No more boring beef mince recipes….. Kick off the week with THIS flavour packed Mexican Ground Beef Casserole!! With corn, capsicum/bell peppers and black beans, this rice casserole is juicy, cheesy, and packed with big Mexican flavours.
One pot, quick dinner idea that’s on the table in 30 minutes!
Mexican Ground Beef Casserole with rice
This is essentially the filling for the Mexican Stuffed Peppers I shared a few weeks ago. Why am I bothering?
Because when I share a pork chop recipe on Instagram, people always ask if it can be made with chicken.
When I share a chicken thigh recipe, people always ask if it can be made with breast.
And when I share Mexican Stuffed Peppers, people ask if it can be made without the peppers…… 😂😂😂
Which actually, as strange as it sounds, I thought was a very valid question because I can imagine how irritating it would be to watch that stuffed peppers video and drool when the juicy beef rice filling comes oozing out, knowing full well you have no peppers in your fridge.
So – here’s the filling recipe which is a Mexican flavoured ground beef casserole made with rice. It’s mouth-wateringly delish!!!
What you need for Mexican Ground Beef Casserole
Here’s what you need. Feel free to substitute the capsicum, born and beans with other vegetables of choice – you need about 5 to 6 cups of diced veggies in total.
How to make this Mexican Rice Casserole
This is a one pot quick dinner that will be on your table in 30 minutes!
Essentially, it starts by browning the beef with onion and garlic, then you add a ton of Mexican spices, rice and liquids then you give it a big stir and let it simmer away on the stove until the rice is tender.
To give it a good slug of extra flavour, I like to stir in cheese as well as green onion for freshness (I also like doing this because I get a kick out of watching the cheese melt into the rice 😇), top with a bit more cheese, clamp the lid on and leave it for a minute to let the residual heat to melt the cheese.
The texture of this rice casserole is like a creamy risotto – except it tastes like juicy Enchiladas.
I love the pops of flavour and texture from the corn and beans – adds extra interest!
Another quick beef mince recipe!
Regular readers know I’m a big fan of beef mince. It’s just so easy – no chopping required, highly versatile. A great flavour absorber, quick to cook.
And this Mexican Rice Casserole is the latest addition to my ground beef recipe collection. Other than Bolognese (which is, without a doubt, the recipe I make most often!), a few of my other favourites include:
Quick Asian Beef Bowls – there’s a lot of fans of this recipe!!
Salisbury Steaks – juicy seasoned beef patties smothered in mushroom gravy
Juicy Italian Meatballs – well, actually, all meatballs!
Chilli Con Carne, Beef Tacos, Baked Ziti, Baked Spaghetti, Moussaka, Meatloaf, Homemade Hamburger Helper….
I have to stop. I love them all! Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t have shared the recipe!! ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
More easy, cosy casseroles
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Mexican Ground Beef Casserole with Rice (Beef mince!)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 500g (1 lb) ground beef (mince), lean
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 1 1/4 cup long grain white rice , uncooked (Note 1)
- 2.5 cups (625 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 400g (14oz) can corn kernels , drained (Note 2)
- 400g (14oz) can black beans , drained (or other beans)
- 1 capsicum/bell pepper , diced
- 1 cup green onions/shallots
- 2 cups (200g) cheese , shredded (anything that melts! Note 3)
MEXICAN SPICES:
- 0.5 tsp cayenne pepper (Note 4)
- 1.5 tbsp dried oregano
- 3 tsp cumin
- 3 tsp coriander
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1.5 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook 1 1/2 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until you no longer see raw meat (about 2 minutes).
- Add Mexican Spices and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute.
- Add tomato paste and broth, stir to mix in.
- Add rice, corn and black beans.
- Stir, bring to simmer then cover and lower heat to medium low (simmering gently). Cook 15 minutes.
- Remove lid, quickly stir through green onion and HALF the cheese.
- Smooth top then sprinkle on remaining cheese. Cover and leave for 1 minute just to melt cheese.
