Hamburger Rice Casserole

Hamburger Rice Casserole is a simple, comforting one-dish wonder that brings together seasoned ground beef, tender rice, savory tomatoes, and melted cheese in every hearty bite. This family-friendly recipe requires just a handful of pantry staples and comes together in under 45 minutes.

Love More Ground Beef Recipes? Try My Hamburger Gravy Over Mashed Potatoes or this Hamburger Potato Casserole next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The combination of savory ground beef, creamy mushroom soup, tangy tomatoes, and that gorgeous golden-brown cheese topping creates layers of flavor that’ll have everyone scraping their plates clean. Plus, it’s budget-friendly, uses ingredients you probably already have.

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Ingredient List

For the Casserole:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (with juice)
• ½ cup long-grain white rice (uncooked)
• ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste

Why These Ingredients Work

The ground beef is protein, not rocket science. I get whatever’s on sale at Kroger because once it’s all mixed up who can tell the difference anyway. That cream of mushroom soup seems random but hear me out—my grandma used it in everything and it just makes stuff creamy and savory without needing to measure out milk and flour and all that nonsense.

Those canned tomatoes are doing two jobs. One, they keep it from being just heavy and beige and rich, adds some brightness or acidity or whatever food people call it. Two, the juice from the can is literally what cooks your rice. So the rice is soaking up all that tomatoey beefy flavor while it cooks instead of being sad plain rice you made in a separate pot. Pretty smart when you think about it.

And cheese on top? Come on. I don’t need to explain melted cheese to you. You get it.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Large skillet with a lid (mine’s this old blue thing from Target that’s scratched to hell but whatever)
• 9×13 casserole dish or really any oven-safe dish you’ve got
• Wooden spoon or spatula
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Something to dump grease into—I keep an old spaghetti sauce jar by the stove

How To Make Hamburger Rice Casserole

Step 1: Brown the Beef

Get your skillet going on medium-high and toss the beef in. I just break it up with my spoon while it cooks, smashing it around until there’s no pink left. Takes maybe 6 or 7 minutes, maybe 8 if your stove’s being weird. Some of it’ll get really brown and stick to the pan—that’s actually good so don’t stress about it. When it’s done, drain that grease off. I just tilt the pan and spoon it into whatever jar I’ve got.

Step 2: Mix in Soup, Tomatoes, and Rice

Right there in the same pan without washing it or anything, dump in your soup, throw in the whole can of tomatoes with all the juice, add the rice. Stir it around til everything’s mixed. It’s gonna look really liquidy and kinda unappetizing at this point but that’s fine, trust the process.

Step 3: Simmer Until Tender

Slap a lid on top, turn your heat way down to low, and set a timer for 15 minutes because I swear I will forget otherwise. I usually stir it every 5 minutes or so, scrape the bottom a bit so nothing’s sticking. The rice is gonna absorb all that liquid and get soft. By the end it shouldn’t be soupy anymore.

Don’t try to rush this. I did once and had crunchy rice and three angry children at my dinner table.

Step 4: Transfer & Add Cheese

Turn on your broiler now. Dump all that beef rice mixture into your casserole dish, smooth it around so it’s kinda even. Now cover the whole top with cheese. I go right to the edges because those crusty cheese corner pieces are the best and my kids literally fight over them.

Step 5: Broil to Golden Perfection

Stick it under the broiler and I’m not kidding, stand there and watch it. Don’t go check your phone, don’t go throw laundry in, just stand there. It only takes like 4 minutes for the cheese to melt and get those perfect golden spots. But if you walk away even for a minute you’ll come back to smoke and burnt cheese and your smoke detector screaming at you. Ask me how I know.

Step 6: Season & Serve

Grab a spoonful from the middle and taste it, see if it needs salt or pepper. Those canned soups are pretty salty already so you might not need any. Dish it out while it’s hot but maybe let it sit for like 30 seconds so you don’t burn your whole mouth on molten cheese. I’ve done that way too many times.

You Must Know

The rice has to simmer for the full 15 minutes, end of story. I know you’re standing there hungry wanting to eat but if you only give it 10 minutes you’re getting crunchy rice and that’s not gonna work. Keep the lid on the whole time too or the steam escapes and your rice won’t cook right. And actually brown your beef, don’t just cook it til it’s gray—those brown crusty bits are where the flavor lives.

Personal Secret: I always let it sit for a few minutes after it comes out of the broiler before I serve it. The cheese sets up just a tiny bit so it’s not a melted mess sliding everywhere, plus nobody scalds their tongue. Win-win situation.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

• If your tomatoes have a ton of liquid when you open the can—like you pop it open and it’s mostly juice—dump some of that out first or you’ll end up with soup
• Throw some garlic powder in while the beef’s cooking, maybe a teaspoon. Not required but makes it better
• No broiler or yours is broken? Just put it in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes, cheese’ll melt fine
• Break the meat up small as it cooks, not big chunks
• Whatever you do, don’t use instant rice or minute rice. Did this once when I ran out of regular rice and it turned into complete disgusting mush
• If you buy the really lean beef like 93/7 because you’re being healthy or whatever, throw in a tablespoon of butter because otherwise it’s kinda dry

Flavor Variations / Suggestions

I’ve used cheddar instead of mozzarella plenty of times when that’s what was already open in my fridge. More sharp, still good. Pepper jack if your people can handle spice. My sister does Monterey jack and says it’s great. Cream of chicken soup works too if you hate mushrooms or whatever, tastes pretty much the same honestly.

