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…):
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.
40 degrees outside, and this was such a simple but delicious meal to whip up. Everyone loved it. We served with sour cream – will definitely make it again!
This recipe was great. Because I cook big amounts and live with fibromyalgia, I tried to make it in a slow cooker. It was the only part of the process that wasn’t ideal. Can you please give me some ideas about how to try it in a slow-cooker with precooked rice? (I usually bake rice in the oven, so cooking liquids and other flavourings can be added that way.)
Loved this so much. Made it with chicken mince and used soft taco’s to wrap with sour cream and some lime juice. Delicious – thank you Nagi
I just saw the note about brown rice. All I have on hand is long grain brown rice 🤦♀️. Is it not worth the try?
This dish is on very high rotation in my house- we all love it! When I feel like doing a meat free dish then I just swap the beef out for a tin of brown lentils- still tastes fantastic.
I cook this quite often, i call it home made GYG, at the end though i mix in the cheese at the end and have it in wraps as burritos. absolutely love this to bits as does my son. thanks for sharing it.
I made this for dinner today and it was so good! I used 3 cups of stock because I was holding it for dinner and it was still a nice consistency (not dried out) when I served it a few hours later. I also added some cilantro on top along with the green onions! We have a little container of leftovers in the fridge which someone already reserved for their breakfast tomorrow morning. Great recipe!
This is a really great and tasty recipe. Makes a good amount too. We really enjoy it.
Delicious! Flavours are so tasty and makes a massive pot- so filling too! Love that it’s a one pot recipe. Another winner from Nagi!
I love the flavours of this dish, plus it’s super simple to throw together. I found that it took longer than 15 mins to cook the rice (my first attempt, my kids called it the crunchy rice casserole) but I’ve perfected it now, and it’s on heavy rotation in my house.
This is SO good. Had it tonight with wraps and salad. Beautiful recipe 🤤
Made this tonight and loved it. It even inspired the Cave Man enough to say he really liked it. Extra good as it will be in his lunch chiller tomorrow and he can enjoy it cold.
Hi Nagi, made this for an easy Sunday lunch today & it was (as usual with your recipes) absolutely delicious. The pot was almost licked clean! 😄
I was wondering if you could do a “Mexican feast” with lots of your lovely Mexican recipes to feed a crowd..? I’ve done your Middle Eastern Feast before for friends and it was so easy and lovely 😍 Thanks for all you do!
Made this last night and it was both amazingly easy and incredibly tasty. My teenage boys have added to my list of meals to put on rotation.
Another ripper from who we’ve come to know in our home as ‘No fail Nagi’
I forgot to mention that I cook this in a deep frypan rather than a dutch oven – the larger surface area alleviates any uneven cooking or sticking.
Love this recipe – have been making it for over 2 years now and it never fails to deliver – so delicious, colourful, easy and quick! It also stretches mince to biblical proportions!
What would you recommend for a bake time and temp if I transferred it to the oven at step 7? If you think it might work that is. Just curious because my rice(long grain white) is never done after 15 min, but the extra time it takes for the rice results in a bit of a crust on the bottom of my pot.
Made this for hubby and our almost-2-yr-old. Served with sour cream and corn chips on the side. Hubby and I loved it. Toddler picked at it but for a first try she did really well. (She ate all her chips and sour cream haha).
As others commented, bottom of Dutch oven had a burnt layer after the rice cooked but everything above it was delicious and cooked perfectly.
This is definitely going in my rotation. Loved that it was a one-pot meal. Winning!!