Get my Cookbooks! Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
This Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole is easy to make with pantry ingredients like cream of mushroom soup. Your family will LOVE this quick dinner recipe!
Be sure to try my other rice casserole recipes that use chicken and broccoli, sausage and peppers, ham and broccoli, or chicken cordon bleu next!
Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
On occasion, I’ll make a recipe where I know that I need to freeze any leftovers right away to keep myself away from them. This, is one such recipe.
This beefy, cheesy rice casserole is the ultimate way to use up the ground beef you have tucked away in your fridge or freezer. The ingredients are super simple. You’ll likely already have them all on hand, and there are tons of substitution options.
You can make this beef casserole days ahead of time and it makes a great freezer meal. You are going to love having this in your rotation.
How to Make it
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Brown the ground beef in a large pot over medium high heat.
Mix in salt, pepper, & Italian seasonings as the beef cooks. Drain any excess grease if needed. Set the beef aside and cover with foil.
Add butter to the pot along with diced onions, cook until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add beef broth, butter, and rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover tightly.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and replace cover. Do not stir. Steam for 5-10 more minutes. (Refer to rice package for cooking time.)
Turn off heat, leave the cover on and let the rice stand for 10 minutes, any rice on the bottom of the pot will release.
Add the ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, milk, and cheese.
Use a silicone spatula and gently stir to combine.
Don’t Use Minute Rice
I highly recommend you use regular long grain rice instead of minute rice:
- Long grain rice = creamier consistency. Short grain rice tends to be stickier.
- Regular rice has higher nutritional value and better flavor.
Make-Ahead Beef Method
- This casserole can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 2 days prior to baking.
- You can also freeze the unbaked casserole for another day. To reheat, let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours until thawed.
To Bake:
- Let it sit out for 30 minutes prior to baking, or bake it for an extra 10 minutes. Then cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
Storage
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Frozen leftovers can be microwaved for a quick lunch.
- You can defrost in the fridge overnight, cover and bake in a 350° oven until heated through, the amount of time depends on portion size.
Love This Recipe?
Try my other rice casserole recipes that use chicken or ham! And check out all of my casserole recipes.
And don’t forget to leave a review below this post!
Try These Next!
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- American Chop Suey
-
- Chicken Parmesan
-
- Ground Beef Casserole
-
- Caprese Pasta
-
- Baked Chicken Thighs
-
- Lemon Garlic Chicken
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Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef, 85% lean
- 1.5 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Salt/Pepper
- 3 Tablespoons butter, divided
- ¾ cup onions, diced
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 ½ cups beef broth
- 1 ¼ cups uncooked white long grain rice, (not instant rice)
- 8 oz. sliced button mushrooms, washed
- 10.5 oz. cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup milk, any kind
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions
- Note: This recipe is designed to allow you to prepare all of the casserole ingredients in one pot before transferring to a casserole dish for baking. Before you begin, refer to your rice package for the amount of liquid (beef broth) and cooking time. If preferred, cook the rice separately and skip the beef broth ingredient. You'll need 3 + 3/4 cups of cooked rice to combine with the other casserole ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Brown the ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat. Mix in salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings as the beef cooks.
- Drain grease, transfer to a plate, and cover with foil.
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in the same pot. Add the diced onions and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add beef broth, butter, and rice. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
- Cover tightly and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, replace the cover, and cook for 5-10 more minutes. (Refer to rice package for exact cooking time.) Do not stir the rice at any point.
- Turn heat off, leave the cover on, and let it stand for 10 minutes without stirring. Any rice on the bottom of the pot will release.
- Add the cooked ground beef back along with the cream of mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, and HALF of the cheese. Stir to combine.
- Transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Serve!
Notes
• Instead of mushrooms, you may choose to use frozen peas, carrots, and/or corn.
• Leftovers freeze very well!
If you prefer to avoid condensed canned soup, you can make this with my homemade Cream of Chicken Soup!
Can I substitute noodles/pasta for rice?
Hi Lynn, this one is pretty specific to rice, I haven’t tested it with pasta but I do have a good ground beef pasta recipe that you can add mushrooms to!
Loved by the whole family, including the baby! It was creamy, risotto-y, yummy. I pre-cooked the rice in the rice cooker with the beef broth instead of water, and sautéed the mushrooms with the onions and garlic. Definitely will be making this easy recipe again! Thank you!
I love that even your baby approved Sydney!!! This is actually one of the few ways I get my 8 year old daughter to eat her broccoli. Thanks so much for the review!❤️
I own your first cookbook and ordered your new cookbook. Usually every recipe on line or in your book is wonderful. This recipe falls far short. It’s just missing something. I would respectfully request you rework it. It lacks the savory tang of your other creations.
Hi Jo, I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this recipe. I don’t plan on reworking it, there are too many readers who love it too much, 100+ rave reviews. Instead I’d recommend perhaps adding 1-2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce and perhaps 1-2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard to incorporate more of a savory tang if that’s what you’re looking for.
Instruction #5 mentions the addition of diced tomatoes. But I don’t see that on the recipe list. Can you please advise?
Hi Becca! Step 5 doesn’t make mention of tomatoes: “Melt 2 tbsp butter in the same pot. Add the diced onions and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.” ☺️
Made this recipe and my family loved it! Way better than my mom’s bland recipe. I didn’t have beef broth but I did have 1 packet of au jobs and I feel like that was a game changer, SOOO GOOD! Also I do pre-cook the rice just to make things quicker and throw in oven to cook everything together for about 30 minutes. My 17 year old son loved it!
Thanks for the wonderful comments Monica🩷! Don’t worry, I won’t tell your mom lol!
Such an easy to follow recipe with most ingredients already on hand. My 7 yo son even told me it was the best meal I had made and I cook often. Will definitely keep in my arsenal!
I’m so happy to hear that Shelby!! Wonderful!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!! 🩷🩷🩷
I made this recipe with cauliflower rice tonight and it was a huge hit in the house!! Thank you! Very delicious
Nice work Kaytlyn! I’m so happy it was such a hit! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review💖
This was a hit. Thank you
I’m so happy to hear that Tamara!! Thank you!!