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!
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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!
Followed recipe & we liked it very much. Wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks!
Hey Kim! I’m SO happy that you enjoyed this! It’s so funny, I actually had a little bit of a frozen stash of this for lunch today. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, it’s so appreciated! -Stephanie
This looks like a great recipe! Can it be frozen before cooking? I’m prepping before my baby arrives and am looking for freezer meals.
Hi Tiffany! This would be a great freezer meal for you, yes! You can freeze it and just cover and add 1 hour of baking time to cook it from a frozen state. Enjoy and congratulations on your pregnancy!! (And smart girl to prep meals like this!) -Stephanie
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try this!! 😊😊
So good! I did the potatoes like another reviewer did. And I did half a can of cheddar cheese soup and half a can of cream of chicken… I also didn’t use exact measurements of anything. Just used what I thought looked right and man is it good!! My husband is happy! Thank you!
Soooo happy that you enjoyed it Katie!!! Nice work!!! 🙌🏻
My family loved it! Great flavor.
Hey Kay! I’m thrilled that your family enjoyed this ground beef and rice casserole! Thank you so so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review, I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day! -Stephanie
My kids will love this!
Awesome Traci! I can’t wait for you to try it!!!
Great recipe! I substituted riced cauliflower for the rice! Yummy! Yummy! My husband is diabetic ams I didn’t want him to over do the carbs so I substituted the riced cauliflower. Came out spectacular! Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Margi! I am SO happy to hear that and am glad that you were able to make the necessary modifications for your husband! Nicely done, and thank you SO much for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating, you’re the best! Take care! 🙂 -Stephanie
I made it with diced boiled potatoes as the starch because my husband does not eat rice and the peas and carrots suggested in place of the mushrooms. I skipped the Italian seasoning (he doesn’t like that either) he basically likes a hamburger casserole with potatoes, peas and carrots or green beans from a can. I think this is a tremendous improvement and I can’t wait to see his reaction tonight.
Hey Susan! He’s a classic meat and potatoes guy and I don’t blame him one bit! That sounds absolutely delicious, thank you for sharing your variations!
The Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole is the bomb dot com!!! I used Ground Turkey instead of Ground Beef since that is what I had on hand, and I made sure to shred my own cheese ( I used Tillamook). I’ve also sprinkled just a little bit of Paprika on top to give the Casserole a pop of color. My kitchen smelled amazing as the Casserole was baking in the oven. This Casserole tasted so good that both my sister and I had seconds. I’ve made a few recipes off of your blog for awhile now, and I like how easy they are to make as well as finding all of the ingredients in the grocery store. Your blog is amazing Miss Stephanie, and thank you as always for sharing.
😁😁😁
When do you add the cooked ground beef? With the mushrooms or later? Thank you!
Hey Judy! You’ll add that when you add the cream of mushroom soup and remaining casserole ingredients- sorry for the confusion!
This casserole was everything my comfort food dreams are made of! Creamy and savory. It was so good I heated up the leftovers for breakfast. All of my kids devoured it too! Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe! I will be making this one for years to come!
Ashley, you totally made my day I am SO happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe! You are the BEST!! 🙌🏻 -Stephanie ❤️