Want veggies in there so you feel less guilty? Frozen peas are stupid easy, just dump them in during the simmer part. Corn works. I’ve done frozen mixed vegetables before when I was feeling ambitious. My friend Kelly makes this with taco seasoning in the beef and uses those Rotel tomatoes instead of regular and tops it with pepper jack—basically a different recipe at that point but really really good.

Make-Ahead Options

You can brown the beef and mix everything together the night before, stick it in a container in your fridge. Next day just dump it in the pan with an extra splash of water and do the simmer thing. The rice sucks up liquid sitting there overnight so you need that extra water or it’ll be dry.

Or make the whole thing all the way through the simmer part, put it in your baking dish but don’t add cheese yet, refrigerate it for a day or two. When you want dinner just add cheese and broil. Takes an extra minute under the broiler since it’s cold but whatever.

I’ve frozen this before when I made a double batch on a Sunday. Do everything except the cheese, let it cool completely, wrap it really good in foil and plastic wrap, freeze for a few months. Thaw it overnight in your fridge, add cheese, broil til it’s hot. Can’t even tell it was frozen.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

You need regular long-grain white rice. Not instant, not quick-cooking, not the boil-in-bag nonsense. Just normal rice that usually takes 15-20 minutes to cook. I tried instant rice once and wanted to throw the whole thing away—turned into total mush. Medium-grain rice gets all sticky and weird.

If you wanna use brown rice you’re looking at like 35 or 40 minutes of simmering and you’ll need to add more water, maybe another half cup.

Some brands of mushroom soup are thicker than others. If yours looks too thick while it’s simmering, throw in a few splashes of water. If it’s super watery, take the lid off the last few minutes so extra moisture cooks off.

When I use super lean ground beef because I’m trying to be good, I add butter or olive oil because there’s barely any fat and it comes out dry without it.

Serving Suggestions

We usually just eat this by itself and call it dinner. But if you need sides I guess, sometimes I make a bagged salad with whatever dressing’s in the fridge. Or throw some frozen garlic bread in the oven. My kids like green beans with it, or corn if that’s what I grabbed from the freezer.

Sometimes I’ll chop up parsley and sprinkle it on top so it’s not just brown and beige, makes it look slightly less sad. Not really for flavor just so it looks better. My husband always puts a big spoonful of sour cream on his—I thought it was weird at first but it’s actually really good, adds this tangy creamy thing.

How to Store Your Hamburger Rice Casserole

Leftovers go in whatever Tupperware fits, stick it in the fridge, it’s good for like 4 days. Tastes better the next day honestly after everything’s sat together overnight. My husband takes it for lunch and microwaves it at work.

Microwave for 2 or 3 minutes, stir it halfway through. If you’re reheating a bunch at once, put it in the oven at 350 covered with foil for 20 minutes. Or I put it back in a skillet on medium-low with a tiny splash of water so it doesn’t dry out—that’s actually my favorite way.

Freezes great in portions. I use those cheap aluminum containers from Dollar Tree. Good for 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge before you heat it up. Texture’s exactly the same, nobody knows it was frozen.

Allergy Information

Stuff in here that might be a problem:

• Dairy (cheese and probably the soup too)
• Gluten (most condensed soups have gluten)
• Soy (might be in the soup, check the label)

How to work around it:

• Dairy-free: Pacific Foods makes dairy-free mushroom soup and Daiya cheese melts okay
• Gluten-free: Just get gluten-free soup, most brands make it now
• Lower-fat: Lean beef or ground turkey, reduced-fat everything
• Vegetarian: Beyond or Impossible ground meat works, or do half mushrooms half lentils

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

My rice came out crunchy—what happened?

Not enough simmer time or not enough liquid. Make sure you’re using all the juice from the tomatoes, lid stays on, full 15 minutes. Still crunchy? Add water and keep simmering.

Can I make this in a slow cooker?

Yep. Brown the beef first in a pan, then everything except cheese goes in the slow cooker. Low for 3-4 hours or high for about 2 hours. When it’s done either put it in a dish and broil with cheese, or just top it with cheese in the slow cooker on high with the lid on for 10 minutes til it melts.

What if I don’t have cream of mushroom soup?

Use cream of chicken, cream of celery, whatever. Or mix sour cream with milk and some onion powder. Cream of cheddar is really good if you can find it.

Can I add more vegetables?

Go ahead. Peppers, peas, corn, spinach, whatever you want. Hard veggies like peppers go in when you’re browning beef. Softer stuff like peas goes in the last 5 minutes of simmering.

💬 Made this? Tell me how it went in the comments! Did your family actually eat it? What’d you add or change? I wanna know!