- Remove from stove and serve immediately, garnished with more green onion if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is where he is as I’m writing this post (ie licking his lips at the sight of the photos…):
Holy mackerel!! This recipe is AMAZING!!! Even better than I thought it would be!! Cooked it exactly as described but didn’t have beef so used ground turkey. To my utter shock the ENTIRE family loved it–even my super picky eaters!! Mexican Casserole will be on our rotation going forward. SO GOOD, and so satisfying. Really tastes like all the elements of the insides of an enchilada or taco. Amazing with a little sour cream and guac. You will not be disappointed!! Thank you Nagi for another home run!
Love this. I’m actually enjoying it now with salsa, sour cream and corn chips piled on.
Made this tonight and ate way too much. Absolutely delicious
I have not made this but going to right now. Did anyone drain the grease from the ground beef or just leave it?
Hi Jessica, if it’s just the fat – you can drain it off (If you’ve used a high fat mince, you may have excess fat) – N x
I wouldn’t drain the beef, if you have high heat to start with, it shouldn’t give off much liquid.
Quick question! When we make rice, we use 1 cup of rice to 1 2/3 cup of water. I would think the rice to water ratio in this recipe would result in quite a wet/moist end product. Is that what we are looking for?
Hi Suzanne, generally when cooking plain white rice I use a ration of 1:1.5 but in this recipe you’ve got a lot of add ins and using that ratio doesn’t cook the rice properly. If you take a look at the photos and video you’ll see the texture of the rice, it’s slightly more wet than a Chinese fried rice, but it’s loaded with cheese as well making it super delicious! N x
OMG… Just made this with 500g of beef strips that I marinated in your steak fajita marinade. Fabulous! I did need to add extra stock, but the flavours were amazing. Thanks Nagi!
Just cooked the Mexican Ground Beef Casserole with rice it was Yum and easy to do. Definitely cooked it again.
Hi Nagi – love your recipes! You save my life most days of the week and always easy and delicious!
Can you use ground Pork for this recipe? (that’s all I have in my freezer at the moment 🙂
Hi Ade, you sure can! N x
Another RecipeTin meal in the books! Your recipes never disappoint, this was quick to put together and so delicious!
This was ridiculously good. I had to sub vegetable broth for the chicken broth and dill for the coriander (I read that on a recipe blog) and vegan cheese. Holy moly I will make this again and again. Yummers!!!!
Absolutely lovely ; simple to cook ; definitely a keeper that one!
Tasty and filling. All you need for dinner on a cold winters night.
Hi, Nagi. I’m a big fan of your recipes and this one was no exception. I did, however, have one problem – my rice didn’t cook through and was stiff crunchy after the 15 minute cooking time, and the rest. I followed all instructions exactly. Did I do something wrong? I was afraid to cook any longer since things were starting to stick pretty badly. Should I add more liquid and cook longer, or would it be better (but less than convenient) to partially cook the rice before adding to the rest of the mixture?
Hi. I have this issue with the rice too. I use basmati and 15min definitely not long enough. I have on two occasions added a total of 4 cups liquid (so 1.5 extra cups water) and I just keep an eye on it, takes another 15-20min at least. I add the 2.5cups stock as per recipe, then when it’s absorbed will add extra hot water as needed but by bit until rice is cooked. Not sure why it doesn’t work for me. Maybe my stove runs too hot.
Looks like I should have proofread a little. more thoroughly. The rice was “still crunchy”, not “stiff crunchy”….
Easy and fast and ohhhhhhh Soooooooooooo GOOD
Nagi, you have done it again. Absolutely delicious and so quick and easy to make. It’s a keeper!
Another keeper. Had a decades old recipe I loved that is now in the bin. Only thing I’m keeping from it is using beef broth instead of chicken.
Wow ! This is a keeper for sure !!! Made this recipe for lunch & it was absolutely delicious . This is definitely a recipe to keep for future times. Oh so delicious and so easy to make. Thanks Nagi and Dozer xx
Delish! Added 1 jalapeño. Beef broth instead of chicken. 1can diced chilies. I needed about 1 cup more broth and 15 more minutes. I think my stove runs hot. Definitely will make again!
Another great recipe Nagi! Made this tonight and the family loved it.
Great recipe. Made heaps. We got 3 meals for 2 of us out of this recipe. Thanks.