Description
This Ground Beef Rice Casserole is a hearty, budget-friendly one-dish meal that combines seasoned ground beef, tender rice, tomatoes, bell peppers, and melted cheddar cheese. With simple ingredients and easy prep, this comforting casserole is perfect for weeknight dinners and feeds a hungry family of 8. The savory beef mixture flavored with Worcestershire sauce, oregano, and basil creates a delicious base that bakes into a bubbly, cheesy masterpiece everyone will love.
Ingredients
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1 pound lean ground beef
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1 medium green bell pepper, diced
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1 medium tomato, chopped
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4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
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1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
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1 tablespoon minced onion
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1 teaspoon minced garlic
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1 teaspoon dried oregano
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1 teaspoon dried basil
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
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2 cups cooked rice
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½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
Turn it to 350. Do this first before you forget. I still forget sometimes even after making this a thousand times and then I’m standing there with everything ready going “oh for crying out loud” while I wait for the oven.
Throw your ground beef in a big skillet on medium-high heat. Break it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. I really attack it because I can’t stand big chunks of ground meat in my food—reminds me of bad cafeteria spaghetti from seventh grade and I’m not trying to relive that trauma. Takes maybe 5-7 minutes depending on your stove and how often you remember to stir it instead of getting distracted by your phone.
And seriously don’t walk away to check TikTok or whatever because you WILL burn it. I’ve done this so many times my husband doesn’t even comment anymore, he just opens windows without saying anything. Which is honestly more embarrassing than if he said something.
Once it’s all brown with no pink anywhere, throw in your diced bell pepper, the chopped tomato, and that Worcestershire sauce. Keep stirring everything around for maybe 5 minutes until the pepper starts getting softer. Not mushy soft, just like… less aggressively crunchy.
Here’s Susan’s trick that changed everything. Open your can of tomatoes over the sink and pour out about half the juice. You don’t need to measure it or be all precise, just eyeball it. Then dump in what’s left—the tomatoes plus the juice that’s still in there.
First time I made this I dumped the whole can in with all the liquid because I thought that’s what “undrained” meant and it turned into this weird soupy mess that slid all over people’s plates. Not cute. Now I know better—half the juice goes bye-bye before it goes in the pan.
Add the minced onion, garlic, oregano, and basil. I use the jarred minced garlic from Costco because I’m not mincing fresh garlic on a Tuesday night, are you kidding me? Then salt and pepper—I go pretty heavy on the pepper because I like things spicy but you do whatever feels right to you.
Let this whole thing simmer for 10 minutes. Actually set a timer because otherwise you’ll think it’s been 10 minutes and it’s been like 3. During this time I usually fold some laundry or help with homework or just stand there drinking wine and scrolling my phone. Whatever works for your life.
The simmering part matters though because that’s when the liquid reduces down and all the flavors start getting friendly with each other instead of just sitting there separately being weird.
Dump in your cooked rice and stir everything together really well. And I mean really well, not just a quick stir and you’re done. Get in there with that spoon and mix until every grain of rice has some of the meat mixture on it. Half-assing this step means you’ll bite into sad dry rice later and wonder what went wrong. This is what went wrong—you didn’t mix it enough.
Scrape everything into your casserole dish and smooth it out kind of evenly. Then sprinkle that Cheddar all over the top. I always do extra around the edges because that’s where it gets the crispiest and brownest and I will literally fight my kids for the corner pieces. They’re teenagers now and they’ll fight back but those corners are mine.
Put it in the oven for 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the cheese is all melted and golden and the edges are bubbling up. Sometimes I turn the broiler on for like 2 minutes at the very end to get the cheese extra crispy on top but you have to stand there and watch it because it’ll burn in like 30 seconds if you walk away. Which I’ve definitely done while answering a text message and then the smoke alarm went off and everyone was mad at me. Don’t be like me.
Let it sit for 5 minutes before you serve it. Everyone’s gonna be hovering around the kitchen looking hungry and impatient because it smells so good but if you don’t let it rest it’ll be all sloppy and fall apart when you try to scoop it out. Just tell them to wait and maybe throw some bread on the table so they’ll stop complaining.
Notes
Mix that rice in thoroughly. I’m talking really get in there and stir, not just a quick couple stirs and call it good enough. You want every single bit of rice coated in the meat mixture or you’ll have this weird patchy situation with dry spots and wet spots and it’ll be disappointing to eat.
If you bought regular ground beef instead of lean because it was on sale or that’s what you grabbed without thinking, drain off most of the grease after you brown it. Just tip your pan over the sink carefully and spoon the grease into an empty can or something. Don’t pour it down your drain unless you like calling plumbers and spending money fixing your pipes. Ask me how I know this. Actually don’t ask me.
Don’t fill your casserole dish all the way up to the rim. I fill mine maybe three-quarters of the way at most. When it bakes it bubbles up and expands a little bit and if you overfilled it you’ll have a mess all over the bottom of your oven. And then you have to clean it. And then you’ll be in a bad mood. Just leave yourself some space at the top and save yourself the hassle.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop & Baking
- Cuisine: American