia, capsicum is just what we call bell pepper in australia 🙂
Hi Mia, in Australia (where this site is from), what you call bell pepper we call capsicum. So yes, use bell peppers!
Another winner! The only thing I did differently was cut the cumin in half and add a little extra cayenne pepper. Thanks!!
Glad you liked it!
Made this (again) with a vegan mince ( not vegan/ vegetarian usually just try do the odd meat free Monday). Despite a few murmurings from the gang it was declared to be as good as the beef mince version. The flavours in this dish are a family favourite, but in saying that so are many others from this website- thanks 😀
Yea! Love a meat free Monday!
Win win here, with my picky daughter !
Nagi your recipes always hit the spot
Wahoo!!! Love hearing this Leah! N x
Hi Nagi, another fantastic recipe. After a week of one pot rice dinner, this was the clear favourite with all the family!!! Can’t wait to make again!