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!
Really easy and I had all the ingredients on hand already. Instead of cheddar cheese I used a blend of Italian cheeses so the casserole did not have a lot of color but the flavor was so good. Hubby really enjoyed it. For a little color on the plate we had mixed veggies.
Hey Judy! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it and had everything on hand to make it, thank you for sharing how you changed it up a little too!! Love it!
My family LOVES this!! The only thing I changed was corn instead of mushrooms and pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar!! I make this 2 times a week
Hey Vanessa, I am so happy that you enjoy this recipe and that you make it often! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this wonderful comment!
Yum yum! I wanted to make something new for my family tonight with what we had in the house this was perfect. I put a few veggies in corn, peas, shredded broccoli and I used a cream or spinach and artichoke soup I made the other as I didnot have any GF mushrooms soup in the house. You have the instructions simple and easy to follow and the recipe it easy to make even with a busy household. Thank you very much!
Thank you so so much!! Your compliments mean a lot and I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!!!
Omg!! This dish came out perfect! I used cream of cheddar cheese instead of the mushroom. I had to bake it and additional 10min. Overall a very easy and delicious dish! Definitely will be added to my go to recipes.
Hey Michelle! I’m so glad that you loved it! Thanks so much for the review, you’re the best!!🙌🏻
Can you use riced cauliflower instead of rice?
Hi Karen! I haven’t cooked with riced cauliflower before so I’m not sure how it compares to white rice in terms of cooking time or how much liquid is needed. You may want to cook it on the side and combine it with the casserole ingredients after.
This looks delicious! I won’t be using rice. I will use cauliflower rice instead and I cook it ahead of time so I won’t need much broth. How much do I need if any? Thanks?
Hi Kitty! If cooking it separately, you won’t need any broth! 🙂 Enjoy!
Delicious and easy. Even my grandson, mister picky eater, loved it.
That’s so great to hear Pamela! You made my day!! ❤️
What size cream of mushroom soup if using a can or even just a cup measurement?
10.5 ounces
Can you make this and freeze it to bake another day?
Absolutely! Just defrost it in the fridge the night before and let it sit out for 30 minutes prior to baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
This was so good. The rice had a few crunchy grains, but delicious. I also forgot to cover it before putting in the oven. I had 3 servings.
Hey Katharine, I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe!! Definitely covering it while baking will mitigate a crunchy consistency of any sort as it creates steam. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
I made your cheesy ground beef and rice casserole. Everything you stated was spot on with this excellent comfort food recipe. Thank you. I love your recipes. Keep doing what you’re doing as you are very good at it.
Hi Sharon!! Well this certainly made my day today!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a wonderful comment, I really appreciate it! I shall carry on and keep producing! 🙌🏻😁