The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
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
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- Chicken Parmesan
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- Ground Beef Casserole
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- Caprese Pasta
-
- Baked Chicken Thighs
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- 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!
I made this recipe with just a couple of modifications. I used chicken broth instead of beef, because that’s what I had on hand. I used corn instead of mushrooms (again I didn’t have mushrooms) and I mixed in a little more cheese to the base casserole. Because I didn’t have sour cream, I used a mixture of sharp cheddar and mild cheddar. The sharp cheddar gave it the tang that sour cream would provide. My family said the casserole was delicious and I will definitely make this again! I totally agree with using white whole grain rice…it worked perfectly. Thanks!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe and I appreciate you sharing the modifications that you made so that others can see! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time! -Stephanie
I was nervous that the rice might be mushy with the amount of liquid added but it was perfect. I used frozen peas as I didn’t have mushrooms in hand and chicken better than bouillon as again that’s what I had on hand. Fantastic recipe and we will definitely be doing this one again as even my less than confident cook of a husband can easily pull this together.
I am so happy that you enjoyed it Justine, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with this recipe, it really means a lot! 🙂 -Stephanie
Why do you separate the butter?
It just means that part of the butter was used to sauté the onions, and the rest was used when you add in the rice.
Really good. Added 50% more cheese.
Can’t go wrong with extra cheese! Glad you enjoyed this one!
😬 what happens if you use minute rice? lol
Hi Monica, sorry for the delay in my response! I’ve never used minute rice before, my worry is that it might become mushy. Did you end up trying it with instant rice?
I love ground beef and hardly anyone doesn’t like cheddar cheese right?! I just made this today but had to tweak it a little. Firstly hubby isn’t crazy on mushrooms so I added frozen peas. Secondly I had no sour cream so used mayonnaise (with a small amount of cream added) Thirdly I had to cook it quite a bit longer as it wasn’t heated through. I also added another 10 mins and then grilled cheese topping under the grill. It is amazing! I will be making it again soon.
Thank you for the recipe 😊
Hi Jenna! I am so happy that you enjoyed it!! Did you use white long grain rice? 15 minutes is really all it takes to cook rice so I’m curious about why it needed to be cooked a bit longer, was the lid tightly on while it cooked? The cheese topping sounds DELICIOUS!! 🙂
Yum! I added 2 cups broccoli instead of mushrooms.
So glad that you enjoyed it Julie!! That sounds like a delicious variation idea!
This is easy and delicious. Reheats well. I added peas and mushrooms and sprinkled some bacon bits over the top because I had it on hand. It’s perfect as is but will add some pimento or roasted red pepper next time for added color/flavor. I imagine any number of veggie additions would work well.
Hey Kimmy! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it and I love your variation ideas! Thanks so much!!! -Stephanie
This was great and relatively easy to put together, give it a try it will go on your meal rotation.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it!😀 Thanks for the feedback!!!
I made this for dinner Saturday evening for my husband and oldest son. Although I am known to change a few ingredients I made this casserole exactly by the recipe. My husband who is very picky especially with casseroles said he thought it was good but he did add his splashes of Tabasco to his plate. I think if I try it again I may use something other than the mushrooms. Thanks “CozyCook” for all your recipes and I will keep cooking them. Gonna try the chicken scallopini tonight!
Hi Gwenda, you will love the chicken scallopini, that’s an excellent choice! I am surprised that with the garlic, onions, Italian seasonings, mushrooms, cheese, etc; that you found this to be bland but if you make it again you could in some chives (yum!), rosemary, thyme, maybe add some ground sausage to the mix, lots of ways to play with it according to your taste preferences. 🙂